Business Communication

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Introduction

For an interview to be considered successful, it has to combine two essential factors, science and art. It has been indicated that the art part of the interview becomes apparent through the application of some mastery in communication skills that enables a candidate to communicate or express their information, experience, and backgrounds in the most appropriate manner. Science, on the other hand, becomes obvious in an interview when the interviewer shows they have the awareness and the skill to appreciate the communication process applied by both the candidates and fellow interviewees. Science is also useful in an interview as it is the realm that supports the theory of appropriate communication skills applied in a business interview.

These arguments were expressed by the Chief Executive Officer of the company known as CCCP, or Collusion Commotion, Collaboration, and partners. The CEO, Lloyd Cole expressed these thoughts as a part of the ideas he wanted to pass across to the individual on whom the responsibility of preparing an interview outline was placed. The company was looking to expand its workforce by specifically hiring a number of individuals to fill various vacant positions in the company’s call centre network that was continuously expanding. After expressing the interests of the company, the CEO indicated that I was to prepare a report that outlined an extensive round of interviews that were to be used in selecting the appropriate candidates to fill in the vacant positions in the call centre.

Generally, this paper is going to summarize the contents of the report by outlining and explaining the importance of emotional intelligence in the process of interviewing. In addition to this, the paper is also going to outline and give reasons for the type of approach that is going to be adapted in the interview, as well as, providing several recommendations as to how the outlined interview plan might be implemented.

Job interviews can be challenging for both the interviewers and the candidates. The experience can be made more interesting and less threatening with prior planning and preparation of the interview questions and answers, and with prior practice of the appropriate techniques in communication. The interview and the selection of the appropriate or the right candidates are the most essential parts of the interview. This is because the successful selection and interviewing of the right people is critical for the success and the excellence of every organization or team. The interview process is usually costly for the employers and for the potential employees especially in terms of time and resources. As it follows, it must be ensured that the process of interview goes as expected and as planned to minimize the occurrence of any loses to time and resources. Just the same, it is essential to ensure that the interview process is efficient enough to appoint an appropriate candidate for the appropriate position. A job interview then must be treated as a valuable opportunity for both the employer and the potential employee to know each other and learn about each other.

Learning more about the experiences, the backgrounds, achievements, strengths, and weaknesses of a candidate enables the employer to predict or determine more accurately whether the candidate will be able to perform as required in the filled position. Just as well, potential employees have the right to find more about their potential employers and about the job and the positions they are being interviewed for. As already indicated, both the employer and the candidates can get more from the interview when the interview has been planned for in advance by focusing on the questions that might lead the employer to know more about the candidates, as well as, by focusing on the questions and answers that might lead the potential employees to know their employer.

The only way through which an employer and a potential employee can get to know each other well is through good communication. It has been widely argued that effective communication skills are essential in helping people understand each other, a situation, or to enable individuals resolve differences, create respect and trust, build environments that are conducive for creativity, and for solving of problems. Though communication might seem easy at times, many individuals still experience trouble while trying to successfully communicate with each other. At times, a lot of what individuals might say or communicate across to others might be misunderstood, and at tomes other individuals might overlook what has been communicated to them. Such challenges and issues arising from communication can result to a number of problems. For example misunderstanding can cause individuals to be in conflict with each other or to feel frustrated because they do not understand each other.

Fortunately, it is possible for one to learn and adapt effective and efficient communication skills. It is essential for one to realize that communication skills are critical in interviews, and as a result, both the interviewee and the interviewer must possess and learn to listen carefully and well, recognize and understand communication signals that are nonverbal, manage stress well, and to keep in contact with their emotions. In today’s age, effective communication is defined and governed by the huge amount of information individuals have to send, process, and receive. However, effective communication is not only defined by this large amount of information but also by one’s ability to understand and recognize the emotions that each piece of information comes with. Understanding and learning this kind of communication can make and improve relations at home and at work by deepening the existing connections with each other and by improving decision- making, teamwork, and problem solving. Effective communication, therefore, must combine a number of skills like communication that is non- verbal, listening that is attentive, the ability to deal with and manage stress, and the capability for one to be able to identify their emotions, as well as, those of the individuals they communicate with.

Emotional intelligence has been closely related to effective communication by a number of individuals. For example, Judith Dwyer, an established business author indicates that business strategies and business communication cannot be treated as independent entities from emotional intelligence. In her book Communication in business: strategies and skills, she outlines a number of communications skills and principles, that she argues, can be applied in a business environment. In the book’s third chapter, the author looks at emotional intelligence and how the same can be applied in the business environment. She points out that the key role of emotional intelligence in a business environment is to foster some kind of emotional awareness in the concerned individual. She argues that positive and professional relationships are the foundations upon which successful organizations are built upon. She indicates that self awareness, the ability to acknowledge, accept and value diversity, and the possession of interpersonal skills in communication are the main pillars upon which emotional intelligence is based (Dwyer, 2008).

The author further argues that emotional intelligence has a big role in improving performance thorough building of successful relationships. Emotional intelligence can be highly useful in interviews. Emotional intelligence can be useful in business environments and in interviews because it shows how well an individual can relate with the others in a business environment. Most individuals know what makes up the appropriate behavior in a work environment, but in most cases, when things get out of hand and emotions run high even in the most polished business environment can lose their control. Emotional intelligence, therefore, or the ability of an individual to assess, perceive, deal, and manage emotions has become extremely necessary in most workplaces as it can be used by workers, and managers alike to communicate with each other effectively and efficiently, and to address and resolve conflicts and misunderstanding, thereby, improving and increasing the productivity of a workplace (Dwyer, 2008).

Emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to identify and manage ones emotions positively, and in others. Some of the skills that one needs to become excellent in emotional intelligence have been identified as self- regulation, self- awareness, self- motivation, management of relationships and social awareness. An individual who possesses a number of these kills can be said to be emotionally intelligent, and in that case, can be said to be an effective communicator (Dwyer, 2008). During an interview, a potential employer must test the emotional intelligence of an individual. This is because emotional intelligence determines whether a person can control themselves in times of stress, whether they can relate with other people in a positive manner, whether they can manage stress in themselves and in their workmates, and whether they can be a part of a successful team or not. An individual who is emotionally intelligence is the best candidate for any position as they can enhance productivity of a company. An interviewer must, therefore, consider an individual who is emotionally intelligent as opposed to a candidate who is not.

There are a number of elements that an interviewer must include in the interview plan so for the purposes of coming up with the most successful and appropriate candidate. Before meeting the candidates and carrying out the interview, there are a number of areas that have to be looked into and planned before hand. These include; the job requirements, the information needed from the candidate to determine their success, the outline of the process of interviewing the candidates, a short summary of each candidate’s observations, scheduling of the actual interviews, notifying the candidates about the individuals, and reviewing the application of the candidate, their resume and other materials related to the interview.

The implementation of the planned process of interviewing the candidates comes after the planning and the outlining of the process. The selection process is the stage at which all the candidates are screened to make sure that only the most appropriate and qualified candidate is hired. The first step in this stage is reviewing all of the information each candidate provides including their resume, cover letter and application forms to determine which of the candidates are qualified to meet the qualifications the job requires. Those who do not congregate the least amount of credentials are not given any further consideration. However, those candidates who meet and even exceed the minimum qualifications of the job posting are considered and assessed to decide which ones are the most suitable for the position.

There are a numerous methods that can be used to select candidates for the available positions, the most common ones including an interview followed by a check of references. Other techniques that can be used to select candidates include work samples, oral presentations, aptitude tests, personality tests, and in basket exercises. Other additional selection methods can be used to further verify the candidates. When preparing for the interview, an interviewer must prepare a list of questions that will be utilized in the interview process. An interviewer must come up with key questions to determine the experience of the candidate, and their achievements. Follow- up questions must also be present. An interviewer can utilize a number of approaches and techniques so as to derive all the necessary information from the candidate, for example, by tailoring questions that can confirm a claim or open up a conversation.

When conducting the actual interviews, the interviewer must select and chose an environment that is conducive and appropriate and ensure that the interview will not be interrupted. The interviewer must also take the interview as a meeting with a business partner. The interviewer must also set the same questions for each candidate, as well as, the exact same time for the interview process. Ideally, an interviewer must not talk more than twenty percent of the time; they should let the candidate talk and access and analyze what they are saying.

Checking the references after the candidate has left is one of the main ways an employer can make sure that they are hiring the right candidate. Talking to the references allows a potential employer to ask and probe deeply about the experience and the abilities of the candidate. Reference checks are the best opportunities to make sure that the information that the interviewee provides in an interview is correct. An interviewer must also set up a number of interview questions for the reference. Finally, the interviewer should make the decision about which candidate is appropriate for the job. This can be done by evaluating the final interviewees against each other after their scores have been rated against the set criteria to make certain that the finest applicant for the job is chosen. The final decision about which candidate to choose is based on a number of factors. Some of these factors include such things as the candidate’s skills, the worker characteristics of the candidate, and the interviewee’s fit in the organization. After doing all of this, the employer must review all the notes he has made of the candidates and write up their final decision of the candidate they have chosen.

It is essential that an employer stores and keeps each selection and selection materials for all the candidates for not less than two years. It is critical that the employer makes their decision in a manner that is nondiscriminatory, and in compliance with the federal and provincial laws and the policies guiding the hiring process of the organization, and based on judgment that is sound, right and fair. After this, the employer should call up the candidate and make a job offer to them. In addition to this, the interviewer must also inform all of the other candidates that they were not successful in the interview. One can also offer to give the unsuccessful candidates a feedback that is constructive on the interview. After all this has been accomplished, the employer must confirm that they offered the candidate a job that they accepted in writing. One of the most common ways of doing this is through the drawing and signing of a contract. A contract is a written assurance that disputes and conflicts will not result from the agreement between the company and the new employee. There are different forms of written contracts; these include letters, formal agreements and even proposals.

Conclusion

Interviews are the main ways through which a potential employer can determine which candidate is appropriate for a certain position and which candidate is not. Interviews must be carried out following the appropriate method so as make the exercise cost effective, as well as, successful. Successful candidates must possess a number of skills, of which communication skills are the central. Effective communication has been indicated to be central to effective and successful business organizations as it builds team work and relationships that are indispensable in business. Emotional intelligence has been indicated to be a close associate of effective communication. A candidate who has been considered successful in an interview must be intelligent emotionally, as well. Emotional intelligent ensures that a candidate can relate with their work mates appropriately, and manage their emotions, and stress. Effective communication is also critical to successful interviews as it allows the involved parties to understand each other completely.

References

Dwyer, J. (2008). Communication in Business. (4th. ed.). Australia: Pearson Education.