Findings/Analysis

Lee Electronics is a small retail warehouse. Therefore, an appropriate communication channel should enable it to save on the costs. Also, the medium of communication adopted by the company will dictate how the message is sent to the employees (?eitan, 2017, p. 121). Hence, the type of information, the employees and the overall purpose of communication are significant considerations when selecting an appropriate medium of communication (Barbour, Gill & Barge, 2018, p. 335). In this business report, email to all staff members, company posters and general manager presentations have been selected as some effective communication channels which can be used to inform Lee Electronics’ employees concerning the company’s intention to pay them bonuses during Christmas. The report has also explained why the three channels are effective in notifying Lee Electronics’ employees concerning the company’s intention to pay them bonuses.

Email to all staff members

Electronic mail enables individuals to communicate with others using digital messages transmitted across the internet. Email messages entail a subject line, attachment of images or documents and the body copy (Pignata et al., 2015, p. 160). Possibly, all the employees and middle managers at Lee Electronics have either personal or corporate email addresses. A standard email message will be drafted and sent to every employee. The email will contain a clear subject line to avoid any confusion from the employees (Rajhans, 2012, p. 82). Besides, the employees will be given an opportunity to reply as a way of confirming that they have received the emails and understood their contents. To avoid delivery errors, all the emails will be confirmed to ensure that they belonged to the right employees and spelt correctly.
 

Why Email is an effective communication channel

The cost of communication is a major consideration when choosing an appropriate communication channel (Quaresma, Silva & Marreiros, 2013, p. 10). Besides, Lee electronics’ primary objective is to maximise profits and reduce costs. Sending an email will not expose the company to any incremental costs apart from the payment that will be made to the service providers and infrastructure costs. Emails are also easy to send. There is no need for Lee Electronics to employ several employees to send an email, thus minimising on personnel and professional costs.

The employees will receive the sent emails instantly. In case an email is not delivered, an error message will be sent (Quaresma, Silva & Marreiros, 2013, p. 12). This will enable the sender to counter check and identify the possible problems which could cause delivery errors. The employees who will receive the emails will also be encouraged to forward them to their colleagues as a way of ensuring that all the employees are informed concerning the bonus payments. When an email is sent to multiple recipients, the receivers can view all the people who have received the email through their inboxes. Therefore, employees who will not see the email addresses of their colleagues will be able to inform them.
 

Posters to be put up around the company

A designer will be used to make several posters which will be pinned in Lee Electronics’ notice boards for the employees to access. Also in the posters, phone numbers of the management and email addresses will be availed for the employees with any concerns regarding the bonus payments to seek explanations. The posters will be made in a way that they will be appealing for the employees to identify them easily. Ideally, an interesting poster must be situated where the intended target group will pass so that it can draw the attention of a large group of people at once (Bavdekar, Vyas & Anand, 2017, p. 84). Therefore, when the posters are placed in strategic places around the company, many employees will be able to spot and read them.
2.2.1 Why using posters is effective in communicating with employees

Email to all staff members

Posters are flexible and easy to design. They can be pinned inside the offices and departments, on the walls and the company noticeboards (Pedwell, Hardy & Rowland, 2017, p. 250). In the Case of Lee Electronics, the posters will be put in locations where they can be easily accessed by the employees. Such places will include noticeboards and warehouse walls. The employees will be encouraged to share the message in the posters with their colleagues and encourage them to go and view them in specific places.

Posters are inexpensive. Lee Company will incur a small expense in designing and hanging posters. Furthermore, being a small warehouse, it is easy for the employees to view the posters and inform their colleagues. Therefore, the company will not incur the cost of creating awareness (Pedwell, Hardy & Rowland, 2017, p. 252). Besides only a limited number of people will be used to hang the posters.
 

General Manager Presentation

General management presentations entail interactive forums, where the managers meet with the employees and convey specific information. Managers can use different formats to execute their presentations (Swathi, 2015, p. 7). In the Case of Lee Electronics, proper powerpoint slides will be designed. The employees will then be notified concerning an upcoming meeting. In the meeting, a presentation about the bonus payments will be made. The employees will be allowed to ask questions in areas where they have doubts. Furthermore, depending on the reactions of the employees, adequate clarifications will be made on unclear points.

Why General Manager presentation is an effective medium for communicating with the employees.

The principal benefit of a presentation is that a manager can interact with the audience. Also, a manager who is presenting information in a document has to make some assumptions concerning the audience (Stuart, 2013, p. 4). Therefore, presenting about the bonus payments to the employees will ensure that a live discussion is developed with the employees. Through the discussion, employees will be able to understand some points which may be confusing. Furthermore, while presenting, it is possible to develop an image of the audience and relay arguments in line with the preconceived image.

During presentations, it is possible to observe the reactions of the employees. Such reactions can be evaluated based on the body language and the questions asked by the employees (Abdulrahman et al., 2017, p. 106). Therefore, conducting a presentation to Lee Electronics employees will necessitate an understanding of some aspects on the spot. For instance, if the employees will demonstrate blank looks, then it will be evident that they may not be getting specific points, making it necessary to go into details to ensure that everyone understands the concepts.
 

Conclusions 

Email, general manager presentations and posters should be used to notify Lee Electronics’ employees about the company’s plan to pay them bonuses during Christmas. The bonus payments will be made to all the employees including the middle management, creating a need to use mediums that can ensure proper message delivery. Emails are instant. The employees will also be able to share the sent emails with their colleagues to minimise the cases of some employees not receiving them. Posters are flexible and easy to design. They can be put in strategic locations such as notice boards and warehouse walls to ensure that all the employees have access to them. Finally, presentations are interactive and allow for the study of audience reactions. During presentations, the employees will be able to seek clarifications on unclear concepts concerning the bonus payments. 

References

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