Communication apprehension in the work place and its effects on employee job satisfaction: a case study of global family rescue (GFR) Uganda
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Date
2009-10
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Kampala International University,College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract
This report is a result of the study conducted at Global Family Rescue-Uganda with
intention of investigating how communication apprehension affects employees in this
organization and how it relates to their level ofjob satisfaction. The objectives of this study
were to identifSi the types of communication apprehension facing employees of Global
Family Rescue; find out causes of communication apprehension in GFR and investigate
effects of communication apprehension on job satisfaction of Global Family Rescue
employees. In order to achieve these objectives and answer research questions, an
explanatory research design was used and the study was conducted through a case study.
Semi-structured questionnaire was applied when survey were completed and returned, data
was entered into SPSS for analysis, several tests were run on the data, and significant
findings were presented.
Writing apprehension was observed to be the main type of communication apprehension
affecting GFR employees. While in context based CA, GFR employees proved to be more
apprehensive in group discussions and meetings rather than in conversation and public
speaking, on the side of audience based CA, GFR employees are more apprehensive when
communicating with strangers than when communicating with friends or acquaintances.
It was revealed that communication apprehension among GFR employees is mainly caused
by the relationship between managers and subordinates as argued by almost three quarter of
respondents. This is sometimes due to unclear expectations from supervisors to
subordinates. Another fact that causes communication apprehension is the employees’ level
of communication skills.
Finally, it was discovered that communication apprehension affects employees’ job
satisfaction in one way or another. Employees with high level of communication
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apprehension prefer jobs with as little communication as possible, and they are not
generally as dominant as those with a low level of communication apprehension. In
addition, they are unlikely to volunteer for team projects, rather preferring to work alone,
and tend to interact less frequently with small groups, and when they do interact, their
quality of contribution is usually far less extensive than that of their peers who do not suffer
from high communication apprehension.
It was recommended that GFR management should have internal training and development
department dedicated to the advancement of its employees as far as communication is
concerned. This will help employees to overcome fear of communication.
Description
A thesis submitted to the school of p~
graduate studies in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Award of
the Degree of master of Arts in human
resource management of Kampala
International University
Keywords
Communication, Work place, Employee, Job Satisfaction, Uganda