Achieving Sustainability Through Internal Communication and Soft Skills

Ashu Singh* Internal communication and soft skills are the need of todays organizations, and sustainability is a major challenge for all. It is the core of branding from the inside out. The internal communication process should address issues related to strategy, processes, people, structure and rewards. The HR function can help in achieving sustainability if the HR strategies for employee development are carefully communicated and integrated with the corporate, business and functional strategies of the organization. The top management has to work closely with all managerial levels. The soft skills, which are as important as hard skills, have a lead role to play in this regard. Measures need to be taken to bridge the gap between managerial hierarchies to leverage the internal knowledge for competitive advantage. Employees have to be motivated to be value creators instead of being workers for the organization. All this requires clear communication between all levels of the management. Only HR people can drive this clarity and bring sustainability by providing the workforce with opportunities for sharing and learning in teams.

Introduction
Sustainability is a major issue for all organizations, and the growing competition poses a threat to their long term survival. It takes into consideration the people, planet and profit which form the triple bottom line of sustainability. But a closer look at organizations reveals that the five elementsstrategy, processes, people, structure and rewardshave to be closely intertwined with sustainability initiatives to gain competitive advantage. Internal communication is the necessity for greater employee satisfaction. It can help resolve the issues pertaining to the five elements and lead to sustainability and gaining competitive edge. Soft skills relate to a persons blend of personality traits and behavioral traits like social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that
* Assistant Professor, Asia E-mail: ashu.s@asiapacific.edu Pacific Institute of Management, New Delhi, India.

2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved. Achieving Sustainability Through Internal Communication and Soft Skills

21

characterize relationships with other people. In present times, they are as important as hard skills for meeting the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities. The HR function and interpersonal characteristics of jobs have to be aligned with the corporate, functional and business strategies for leveraging internal communication flows. A transparent organization can be built with an environment of open communication and help in minimizing the conflicts and grievances. It will also stop the grapevine communication leading to negative emotions and efficiency. This paper aims to look at the organizational communication solutions for sustainable existence and competitive edge.

Sustainability and Competitive Advantage

Organizations have to look at the sustainability dimension for their survival. Competitive forces have made it mandatory for the organizations to take sustainability perspectives with utmost seriousness. They impact the external and internal environment in which the organization operates. To achieve advantages for long-term survival, the principles of sustainability need to be incorporated into the business decisions. These decisions impact the supply of environment-friendly products or services and the organizations commitment to protect the environment in its operations. They also impact the managements attitude towards its workforce. The triple bottom line shows an organizations commitment to the people, planet and profit since it has to contribute towards the society and give back what has been received from the community. But this is not enough. Sustainability cannot be achieved only externally. Internal payback, i.e., what the organization gives to its workforce is more crucial for meeting the challenges of sustainability. The employees and the work environment have a direct impact on employer branding. The kind of brand image that an organization creates to the outside world makes it the best place to work in. For gaining employer branding, it is important to take care of the internal communication flows and total development of the employees in the organization. According to Professor Jay Galbraith, Sustainability should be embedded in the organizations culture so as to realize its true value. He developed the star model, outlining the five essential elements for changing the culture of an organization: strategy, structure, processes, people and rewards. Communication links the various managerial levels and affects efficiency and productivity. Poor communication can result in conflicts and grievances. The philosophies and values of the top management are reflected in the way information flows in the organization. The five elementsstrategy, processes, people, structure and rewardshave to be closely intertwined with internal communication to gain competitive advantage.
22 The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. VII, No. 1, 2013

A closer look at all these elements will reflect the importance of internal communication in organizational sustainability, bringing a positive change.

Strategy
The strategic approach of the human resource management needs a shift from hiring the best people to developing the existing personnel. The persons skill set and ability to perform a certain type of task or activity can be complemented if they are related to his ability to interact and communicate effectively with coworkers and customers since this behavior is required both in and outside the workplace. Many studies have proved that a grapevine gives rise to conflicts which have to be managed and resolved through different strategies. Developing a workforce for the future will need internal communications that motivate and improve the employees abilities. The ill-effects of grapevine can be overcome through time management practices and utilizing the workforce constructively. Creative ideas should be encouraged and gossip and rumors should be discouraged. A leader should minimize emotional conflict and promote taskrelated conflict to enhance positive learning (Mitroff, 1998). The internal communication flows can also help in reducing conflict.

People
Training for soft skills is important as total personality development is what is desired in the present times. An employee can be made more dependable and considered as a capital investment for giving a regular return on investment. The interpersonal behavior can influence the socialization of the employee. People with compassionate communication skills should be hired. Staff should observe the managers for cultivating an environment of open communication. The behavior of the employee should be made sociable through training and by giving more opportunities for teamwork. More time and efforts should be invested in the people to enhance their skills for the future and gain positive returns.

Structure
The tall hierarchial structures have to be replaced by teams to create a social organization which has room for empathy, teamwork and a positive approach for teaching and learning by working together. The structure defines the roles, responsibilities and accountability relationships. Traditionally, the structures were tall with many layers and the top-down approach was used for communication. If the flow of communication choked at any point, it gave rise to grapevine. Today, the flat structure, where the work is done by teams of specialists, is more common. The organizational structure should encourage open communication across all levels which allows for self-correction and group problem solving.

Process
The organizational processes for employees training, teamwork, self and peer evaluation, time management and giving and receiving feedback are crucial for a sound culture. The negotiation processes and group development procedures are integral to smooth
Achieving Sustainability Through Internal Communication and Soft Skills 23

operations. This is the business and technical infrastructure that employees use on a day-to-day basis to accomplish their aims and goals. The organizational processes mentioned above are crucial for all organizations. They are sometimes complicated due to unnecessary requirements. It is important to simplify and modernize the processes by innovation and use of new technology to make the decision-making process quicker. Knowledge of the hidden aspects of the organizationunwritten rules in meetings and other decision-making forums, blind spots and reaction of the employeescan be ascertained through internal communications. It is important to think before reacting, listen actively, assure a fair process of problem solving, attack the problem rather than the person, accept responsibility and use direct communication.

Rewards
The rewards, instead of being short term, are rather long term. They are a mix of personal attributes that help in enhancing an individuals interactions, job performance and career prospects. People in favor of open communication believe that unless employees understand the pay system and how their pay is determined, it will not support and enable the achievement of strategic business objectives. It is not the value of pay. It is the communication. Companies spend a fortune providing benefits that employees do not value, understand or even know exist. The sustainability strategists and HR professionals should map their initiatives for improving the culture of organization by improving the internal communication processes. The employees need to understand that the rewards will be for the long term and will give them better career prospects. The smooth flow of communication has to be sought from the top to the lowest level and transparency in communication needs to be encouraged for fostering a sustainable organization. Sometimes, the interplay of power and politics in organizations may hamper the internal communication process. HR has an even greater responsibility in such circumstances. Group cohesion should not lead to political behavior, favoring a few and neglecting others. The HR strategy for clear communication can be tightly integrated with corporate and other functional strategies to create inimitable capabilities and drive competitive advantage. It requires HR management planning to be recognized as a fundamental part of this program. HR professionals working within an organizational context should contribute for better integration of transparent communication and sustainability initiatives with a mix of soft skills. It should allow for developing each employee to his or her full potential through a system of incentives designed to encourage both competition and teamwork. The challenges to the HR function for sustainability initiatives in the future are many:

The choice of communication flows depends on cultural factors, both at the

societal and organizational levels.

Companies that are exposed to global competition for the first time have to
focus more on HR as an area for change and be made to leverage their
24 The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. VII, No. 1, 2013

communication for professionalism, independence in operational decision making, greater transparency in performance measurement, and market-linked compensation.

The challenge during times of mergers and acquisitions is immense. It is

certain that post-merger integration is a significant factor in the success of a merger or acquisition. Again the role of communication has to be felt at this stage. The newly acquired company can be well integrated through open communication and having transparent internal flows. Soft skill development of employees can help in reducing the post-merger blues. The importance of open and transparent communication is to be felt by all managerial levels, especially the topmost level. The vision and strongly-held beliefs of the CEO play the lead role, with the HR professionals in a complementary role. A change in the role of HR professionals from that of a supporter to a value creator will enhance internal communication within the company, and most importantly for the employees who are the biggest link in the communication network.

Conclusion
Internal communication and teamwork are necessary for sustainability and the five elements of strategy, processes, people, structure and rewards have to be closely intertwined to gain competitive advantage. This is possible only when the organization encourages open and transparent communication and resolves its conflicts and grievances, and encourages total personality development of the employees. It is important to integrate the HR function with communication strategies to bring about the desired change.

Bibliography
1. Daimler (2010), Organization and Management, available at http:// sustainability.daimler.com/reports/daimler/annual/2010/nb/English/2040/humanresources-management.html 2. Gareth E A (2004), The Evolution and Implementation of an Integrated Model of Human Resource Strategy, DProf Thesis, Middlesex University. 3. Krishnan R T (2005), Linking Corporate Strategy and HR Strategy: Implications for HR Professionals, in R Padaki, N M Agrawal, C Balaji and G Mahapatra (Eds.), Emerging Asia: An HR Agenda, pp. 215-223, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi. 4. Michael Porter (1980), Competitive Strategy, Free Press. 5. Mitroff I I (1998), Smart Thinking for Crazy Times: The Art of Solving the Right Problems, Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco. 6. SHRM (2008), Executive Roundtable Symposium on Sustainability and Human Resource Management Strategy, SHRM Research Report, May.
Achieving Sustainability Through Internal Communication and Soft Skills 25

7. Sumantra G and Christopher A B (1997), The Individualized Corporation, Harper Business. 8. Sustainable Business, avilable at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_business 9. Triple Bottom Line, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line

Reference # 50J-2013-03-02-01

26

The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. VII, No. 1, 2013

Copyright of IUP Journal of Soft Skills is the property of IUP Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.