Војно дело (Jan 2015)
The role of internal communication in employee motivation
Abstract
The changes brought by globalization require the internal organization to be adjusted in all systems, regardless of the activity and the type of ownership. The basic characteristics of these changes are: all-inclusiveness, depth (subtlety), and the dramatic speed. All-inclusiveness, among other things, means also significant changes in internal relations in the organization. The role of the leader - an individual and a visionary, who 'walks' far ahead of all, relying on his own ingenuity and visionary intuition, is relativized. Instead, affirmed is the role of the leader who is integrated into the team as the 'first among equals' and who, through so-called natural leadership leads by engaging his associates, rather than imposing solutions. Traditional models of leadership based on rigid hierarchy, giving orders, maintaining constant tension, etc. become counterproductive. Practice proves that the challenges of globalization can be responded to only by teams, but only on condition that they are competent and highly motivated. Accordingly, the basic functions of a manager become trust building and employee motivation. To meet such a complex requirement, the manager of the 21st century must possess three qualities: character, competence and ability to foster internal communication. Numerous examples of successful organizations around the world show that the emphasis of the competitive struggle is transferred to the internal marketing, in order for the most important resource of any organization - employees - to be put into operation. The central figure of any organization remains the manager, but only under the condition that he treats his employees with respect, and shows empathy and openness for communication. In direct communication, the manager should have the ability to respond quickly, but also to distinguish between the important and unimportant, and to precisely combine tenacity and open-mindedness, tolerance and decisiveness. To be able to motivate others, an individual has to be self-motivated. This process is reciprocal, which means that while working on raising the motivation of employees, the manager raises his own motivational capacity. The quality internal communication and employee motivation are ways to improve organizational trust and professional rapport, which is directly related to: the quality of task execution, results, achievement of goals, and fulfillment of the mission of the organization. In this way the performance of the organization is significantly improved, without significant engagement of additional resources. Successful business communication in the organization requires a lot of experience and knowledge of work with people, and above all: the knowledge of laws of motivation, recognition of demotivation, knowledge of mechanisms for motivating the individuals and teams, and purposeful use of criticism so as to make it become motivating.
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