Issues in Bureaucratic Structures: Economic Orientation Meets Political Orientation

Communication Issues in the Workplace

As the toxic gas monitoring alarm sounded abruptly, the security department at General Semiconductor initiated the emergency response plan. This was an annual exercise to perform the documented procedures to ensure the responses were adequate in the event the circumstances were a real event. The initiated event was called an emergency Response Technician (ERT) response plan. The emergency response technicians were alerted via a pager system and were to immediately report to the basement to receive orders from the incident commander. In these types of emergency response drills, the incident commander forms a hierarchy to determine the chain of command and pathways for communication.

This incident proved to be much larger and potentially more dangerous than initially thought, and for this reason the local fire department was notified. When they arrived, the engine company reported to the command center on the second floor, and the rescue company reported to the basement. As two emergency response technicians were preparing themselves with self-contained breat

The communication issues in this scenario failed due to a variety of reasons. To begin, the documented plan was not as thorough as management believed. Another contributing factor was the inherent operational differences that occur between organizations operating in different sectors. Proper structure and communication hierarchy was needed in order to adequately extract the victim swiftly as well as safely. If the personnel on this scenario had proper communication devices and clear instructions, procedural errors that affected the outcome of the rescue could have been avoided.

While most people would agree that effective communication is the key to responding properly when a crisis arises, this is often where the errors occur. Professional emergency responders advise that as much as possible, communication during a crisis should be clear, understandable and simple. If one does not know how to properly prepare and manage employees during a crisis, the wrong decisions can be made and opportunities lost. A business could suffer possible lawsuits, leaving owners with a scarred reputation that could result in decreased revenues. Developing a comprehensive and thoroughly tested plan can help to make the response to a crisis more effective. Developing a strong level of trust and commitment with employees can also help during emergencies. During times of crisis, the employee often looks to management for how to respond. Building good communication can make it easier for employees to trust management’s guidance during such an event.

Some topics in this essay:
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