Importance of Communication in Workplace: A Case Study of Commonwealth Bank

This essay discusses the significance of communication in the workplace with a case study of Commonwealth Bank. It analyzes the issues faced by employees due to lack of communication and provides recommendations to improve communication skills.

Running head: COMMUNICATION
Communication
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1COMMUNICATION
Introduction
The workplace communication is considered to be the tremendously essential in the
organizations as it assists in improving the productivity as well as efficiency in a successful
manner. As commented by Bergman, Dellve, and Skagert (2016), the good kind of
communication matters at the workplace as it takes it to work in a team and it will be
allowing the employees to work in such a manner which will be beneficial for the success of
the firm. On the contrary, as commented by Castle Bell, Hopson, Weathers, & Ross, (2015),
the bad communication leads to failure, errors or the lawsuits that can create chaos in the
workplace. In the essay, the issues and failures of Commonwealth Bank will be discussed as
to gain the effective understanding of significance of communication in the workplace.
Overview on Commonwealth Bank
Commonwealth Bank of Australia is the multinational bank that is headquartered at
Sydney, Australia and it was being incorporated in the year 1911. There are different
locations wherein the company have their presence which is 1100+ branches and the areas
served by the bank is worldwide (Commonwealthbank.com.au, 2019). There are more than
51800 employees employed at Commonwealth Bank and there has been huge increase in the
revenue which is increase of A$26.005 billion till the year 2017.
Analysis of Issues Faced by Employees at Commonwealth Bank
During the month of April, in the year 2019, it is analyzed that Commonwealth Bank
has not been able to provide 8000 employees with the salary and they have been underpaid as
well which was regarding the failure of the Human Resource Technology failure. In addition,
the same aspect was not being communicated to the employees that affected the brand image
and reputation of bank negatively (Coombs, 2015). There were lawsuits filed by the various

2COMMUNICATION
former employees and it was termed as “blunder” related to the Commonwealth Bank’s
aspects. Due to the lack of communication, it can be seen that the morale of employees was
decreased and due to the same, many of employees filed lawsuits against CBA regarding the
underpayment charges. In the respective case, the company was forced to repay millions of
dollars to the current as well as former employees (Financial Review, 2019). After the
lawsuits were filed against the company, the HR and the higher management officials were
apologetic, however the profitability of the company decreased.
Recommendations- The Skills Related to Communication Plays a Vital Role in
Managing Effectiveness
As to manage the communication effectiveness, there are different aspects which are
required to be followed by the company for improving the scenario and gain competitiveness
in the market as well. Firstly, as commented by Samovar, McDaniel, Porter, & Roy, (2015),
the effective communication can be helpful in binding the different employees together and
it is the major step towards building the good team. There can be creation of proper job
satisfaction when the companies will be encouraging the open correspondence between
subordinates and seniors and face the lesser turnover among the employees. When the
workplace is friendly, the feedback can be shared and it will be motivating the employees to
work better and feel better and valued in the company (MacDonald, Kelly, & Christen, 2019).
Furthermore, due to the effective communication, it will be leading to lesser conflicts
as the open kind of communication can prevent the various conflicts. As per the
Commonwealth Bank, it can be seen that the Human Resource Department could have
conveyed the less payment of the salary aspects to the employees which would have
improved the situation. As the HR did not convey, it led to lawsuits and in the end, the
company was forced to pay millions of overdues to the current and former employees (Wu,

3COMMUNICATION
Birtch, Chiang, & Zhang, 2018). From the instance, it can be seen that such kind of instance
can be nipped in bud when the managers can act as the mediator and it will be helpful for
putting across thoughts and the situation can be resolved appropriately.
Lastly, better work future can be generated through the proper incorporation of the
proper communication. The different managers and the employees in the companies need to
communicate clearly which will be establishing the congenial working atmosphere and
relationship among the supervisors and subordinates and the work-related issues can be
resolved within the stipulated time frame (Meulenbroek, & Turkstra, 2016). In addition, the
different employees will be given the proper opportunity to provide their feedback regarding
the grievances which are faced by them which will make the communication a two-way
process (Trittin, & Schoeneborn, 2017). When the organizations face such kind of problems,
the proper utilisation of resources is significant approach that can be adopted by them which
will not cause the unnecessary delays in the workforce and it will be not be lowering the
productivity of the workplace (Ryan, & Wessel, 2015). Therefore, the environment of good
workplace is necessary and essential as communication is the critical element that can be
incorporated.
Therefore, from the above, it can be analyzed that the workplace communication
helps in building the good and effective relationship amid the bosses and employees and it
can go a long way in securing better work future for the company. The open communication
and relationship among subordinates and supervisors will be beneficial in improving the
overall workplace productivity and increases the morale of the employees (Sahay,
Hutchinson, & East, 2015). With the help of the case study of the Commonwealth Bank, it
can be understood that the proper communication will be suitable in building the
communication constant and master the different aspects in a possible manner. The Human

4COMMUNICATION
Resource Management department of Commonwealth bank could have shared the news of
underpayment of employees, it would have been suitable in offering the proper platform for
the anonymous feedback which could have been helpful in gaining competitiveness (Schnoll,
2017).
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that communication is critical and vital element that
can be summed up with the two words “Work and Job Satisfaction” among the employees.
When the different employees are satisfied with the organization and the policies, there is no
such denying of the fact that organization is absolutely secured and the employees are treated
as the vital part of the entire process. The different companies need to create environment
wherein the different problems and issues are pertaining to work can be resolved with open
communication and it will be generating huge success in the market.

5COMMUNICATION
References
Bergman, C., Dellve, L., & Skagert, K. (2016). Exploring communication processes in
workplace meetings: A mixed methods study in a Swedish healthcare
organization. Work, 54(3), 533-541.
Castle Bell, G., Hopson, M. C., Weathers, M. R., & Ross, K. A. (2015). From “laying the
foundations” to building the house: Extending Orbe's co-cultural theory to include
“rationalization” as a formal strategy. Communication Studies, 66(1), 1-26.
Commonwealthbank.com.au (2019) CommBank: Personal banking including accounts and
Credit Cards (online) Retrieved from https://www.commbank.com.au [Accessed on
13th September 2019]
Coombs, W. T. (2015). The value of communication during a crisis: Insights from strategic
communication research. Business Horizons, 58(2), 141-148.
Financial Review (2019) CBA underpays 8000 staff after HR tech system failure (online)
Retrieved from https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/cba-underpays-
8000-staff-after-hr-tech-system-failure-20190416-p51epg [Accessed on 13th
September 2019]
MacDonald, P., Kelly, S., & Christen, S. (2019). A path model of workplace solidarity,
satisfaction, burnout, and motivation. International Journal of Business
Communication, 56(1), 31-49.
Meulenbroek, P., & Turkstra, L. S. (2016). Job stability in skilled work and communication
ability after moderate–severe traumatic brain injury. Disability and
rehabilitation, 38(5), 452-461.

6COMMUNICATION
Ryan, A. M., & Wessel, J. L. (2015). Implications of a changing workforce and workplace
for justice perceptions and expectations. Human Resource Management
Review, 25(2), 162-175.
Sahay, A., Hutchinson, M., & East, L. (2015). Exploring the influence of workplace supports
and relationships on safe medication practice: A pilot study of Australian graduate
nurses. Nurse education today, 35(5), e21-e26.
Samovar, L. A., McDaniel, E. R., Porter, R. E., & Roy, C. S. (2015). Communication
between cultures. Nelson Education.
Schnoll, R. S. (2017). An Exploratory Study of Learning Transfer from the Online Technical
Communication Course to the Workplace.
Trittin, H., & Schoeneborn, D. (2017). Diversity as polyphony: Reconceptualizing diversity
management from a communication-centered perspective. Journal of Business
Ethics, 144(2), 305-322.
Wu, L. Z., Birtch, T. A., Chiang, F. F., & Zhang, H. (2018). Perceptions of negative
workplace gossip: A self-consistency theory framework. Journal of
Management, 44(5), 1873-1898.
Xu, X., Maki, A., Chen, C. F., Dong, B., & Day, J. K. (2017). Investigating willingness to
save energy and communication about energy use in the American workplace with the
attitude-behavior-context model. Energy research & social science, 32, 13-22.