Communication and Organisational Practices: 'resisting Disability Epithets'

Communication and Organisational Practices: 'Resisting disability epithets'

Executive summary

The paper highlights how organizational culture can influence the way employees communicate in a company. The case study is about Hermit Life and Auto Company. The company has an entrenched culture where employees commonly use derogatory disability slurs. This happens to affect one of the employees with a child suffering from intelligence disability. The introductory part provides a brief description of the communication issues at Hermit Life and Auto. The analysis part highlights how diversity at the work place creates communication conflicts. Also, it explains why the management of Hermit life and Auto need to create policies that ensure respect is maintained among colleagues at the work place. Finally, it concludes by recommending organizational culture change at Hermit Life and Auto which can be attained through adopting an inclusive approach to disability and communication issues.

Introduction

Communication and culture are some of the important aspects of an organization that need to be clearly defined. Organizations need to have a culture which influences how employees communicate. The case study shows a situation where organizational culture is promoting communication conflicts among employees at the work place. It depicts a case where an employee is affected by the language used by fellow colleagues at the work place. However, fellow colleagues have no idea that some of the derogatory words frequently used in the organization end up hurting some of them.

The case study portrays a situation where organizational culture has influenced the manner of communication in the organization. It is about Stacy, an employee of Hermit Life and Auto who has a son suffering from Down Syndrome. The other party includes her fellow colleagues at the work place. The issue involved is that Stacey is affected by the manner in which fellow colleagues commonly use the words "retard" and "spazzos" and some even imitate the physical and speech problems of those with disabilities. She feels that such statements are derogatory especially to her being a mother of a child suffering from intellectual disability. Her effort of addressing this issue draws mixed reactions from co-workers. Some genuinely apologize for their words but some just try to avoid her. Stacey feels that the organization needs to change the existing culture but does not know how to go about it. She writes a letter expressing her feelings but is left wondering whether to mail it to colleagues, keep it to herself or include it in the company's News and Notes.

Analysis

A critical analysis of the issue shows how the work place contains a diversity of individuals. Every individual at the work place has a different identity which influences their perspectives. For instance, in our case study, Stacey has a different perspective from those of her colleagues on her perception of people with disabilities. Since she has a disabled child, she feels affected by the derogatory remarks made about people with disabilities. In my opinion, Stacey's organization, Hermit Life and Auto is not sensitive on diversity issues. Also, the employees of the company do not really understand how communication can influence the culture of the organization. According to Bisel, Messersmith and Keyton (2009), the culture of an organization dictates the communication outcomes. In this organization, it has become a culture to use disability epithets. This culture has created an outcome of communication conflicts among the employees.

In addition, the culture of communication at Hermit Life and Auto is characterized by lack of respect. Employees are insensitive to the feelings of their colleagues. It is quite degrading when Stacey's colleagues call her "thought police" due to her opposition to the disability slurs. It is important to note that communication will work better in environments where respect and transparency is observed.

Generally, I think what is happening at the company is not about an issue of disability. On the contrary, it is about how diversity affects organizational culture of communication. Ineffective organizational and communication practices influence how individuals make decisions.This can be observed after Krista, arrived late for the meeting saying her computer was acting retarded. This affected Stacey making her to be absent minded and unable to give her opinion when requested.

The manner in which Hermit Life and Auto is managing the communication issues leaves a lot to be desired. The manager is taking the situation very lightly and does not see anything wrong with the continued use of the disability epithets. For instance, when Stacey tried to address the issue by informing the manager, no action is taken and she is told to toughen up. The continued use of disability slurs in the company is enhanced by lack of organizational changes which can regulate the company's communication practices. This situation creates a condition where an individual becomes excluded from the organizational context (Riddell.Tinklin &Wilson 2005, p.16).

When organizational culture of communication is not properly handled, it can lead to several negative outcomes. According to Myers and Sadaghiani (2010), efficient