Communication Gap Between Customers and Workforce Free Essay Example

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The main purpose of this exploratory research was to identify the communication gap between customers and representative and how can this gap be reduced in order to cater diverse customers in a better way. A total of 44 respondents participated in this research and data was collected through questionnaire which consisted of 17 question having demographics and likert scale based questions. The results showed that there is a need to train representatives in a way that they could be able to communicate and understand different set of customers which will help in increasing profitability of the organization.

Findings and limitation of the research are also discussed.

INTRODUCTION:

Effective communication in the workplace plays a significant role in the success of a business. However, it is difficult to build up effective communication especially at a restaurant where the staff has to deal face to face with the customer of different languages. This research is based on the communication gap between staff and customer and its impact on customer satisfaction, retention and restaurant profitability for this we examined the process of communication and the factor that cause communication gap.

The main reason behind the Communication gap at a restaurant is the language difference between the restaurant’s representative and customer as employee perform their role by playing bilateral communication by direct face to face contact with customer and each minor mistake could make a big loss for the restaurant. In our report we are going to discuss how customer try to overcome this gap and what are its impact on customer’s future purchase.

The restaurant we have chosen for our project is MC Donald. MC Donald has different branches in Karachi at different places. We have selected the branches that are different with respect to geographic and demographic factor the reason for choosing such branches was to check if demographic or geographic factor are also a cause of communication barrier at a restaurant or not.

The theoretical framework contains description of the communication and its process, Communication gap and feedback from customer. The process of communication according to the Restaurant context is also defined. Small meet up between staff and customer and its impacts on the customer satisfaction. Initially we was trying to find out the impact of communication barrier between employee and customer of restaurant on employee job and restaurant’s profitability but since the MC Donald’s management was not ready for an interview so we changed our research finding to impact of communication barrier between employee and customer of restaurant on customer’s satisfaction, retention and restaurant’s profitability.

The quantitative method with semi-structured questionnaire is chosen for this research. The Questionnaire contains — number of question with options or likert approach. The Questionnaire were filled by the students and staff members of Institute of Business Management (IoBM).The findings of questionnaire are also attached in the report and we have also examined and evaluated these finding and gave our recommendation for the communication gap between staff and customer of restaurant and its impact on customer’s satisfaction, retention and restaurant’s profitability.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

Nonverbal communication:It is a style of communication in which a person communicate through method other than language (Jandt, 2001), Conveying thoughts and pastures without speaking language (Argyle, 1975). Scholars’meanings of nonverbal correspondence generally fluctuate, yet most concur that it implies utilizing all specialized strategies other than dialect.In correspondence all in all, and administration arrangement specifically, nonverbal correspondence has a major impact on the grounds that the communicator can’t superbly express what he or she means to convey with verbal correspondence alone. Delmonte (1991) said that using nonverbal communication of method is more effective than verbal communication. Ruesch and Kees (1956) grouped factors of nonverbal communication into sign, action and objects. Based on Sundaram and Webster (2000)’s study,this examination separated qualities of nonverbal correspondence into kinesics, for example, signals; proxemics, which implies fitting space for correspondence; paralanguage, for example, voice and way and speed of talking and physical appearance, for example, physical attractiveness, garments and hairstyle etc.

Relationship between nonverbal communication and emotional response:In one of the major studies on nonverbal communication and the positive emotion of customers, Sundaram and Webster (2000) customers identifying nonverbal method of communication of representatives effectively tended to convey effecting emotions. Burgoon et al. (1990)clarified that kinesics practices of workers, for example, dispositions or signals, delivered positive feelings if considered positive by customers. Price et al (1995), stated that the person who is responsible for providing services should build appropriate distances from their customers while providing services, this will help in effecting customer emotions. Also, Lang et al. (1993) stated that perception of customers towards employees’ appearance have a significant relationship towards formers positive emotions, Oliver-Rodriguez et al. (1999) said that customers’ positive evaluation of the physical attractiveness of workers prompted ideal passionate reactions.

Sundaram and Webster (2000) asserted that if the perception of the customer regarding nonverbal communication is negative customer would embarrass negative emotions. Also, Kim (2007)clarified that in administration experiences, workers’ paralanguage (voice tone, pitch, and discourse speed), if improperly used, had a significantimpact on evoking a negative passionate reaction from clients; regardless of whether representatives’arrangement of administrations in appropriate speed and manner of speaking did not urge clients to feel emphaticallybenefit arrangement in a to a great degree quick way in a high-pitched voice led them to feel negatively.

Relation between emotional response and customer satisfaction:For a purpose of positive response which customer received from sale representatives Westbrook and Oliver (1991) closely focus into a significant, casual connection between positive feeling and customer loyalty and Turely and Fugate (1992) noticed that the enthusiastic reaction of client emerging from assessment of restaurants would turn into a reason for their future positive judgment of the organization. Dovan et al. (1994) stated that people who feel positive emotional response would spend more money because of their satisfaction with the firm. Muller et al. (1991) proposed that positive response from representatives lead them individual towards satisfaction and create intention of revisit.

METHODOLOGY:

Types of Research:

The research is based on quantitative data and is casual in nature. Quantitative research provides important information which helps in taking integral business decisions. Quantitative data can be used to study for cause and effect relationships. Quantitative research has been used because of its accurate measurements and its ability to make predictions.

Sampling size:For this research a sample size of forty four was selected. All the respondents were from Karachi, Pakistan and most of them were from Institute of Business Management (IOBM), Karachi.

Sampling Technique:Non-probability sampling was utilized for this study. In this type of sampling the people through information is extracted does not have a uniform probability of selection. Selection occurs due to some factors such as convenience, purposive and quota.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Respondents consisted of 65.9% male and 34.1% female.

In terms of age, 54.5% were 21-30 years old and 45.5% were less than 21

The majority of the respondents were undergraduate and 4.5 were Graduate.

In terms of profession 81.8% were students. 93.2% people out of sample of 44 responded positively about visiting McDonalds.

Majority of the people visited defence branch. 59.1% times, the representative of McDonald was bilingual.

The majority of the customers used Urdu language as medium of communication while giving orders to the representative.Majority of the people were satisfied with the communication style used at McDonalds and 15.9% were not sure.

47.7% people disagreed when asked about the difficulty when communicating with the representative of McDonalds. 50% people agreed that representative of McDonalds had a good command over English language and was able to speak frequently.

52.3 people agreed that they and representative understand each other through body language most of the times. Majority of the people believed that representative was a friendly communicator.

38.6% people agreed that languages, educational background and cultures have a very important role in communication while 27.3% people neither agreed nor disagreed and 11.4% people disagreed with the statement.When respondents were asked about the training of the representative so that he could communicate with diverse set of customers, 45.5% people agreed while 9.1% people disagreed with the statement.

52.3% people agreed that by overcoming the communication gap between customers and representative will help in increasing profitability and 20.5% people strongly agreed with the statement.

Almost 60% of the people were satisfied with their overall experience at McDonalds, Karachi.

LIMITATIONS:

There are several limitations with this study which are as follows:

The data for this research was collected through self-reported questionnaire. The only source was citizens of Karachi and most specifically students of Institute of Business Management, Karachi. However self-reported data can contain several potential sources of bias.

Convenient sampling was used to collect data thus the sample may not be the representation of the actual population.

CONCLUSION:

Through this exploratory research we came to know that in McDonalds, Karachi, customers do not face any problem while communicating with representatives. Most of the respondents were satisfied with their experiences at McDonalds, Karachi. Also many respondents understand agreed that they also understand each other through body language, also they agreed that representative should be trained in a way that he could communicate with diverse set of customers.

RECOMMENDATION:

Representative at restaurants face problems when communicating with diverse set of customers. In order to overcome this problem, workshops and training programs should be arranged to train the representative and enhance their interpersonal skills. In this way representative would become better speaker and listener and would be able to cater diverse set of customers. Representative should have different set of language skills, other than native language. By creating a digital version of “employee training document”. Staff can quickly reference through their mobiles when they might face any issues and can translate sentences in native language.

REFERENCES:

1. Jung, H. S., & Yoon, H. H. (2011). The effects of nonverbal communication of employees in the family restaurant upon customers’ emotional responses and customer satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30(3), 542-550.
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3. Kang, J., & Hyun, S. S. (2012). Effective communication styles for the customer-oriented service employee: Inducing dedicational behaviors in luxury restaurant patrons. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(3), 772-785.
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