Communication Issues Faced by Commonwealth Bank and Solution Using Social Media

The report investigates the communication issues faced by Commonwealth Bank, a leading Australian multinational bank. The lack of communication has affected the decision-making process and the working of the company. The report suggests the use of social media as a solution to the communication problem. The benefits of social media in the workplace are discussed. The report concludes that the use of social media as a communication tool will help the employees in communicating the right information to the customers.

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Organisation context........................................................................................................................3
Communication problem.................................................................................................................3
Resolution for the problem..............................................................................................................6
Social media helps in communication.............................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The aim of the report is to investigate the communication issues faced by the well-known leading
bank that is commonwealth bank. The communication issues faced by the banks leads to the
undefined decision-making process which affects the working and profit of the company. The
report will include a solution for the communication problem that is faced by the company. The
implementation of the digital communication strategy within the commonwealth organization
will help them in resolve the problems. The proposal reflects that the use of social media in the
workplace for the communication will be effective for the company.

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Organisation context
Commonwealth Bank of Australia is one of the well-known leading Australian multinational
banks with the businesses across New Zealand, Asia, US, and the UK. The company offers
different financial services which include retail, business and institutional banking, insurance,
funds, share-broking products, investment and many others. The company came into existence in
the year 1911 by the Australian government. The bank is performing its operations effectively in
the multiple companies but the employees of the company are facing the issues related to the
communication (Commonwealth Bank, 2018). The communication issues have created the
impact on the working of the company due to which they were not able to make the decisions
effectively and efficiently. The decisions of the company totally depend on the communication
that took place within the organization. Commonwealth is a well-known bank who believes in
providing the customer's satisfaction to the maximum but when they won’t be able to
communicate properly then they won’t be able to form the decisions. This is the fact that
company has 20 years’ experience in the field of IT management. Therefore, it is essential for the
company to analyze the communication issues and to take the proper steps to resolve the issues.
Communication problem
Communication within an organization is essential for the smooth working of the business. The
communication should not only take place between the employees, stakeholders but also
between the customers and company (Willcocks & Reynolds, 2015). The lack of communication
might lead to many issues due to which the company might have lost their customers. The
company problems faced by the commonwealth bank are discussed below: -

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Lack of communication among higher manager and subordinates
When the bitcoin came into the market of Australia then the banking companies were the highest
affected companies. Due to lack of communication between the higher manager and
subordinates, some of the issues arise which affected the customers of the bank. The bank
suspended the outgoing payments on the business account of bitcoin along with this they closed
the two founder’s personal accounts without any warning. The customers said that they are
disappointed after listening to the fact that company also has communication issues (Powell,
2013). This reflects that lack of communication between the employees and the manager of the
company has created the impact on the decision making of the company.
The communication gap is very clear between the manager and the subordinates of the company.
This results in the loss of the customers of the company and affected the image of the bank in the
market.
Lack of communication among financial advisor and customers
In the commonwealth bank, there are numerous customers who visit the bank for the financial
services on daily basis. The workplace communication over here also includes the lack of
communication between the financial advisor and customers. The recent scenario that took place
in a bank in which the bank has provided the high-risk financial advisor has given the advice to
many customers for the investment. The high-risk financial advice results in the loss of life-
saving of numerous people. On the other hand, the bank had made the solid profit out of it
(Baker, 2014). On this, the bank stated that the issues took place because of the communication
crises between the bank financial advisor and customers as the communication was done
between the two.

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This incident also reflects that there might be a gap between the advisor and the customers or the
advisor has taken it wrongly when the financial investment was explained to him by the other
financial investors in the bank. Moreover, the issues reflect that there are some or other
loopholes related to the communication are present in the workplace only due to which
customers are getting affected.
This reflects that are numerous incidences faced by the company which reflects that there is lack
of communication in the organizations. Some of the communication issues faced by the company
at the workplace are: -
 Poor listening skills: - The employees of the bank have not developed the appropriate
listening skills due to which they faced many issues while communication. The lack of
listening skills created the misunderstanding due to which they were not able to perform
their assign work and responsibility (Sheehan & Quinn-Allan, 2015).
 Misinterpretation and assumptions: - Employees of the commonwealth bank
sometimes misunderstood and assume wrongly due to which they are not able to maintain
the accurate flow of the information which not only create the impact on the workplace
but also affect their customers to whom they deal on daily basis.
 Lack of personal communication: - Employees of the commonwealth bank doesn’t get
enough time to communicate with each other at the workplace due to which they are not
able to confirm the exact details that are communicated to them by the top level
management (Bennett, Pitt & Price, 2012).
 The gap between the communication of top management and employees: - The top
management of the company are not effective in communicating with the employees of

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their company due to which the misunderstanding take place between them which leads
to unfitting decisions.
Resolution of the problem
The use of the social media in the workplace is one of the best ways through which the
communication problem can be resolved. Social media use is increasing in the workplace
because this is one of the most convenient ways through which the employees of the
organization can communicate with each other. Commonwealth bank can make use of different
tools of social media such as Facebook pages, Yammer, Linked In, company blogs, remote
access and youtube (Taurasi, 2015). These tools help the company to communicate the
appropriate and required details to their customers which is one of the effective ways through
which the employees of the company can get the current and updated details. This will help the
employees of commonwealth bank to communicate the right details to the customers which will
enhance their experience with the company (Treem & Leonardi, 2013). Therefore, it is
recommended to the company to make use of the some of the social media tools. Moreover, the
company can form what’s app groups on which they can share the information on urgent basis.
The company can link that particular what’s app number with the systems of employees with the
use of the software. This will help the employees to check the details with the help of
Social media helps in communication
Social media provide the support to employees at the workplace and provide them assistance
with the communication. Some of the benefits are discussed below: -

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 Employees can ask questions on real time: - Social media provide the assistance to the
employees while dealing with the difficult work problem. If the employee are facing any
issue and has doubt for any particular information then they can ask the questions on real
time. This helps them in resolving their problems at the real-time and this will support
them while communicating with the customers.
 Enhance information delivery and discovery: - The employees can make use of social
media in the form of communication to discover and delivery job associated information.
The social media helps the manager to spread the information related to the company
within the workplace (Jeanetta, 2017).
 Boost productivity: - Social helps in boosting the productivity of the employees in the
organization. The social media enables the easy flow of the information within the
organization and the employees don't have to move from their places again and again.
This method will help them in assessing the details easily which will save their time and
boost their performance
 Accurate information: - The social media helps the employees to get the accurate
information from the sources and they can communicate the same to the customers.
Moreover, if they get blamed that the information communicated is incorrect then they
can show the proof they have with them (Veil, Buehner & Palenchar, 2011).

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Conclusion
In the end, it can be concluded that each and every company faces some of the communication
issues which directly create the impact on the decision that they made. Similarly, the
Commonwealth bank is getting affected because of some communication due to which they took
some incorrect decision which sooner became the incidences of the company. Commonwealth
bank needs to make use of the social media for the communication and effective use of the social
media will help the employees to get updated with the appropriate information. Therefore, the
use of the social media as a communication tool will help the employees in communicating the
right information to the customers.

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References
Baker, R. (2014). CommBank's crisis communications a 'staggering failure'. Retrieved from:
http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews/commbank-s-crisis-communications-a-staggering-
failure
Bennett, J., Pitt, M., & Price, S. (2012). Understanding the impact of generational issues in the
workplace. Facilities, 30(7/8), 278-288.
Commonwealth Bank. (2018). About Commonwealth Bank. Retrieved from:
https://www.commbank.com.au/about-us.html?ei=CB-footer_about-commbank
Jeanetta, A. (2017). 7 Reasons social media in the workplace can help employees. Retrieved
from: https://theolsongroup.com/5-reasons-social-media-workplace-can-help-employees/
Powell, R. (2013). Bitcoin start-up calls out Commonwealth Bank on accounts suspended
without warning or explanation. Retrieved from:
https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/advice/startupsmart-legal/coinjar-hits-
out-at-commonwealth-bank-for-lack-of-communication-on-account-suspension/
Sheehan, M., & Quinn-Allan, D. (Eds.). (2015). Crisis communication in a digital world. UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Taurasi, L. (2015). 7 Ways to Use Social Media for Employee Communications. Retrieved from:
http://workplace.care.com/7-ways-to-use-social-media-for-employee-communications

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Treem, J. W., & Leonardi, P. M. (2013). Social media use in organizations: Exploring the
affordances of visibility, editability, persistence, and association. Annals of the
International Communication Association, 36(1), 143-189.
Veil, S. R., Buehner, T., & Palenchar, M. J. (2011). A work‐in‐process literature review:
Incorporating social media in risk and crisis communication. Journal of contingencies
and crisis management, 19(2), 110-122.
Willcocks, L. & Reynolds, P. (2015). The Commonwealth Bank of Australia - strategizing from
outsourcing to the cloud part 1: perennial challenges amidst turbulent technology.
Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases, 4 (2), 86-98.