Assignment Scenario

 The Senior Management Team (SMT) of a local medium sized organisation, SHDE Holdings, has become aware of communication problems within their organisation. Customers have been complaining of poor service. The Managing Director is appalled to see spelling errors in letters and now suppliers have refused to deliver further goods until they receive a response to their emails and phone calls about their outstanding invoices.

You work with a training consultancy, Training Solutions. An experienced colleague, Asha Kumari, has established the nature of the problems in SHDE Holdings and you have been asked to work with the client to deliver the proposed staff training solutions.

You receive the following email and attached report from Asha.

To:              xxxxx

From           Asha
Kumari CC

Subject       SHDE Holdings

Dear XXXXXX

I have recently visited SHDE Holdings and attach my report below. Please read this carefully.

I would like you to finish this project. The business needs a workshop on communication with some training materials (e.g., a manual or hand-outs) plus a report for SMT. Please carry out the following tasks:

Task 1

Prepare a formal report for the senior staff and line managers at SHDE Holdings. You should include charts and graphs to present information and support the text of the report as appropriate.

This report should:

· Explain the process of internal communication within organisations

· Assess the methods of internal communication that should be used for different purposes (e.g. letter for formal communication with customers, telephone call for clarification of a complex matter, email for confirmation of detail). Please support this with examples that could apply to SHDE

· Analyse the barriers that exist within organisations giving examples from SHDE Holdings

Extension activity

For a Merit, you must add a further section to your report in which you

· Analyse legal and ethical issues in relation to the communication of information within organisations.

Learning outcomes and assessment criteria

LO5 AC 5.1

Task 2

As part of the staff training programme, prepare a presentation with supporting speaker notes for the customer facing staff at SHDE Holdings.

Please include:

· An evaluation of communication systems that could be
used to communicate with customers. Please evaluate different systems

· An analysis of the impact of organisational relationships on effective communications

· An assessment of the impact of non-verbal communication on oral communications

For a Merit, you must produce a professionally structured document in which you:

· Assess the effectiveness of technology in oral and written communication.

Learning outcomes and assessment criteria

LO4 AC 4.1, 4D1

LO5 AC 5M1, 5D1

Report on SHDE Holdings

Asha Kumari

5 July

5 July

1.0 Introduction

SHDE is an electrical supplier with a regional repair centres and shops. The organisation is currently experiencing operational problems that are affecting customer satisfaction. Many of these are outside the scope of this report. Training Solutions has been asked to focus on communication issues both within the company and with suppliers and customers.

2.0 Summary

SHDE Holding is an electrical company operating locally. It has been established for 10 years. However, it is only in the past 3 years that their market has grown rapidly. The turnover and payroll have tripled within the last year. The business is projected to grow by a further 100% within 3 years.

The business is currently experiencing high levels of customer complaints and staff turnover. The communication difficulties exist in all areas and at all levels of the business.

Two solutions are proposed: a training session and a report to inform and influence SMT and line managers.

3.0 Research method

During week commencing 15 June, a consultant from Training Solutions spent 3 days at SHDE Holdings. The following research activities were carried out:

· Desk review of customer complaints

· Desk review of policies and procedures

· Interviews with 10 staff including the Managing Director, Operations Manager, 2 shop floor staff, 2 delivery staff, the HR Manager, one payroll assistant, the receptionist and the Premises Manager.

4.0 Findings

SHDE Holdings has expanded rapidly in the past 3 years. There has been a huge increase in complaints f rom both customers and suppliers. Staff morale is low and staff turnover high.

It is clear that this company values their customers and had a record of excellent internal and external customer relations. The SMT are shocked to find that complaints have increased by 50% and staff turnover has increased to levels which are damaging to the business. Members of SMT acknowledge that there is a communications issue within the company.

The causes for complaints vary. Only 3% concern the product itself. Over 55% of complaints concern delivery (over 75% of these are about late delivery). The remainder are about delivery to an incorrect address. The delivery staff acknowledge these problems. They are sent notes in the internal post about changes to delivery details – and by the time they receive them the package has often been dispatched. Sometimes they are told about changes (verbally) and fail to write the information down. There appears to be no formal system for communicating changes to orders.