Effective Business Communication for New Employees in Australia

This essay, written from the perspective of a country manager for an international agricultural products supplier based in Australia, examines the intricacies of business communication within the Australian context. It addresses the diverse communication styles present, emphasizing the importance of directness, humor, and non-verbal cues, while also acknowledging the significance of cultural sensitivity. The essay provides a detailed overview of Australian business communication practices, highlighting the differences between Australian and Japanese communication styles. The author offers specific recommendations for ten newly hired Japanese employees, covering written, verbal, and computer-mediated communication, as well as non-verbal communication. The recommendations focus on how to effectively communicate, what behaviors to adopt, and what to avoid in order to foster successful interactions within the Australian workplace. The essay references academic literature to support its observations and suggestions, providing a comprehensive guide for navigating business communication in Australia.

Running head: EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The two-way communication procedure including the transmittal of plans, feelings,
instructions, suggestions, ideas and reports, which impacts the attitude regarding the
objectives of the organization is known as business communication (Ntoumanis et al., 2017).
The two-way method involving speaking and listening in almost all the phases of the daily
course of business functions reflects the application of business communication (Bovée, Thill
& Raina, 2016). The effectiveness of business communication can only be ensured by the
accomplishment of the objective of conveying messages without disturbances or distortion.
The purpose of the paper is to plan a document as a country manager presenting an outline
regarding the academic literature associated with the business communication practices in
Australia. The home country of the newly selected employees is Japan. The paper will also
present the recommendations for the newly appointed employees regarding the practices of
incompetent and competent business communication. The recommendations will portray the
application of communication practices that needs to be practised, and that should not be
practised. The paper will be concluded by summarizing the findings and deduced
recommendations for the newly appointed employees in the supplier of international
agricultural products.
Body
Overview of business communication practices in Australia
Australia is considered to be the polyglot country, which involves more than a hundred
languages and communication style spoken within the population. Due to the increasing
immigration rate in Australia, the country and the businesses have accepted the differences in
communication practices (Worldbusinessculture.com, 2019). However, English is regarded as
the business language in Australia. In Australia, business officials involve allotting
importance to directness over diplomacy, which may lead to the impression of bluntness
(Anderson & Lehman, 2019). Bluntness in Australian business communication can have both

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negative and positive impact, it can encourage the transparency of communication message
but at the same time can harm the motivational factors of speaking with the managers. In the
context of business communication of Australia, the communication style of directness is
valued, and the person is failing to express what she or he means can lead to the perception of
hypocrisy and evasiveness for that person in a business scenario (Worldbusinessculture.com,
2019). In the business context of Australia, self-promotion while communicating is not
appreciated. The communication style depicting the approach of the hard sell while
communicating may lead to the perception of bragging and will stimulate a negative response
by the business officials (Guffey & Loewy, 2015). In the Australian business culture, the
practices involving communicating concerns efficiently is considered better than a hyperbolic
approach. In the context of business communication in Australia, humour is accepted
universally. More than acceptability, humour in business communication practices of
Australia is expected. One should not underestimate a senior manager of Australia as she or
he can imply humour in the situations where it is perceived inappropriate by team members.
While communicating in the business scenarios, employees are expected to communicate on
a first-name basis (Boer et al., 2017). The educational titles and business positions may
reflect little significance in the business scenarios. The Australian organizations are known
for their directness in communicating approach with the association of humour and the nature
of being self-critical in the communication speech. Due to the incorporation of directness in
the communication style, Australians restrain from developing long-lasting personal
relationships prior to doing business (Worldbusinessculture.com, 2019). Along with the
directness in the communication practices, the employees in the business context eliminates
the presumed belief of background knowledge by spelling out the communicated message
(Worldbusinessculture.com, 2019). In the context of business communication in Australia,
the informal communication style does not include the application of hierarchy and status
while communicating amongst employees (Küpers, 2016). In Australia, the display of

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emotion in very rare in communicating messages but can be witnessed by Greek Australians.
In a business context, the business communication approach eliminates the distinguishable
factors of designation and purposes (Worldbusinessculture.com, 2019). The communication
style is functionally-purposed and direct for the purpose of conveying messages with utmost
clarity. In the business context, criticism in the communication approach is vaguely presented
for avoiding conflict (Worldbusinessculture.com, 2019). However, the intention of Australian
employees or managers in businesses is made clear with the preciseness in the choice of
words. The business communication practices in Australia are considered reasonably
sensitive to honesty. In the business communication approach, Australians maintains the
practice of self-deprecating approach for reflecting humbleness and honesty. However, in
communicating with employees or managers in the business context, the practice of agreeing
to the communicated self-deprecating messages may be perceived as an insult. The
communication approach also involves humour for situational circumstances in order to
lighten up the stressful state (Peeters, 2017).
In the context of non-verbal communication in Australian business environment, the
eye contact should always be maintained while communicating with colleagues or managers,
due to its translation to sincerity, approachability and trustworthiness. Nonetheless, the eye
contact needs to be interrupted by small intervals, and prolonged eye contact may seem to be
uncomfortable for the Australian business officials. For the Aboriginal Australians, this non-
verbal communication approach can be completely different than usual practices as they
perceived eye contact while talking to senior or older employees as disrespectful (Mackey &
Marsden, 2015). Personal space while communicating, especially in business communication
practices, is considered necessary. In Australia, hand gestures like the sign of ‘V’ can be
perceived rude in the business scenario. In respect to non-verbal communication in Australian
business scenario, thumbs-up can be considered rude. For demonstrating agreement, making
a circle from thumb along with forefinger by using other fingers is usually common while

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practising business communication (Worldbusinessculture.com, 2019). In practising the
business communication approaches in Australia, people like to start a lunch meeting with a
casual conversation in spite of keeping the meeting short and crisp.
The newly appointed employees from Japan may feel the communication practices of
the host country, alien as their approach to communicating within a business context reflects
more seriousness than Australians.
Recommendations for the new employees
The ten recruited employees from overseas needs to be presented a structured
document depicting the guidelines regarding business communication, as they will be
arriving from Japan. Japanese business communication practices are different from
Australian business communication style (Wright, 2016). For the practice of including a
diverse group of the workforce in the organization, I recommend prior steps of preparing for
their arrival so that they can be accustomed to the usually practised style of communication in
the organization. The set of recommendations on how to communicate and how to not will
serve as a base for the new ten employees from Japan. The recommendations will be
presented as per the different forms of business communication including, written, verbal,
Computer-mediated communication and non-verbal communication.
The employees should practice, including directness in their communication style
rather than being diplomatic. Being the country manager I believe, directness in the
communicating the message will enable the inclusion of transparency in approaching
colleagues and senior employees. Directness in communication is encouraged for eliminating
the presumption of the hidden or inner meaning of the communicated message either through
verbal communication or through Computer-mediated communication. Directness
demonstrates the focus on the appropriateness of words while communicating in the business
environment over the messages with more concentration of non-verbal gestures. Directness is

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significantly crucial for the newly recruited employees from overseas as it will encourage the
practice of using precise words for conversing in the organization rather than ‘beating around
the bush’. Using precise words while communicating with other employees can help in
putting forward the real concern or query and will be highly appreciated by the senior
employees. Directness while communicating in the workplace will not only be accepted but
will be encouraged in meetings and in informal communications. According to my
experience as a country manager, Directness in business communication practices of
Australia does not only imply to being transparent but also links to the practice of ‘spelling
out' the words for the purpose of eliminating hidden meanings and most significantly by not
presuming about the prior knowledge of the other employees. This practice will enable the
elimination of biasness and will lead to the behaviour approach of directness as perception
regarding other employees about knowing the context may lead to the inappropriate or
minimum selection of words while communicating. Along with directness humour is also
encouraged in the Australian workplace to eliminate stressful environment. Directness and
constructive humor in the behavioral competency will develop their potential of growing in
their respective teams and organizational culture.
Understanding the different aspect of non-verbal communication is also crucial for the
newly appointed ten employees. The employees should be keeping regular eye contact while
speaking or listening to a communicated message in the organization as refraining from this
approach may lead to a sense of disrespect. In Japanese culture, people abstain from making
eye contact while communicating in a group. In Australia, eye contact is considered very
crucial as it reflects attentiveness and respect. However, eye contact should include regular
short intervals. Along with the application of eye contact, personal space should also be given
attention in the business scenario. Hand gesture like circles by thumb with the association of
forefingers, is encouraged for agreeing to a situation.

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There is various incompetent behaviour in business communication, which should not be
practised in the Australian workplace. Although directness is encouraged in the workplace, it
should not lead to a state of self-promotion while writing about ones' accomplishment before
the review process. Being a country manager, I have witnessed, self-promotion, while
speaking verbally, can also reflect the sense of bragging in many cases. Self-promotion in
front of the colleagues and senior management will lead to the perception of being rude. In
the case of a business meeting, in spite of the shortage of schedule, starting the conversation
directly with the topic of the meeting may seem rude and negative. The lunch meetings
should always start with casual conversation for reducing stress level.
Non-verbal communication is encouraged but with certain boundaries or instructions.
Gestures like thumbs up and pointing fingers towards people while communicating should
not be practised. This behavioural approach may be perceived as rudeness and impolite
behaviour.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded by the paper that Australian business communication
practices mainly include directness, humour, casual conversation before meetings and eye
contact. In written, verbal and CMC based communication in Australia, the implication of
organizational position and hierarchy are not practised. The newly appointed employees from
overseas should be well acquainted with the document of what should be communicated and
what not be for an efficient start of the career in the Australian workplace.

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References:
Anderson, R., & Lehman, I. M. (2019). Culture-specific and individual affective factors in
professional communication. International Review of Pragmatics, 11(1), 56-78.
Boer, H., Berger, A., Chapman, R., & Gertsen, F. (2017). CI Changes from Suggestion Box to
Organisational Learning: Continuous Improvement in Europe and Australia:
Continuous Improvement in Europe and Australia. Routledge.
Bovée, C. L., Thill, J. V., & Raina, R. L. (2016). Business communication today. Pearson
Education India.
Guffey, M. E., & Loewy, D. (2015). Essentials of business communication. Nelson
Education.
Küpers, W. (2016). A handbook of practical wisdom: Leadership, organization and integral
business practice. Routledge.
Mackey, A., & Marsden, E. (2015). A Second Language Task-Based Needs Analysis for
Australian Aboriginal Learners: Accessing Insider Perspectives of the Workplace and
Cultural Domains. In Advancing Methodology and Practice (pp. 236-254). Routledge.
Ntoumanis, N., Thøgersen‐Ntoumani, C., Quested, E., & Hancox, J. (2017). The effects of
training group exercise class instructors to adopt a motivationally adaptive
communication style. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 27(9),
1026-1034.
Peeters, B. (2017). Communication Modes, A ustralian. The International Encyclopedia of
Intercultural Communication, 1-5.
Worldbusinessculture.com (2019). Australian Communication Styles | World Business
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profiles/australia/culture/business-communication-style/

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Wright, M. (Ed.). (2016). Gower handbook of internal communication. CRC Press.