在當今競爭激烈的社會環(huán)境中,對于業(yè)務成功的與否，人與人之間的交流扮演著至關(guān)重要的角色。“溝通”一詞最初源于拉丁詞“普通的”,即“使共同化”(Kushal,2008)。換句話說,交流是一種社會歷程(Griffin & Moorhead, 2009 & Moorhead, 2009),指通過言語或非言語的形式且在此談話中有兩人/多于兩人(Griffin & Moorhead, 2009)，彼此交換信息、思想和想法的過程(Lioyd, 2002)。
 
在工作環(huán)境中需要溝通的主要原因是,個人尋求溝通是為了獲得對特定任務的解說(Fielding, 2005)和自己對公司目標的追求(Griffin & Moorhead, 2009)。
 
在任何公司中,所有人都必須運用協(xié)調(diào)一致的方式執(zhí)行任務(Griffin & Moorhead, 2009)。自公司在競爭激烈的環(huán)境中運營操作以來，他們收到大量的信息,而這些信息是需要經(jīng)過調(diào)整，而后傳播在整個公司，最后成為公司目標。所以信息共享的目的是為公司共同目標的達成，使員工行為一致(Griffin & Moorhead, 2009)。如果任一公司要保持其競爭優(yōu)勢，那么信息整理需求必須解決。
 
In today's highly competitive world, communication among individuals plays a pivotal role in the success of every business. The term "communication" results from the Latin word "Communis" which originally means, "make common" (Kushal, 2008). In other words, communication is the social process (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009 & Moorhead, 2009), which refers to as the exchange of information, ideas and thoughts by verbal and/or non-verbal messages (Lioyd, 2002) and requires two or more individuals involving in this information exchange (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009).
 
The principal reason for communication in the working environment is the fact that individuals seek to communicate in order to get instructions for specific tasks (Fielding, 2005) and pursue organisational goals (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009).
 
In any organisation, all individuals are required to perform tasks in a coordinated and coherent way (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009). Since organisations operate in a competitive environment, they receive day-to-day a great amount of information, which is required to be processed, disseminated throughout the entire firm and interpreted into goals. So information sharing is one purpose of communication to align employees' actions with a common organisational goal (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009). Information processing requirements must be addressed if any organisation is going to maintain its competitive advantage.
 
Communication can be either internal (interactions among members of an organisation) or external (interactions among members of an organisation with members outside the organisation) in the business environment (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009).
 
Furthermore communication can be divided into two main categories: Formal and Informal. As far as formal communication is concerned, it relies on the structure of organisation. Formal communication incorporates rules, instructions, regulations and standards. On the other hand, informal communication includes rumour, defamation etc (Charvatova, 2006).#p#分頁標題#e#
 
Looking deeper into the business context, there are three channels of communication: Vertical, horizontal and diagonal. Now, we will focus our attention on the vertical communication channel and more specifically on the employee-employer communication. This form of communication can be either upward or downward depending on the direction of flow of messages (Kaul, 2004). As far as the forms of communication are concerned, there are the oral, written and non-verbal means. Written communication comprises emails, letters, reports, etc; oral includes words and articulation while non-verbal consists of body language and facial expressions (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009).
 
As discussed earlier, communication is the exchange of information between two or more individuals. This transmission of information from a sender to a receiver depends on whether the receiver understands this information (Charvatora, 2006). This exchange is defined as the communication process model. According to this model, the source (sender) is responsible to send a message to the receiver by a transmission medium. Such an action to take place requires the sender to encode the message before sending it. As far as encoding is concerned, the message is interpreted into symbols that can be transmitted. This message passes to the receiver through a medium, which consists the channel of transmission. The receiver, in order to obtain the message, has to translate its meaning using his or her knowledge. This process is called decoding (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009). As receiver has understood the meaning of that message, he or she is in the position to respond to it with the appropriate feedback. Feedback is used as a response to the source that the receiver has either successfully interpreted the message (positive feedback) or failed interpreting the message (negative feedback) (Kushal, 2008).
 
One of the most familiar channels of communication to most people is face-to-face contact. In addition, another channel is mediated communication, according to which the sender and the receiver communicate with each other through email, faxes, telephone etc. It should be noted that there are various ways, not a single one, in which communication could be effective. People can use humour or can be serious in their attempt to communicate with each other (Adler & Rodman, 2009). Communication is a dynamic process in the organizational environment (Richmond & McCroskey, 2005). This means that an element of communication process cannot be isolated from the preceding and following events (Adler & Rodman, 2009).
 
During the last decades, we have experienced the movement from the industrial age to the information age. Today's businesses should emphasize on the importance of effective communication in order to achieve its goals. Well-run businesses put much attention on the communication, which is fundamental for the continuing success. It is common knowledge that communication is a means used for the accomplishment of every task (kushal, 2008). For instance, unclear guidance, lack of cooperation and poor collaboration between the employer and the employee hinder employees to understand what they are supposed to do. The absence of consistent and effective communication has negative implications on the tasks performance. Poor communication causes dissatisfaction, confusion and productivity decline to employees (Lioyd, 2002). Establishing open communication with top management, encourage employees to have their questions answered before they tackle any task (kushal, 2008). High quality communication, understanding and acceptance become the employees' expectations for task accomplishment (Lioyd, 2002). Employees with clear expectations about their tasks are more likely to be self-confident and provide excellent services. Employees seek an employer who is accessible and can listen to them (Lioyd, 2002). High quality communication is essential for efficient and smooth working in any organisation. In addition, employees communicate what they have acquired from the working environment, helping employers take decisions. Through the process of communication, employees present their suggestions to their employers in order to drive the organisation to the success. Apart from that employees express their feelings, complaints and reactions to their employers. In this way, problems emerging in the business context can easily be solved when both sides present their points of view. Timely communication is of great importance when a difficult task has to be tackled (kushal, 2008).#p#分頁標題#e#
 
Every employee seeks communication within the business context because he or she is willing to improve his or her understanding, effort and performance on job-related issues (Guffey & Loewy, 2009). In order to assess his or her performance, the employee is seeking immediate feedback on performance and goal progress. When the employees receive targeted and specific feedback about their performance, they are aligned with the organisation's direction. On the other hand, when employees do not receive performance feedback, they will lower their effort on the job. Employees should not be kept in the dark about what they are supposed to do and should receive continuing feedback about their performance (Fielding, 2005).
 
It has been said that the transmission of information from a sender to a receiver depends on whether the latter understands this information. As for the employee-employer relationship there are other major barriers to effective communication such as poor listening, pressing situations, lack of feedback, different work-language-cultural backgrounds and the fact that more than one sender could send a message to only one receiver. Apart from these differences, when both sides have different perceptions, needs and goals, effective communication might be difficult to take place (Fielding, 2005). As discussed earlier, employees seek communication to receive feedback on their job performance, to make suggestions or proposals on job-related issues, to express their feelings/opinions, to react to the top management and so on. Feedback is critical on their understandings of the messages received by the senders (employers). In the absence of communication, uncertainty increases. So employees need employers who are accessible and credible to get their jobs done (Heath & Bryant, 2000).
 
It should be stressed that there are two major categories of communication within the business context: task-related and relations-oriented communication. Task-related communication refers to the exchanging of information related to work-oriented issues. For instance, employees seek information on how their jobs should get done, how they can make use of resources, how they can take advantage of career opportunities or promotions and how they can enhance their productivity through feedback (Anderson, 2002). Most employees may consider that poorly employee-employer relationships can lead to smaller wages increases, fewer promotion opportunities and other unpleasant effects (Canary & Dainton, 2003). It should be noted that sharing of information, ideas and knowledge increases the level of productivity and innovative behaviour of an employee. Employees perform better when they know what is expected of them and how they can contribute to the effectiveness of the organisation. Nevertheless, employees who maintain contact with superiors in positions of power are likely to gain power and be promoted. On the other hand, relations-oriented communication refers to employees' need for social information and support. For example, employees are looking for friendships, social interactions and supportiveness with their employers (Anderson, 2002). Communication is a physical need, which is important for health. People who do not maintain good relationships are likely to have two or three times greater risk of having strokes, heart attacks and other illnesses, even if they exercise and have never smoked. Some studies have shown that social isolation ends up with smoking, obesity and lack of exercising. So, social interaction is critical for employees' well-being (Adler & Rodman, 2009).#p#分頁標題#e#
 
In order to maintain good relationships with superiors, employees are likely to be forced to suppress their anger or provide fake enthusiasm to their superiors (Canary & Dainton, 2003). Kaplan (1978, as cited in Canary and Dainton, 2003) argued that people in an attempt to maintain a relationship, express or suppress feelings, emotions and thoughts. Some studies have revealed that there is a number of tactics that people use in their effort to maintain communication in an employee-employer relationship. Direct tactics are concerned with the actions that are undertaken regarding the status of the relationship, injustices and work expectations. For instance, employees are likely to speak up when they feel injustice and offer their points of view. Regulative tactics are concerned with defensive actions according to which employees are more cautious about their emotions, messages and feedback. They are trying to reduce or avoid communication with their superiors and cover the truth avoiding problems with them. Hence, a superficial communication takes place. Furthermore, there are personal or informal tactics, which are concerned with the attempt to develop friendships with their superiors. For example employees are involving in informal communication, sharing stories and small talks, compliments and jokes. In addition, contractual tactics consist of following rules, setting performance goals, clarifying role expectations and seeking advice/accepting on job-related issues (Canary & Dainton, 2003).
 
Employees-Employers communication has provided ground for a great amount of researched topics. Employees seek out communication in order to fulfill interpersonal needs, which provide guidance for their organisational behaviour. There is clear evidence that the most important reason for employees seeking communication with their employers is to increase the understanding of their environments and their role awareness. Moreover, according to Schutz's (1966, in Anderson & Martin, 2005) need theory, individuals need inclusion, affection and control. In other words, employees need intimacy, closeness and satisfactory relationships with other people. There are psychological and social needs that force employees to communicate with other persons. Studies have revealed that satisfying communication leads employees to develop and maintain relationships, which has a significant impact on their satisfaction. Inversely, unmet needs lead to counterproductive communication, which is critical for employees' dissatisfaction with their jobs and employers (Anderson & Martin, 1995).
 
Researches have shown that high quality communication is positive related to employees' productivity (quality and quantity of work). It has been revealed that the higher the quality of communication, the greater the organisation's performance (Byrne & LeMay, 2006). Apart from the benefits that are derived from effective communication at personal level, the entire organisation could also take advantage. In the event of different employee-employer relationship maintenance, other employees may feel that they are treated unjustly. Then perceived inequity and dissatisfaction are likely to cover the entire organisation, producing additional communicational side effects (Canary & Dainton, 2003). In addition, high quality communication is linked to absenteeism (Byrne & LeMay, 2006). Employee's turnover and unexcused absences are derived from experienced job dissatisfaction. When organisations experience high quality of communication, employees' turnover is likely to decline (Canary & Dainton, 2003). These effects all undermine an effective employee-employer relationship and threaten competitive advantage.#p#分頁標題#e#
 
More evidence regarding the link between communication and job performance have revealed that communication climate and personal feedback are aligned with job performance (Giri & Kumar, 2010). Another research has demonstrated that employee-employer interactions influence job satisfaction. In particular, a study, using 65 organisations in the UK has found that when employees were asked to present the most important influences in the working setting, more than two-thirds admitted that they are influenced by the interaction with their superiors. Apart from that, most respondents have also admitted that another important influence is effective communication and job satisfaction (Villegas & Cerveny, 2004). According to Yukl (1989, as cited in Villegas & Cerveny, 2004) one influence of great importance on job satisfaction was the consideration of superiors. In the presence of effective communication, when employees participate in decision-making, their job satisfaction increases (Villegas & Cerveny, 2004). Except from the presence of communication itself, the amount and the type of communication influence employees' performance and satisfaction (Goris, Vaught & Pettit, 2000)
 
One great communication tool within an organisation could be the performance appraisal process, which plays an important role in employees' performance and goal attainment. Through this process, employees are informed about where they stand in order to enhance their performance and attain organisational goals. Performance appraisal process determines the employee who will get promotion, training or pay rise. Employees seek feedback from the performance appraisal process, which as a communication tool provides many benefits for them in order to develop their skills and enhance their productivity (Longenecker, Liverpool & Wilson, 1988).
 
It should be noted that every workplace has unique features. So different working environments create different needs for communication and social interactions. Complex and difficult tasks require a greater amount of clear communication between the employee and the superior. Nevertheless, if the ratio of employees to superiors is large, then informal communication is unlikely to be achieved (Canary & Dainton, 2003). In today's rapidly changing world, organisations are required to be more flexible and competitive than ever before. There is an increasing need for modern organisations to move from traditional to decentralized structures, which rely on independent work team. These structures provide communication researchers with a food of thought. If organisational communication is maintained at high levels of quality, then innovation and performance is more likely to increase. In addition to organisational structure, technological developments regarding the channels of communication have changed the way in which modern organisations operate. Obviously, communication has a great impact on individuals and the organisation as a whole because it is highly related with employees' well-being, job satisfaction and an attracting psychological environment (Canary & Dainton, 2003).#p#分頁標題#e#
 
In conclusion it can be said that employees perform better when they know what is expected of them. When employees receive feedback on their performance, their understanding and job clarity rises. Employees are in position to know how they can contribute to the goals of the organisation. They seek communication with their superiors and regular "face time" because they fear of losing promotion opportunities and salary increases. Dysfunctional social interactions will be stressful for employees because they are interested in job satisfaction and personal development. Employees are constantly seeking to be satisfied with their superiors, tasks and organisational climate in order to increase their productivity and achieve fulfilment on the job. The absence of open, timely, quality, consistent and effective communication has negative effects on employees' satisfaction and performance. Communication is the key to build trust, promote understanding and enhance performance within an organisation.