An Audit of The Internal Communication at Mombasa Water Company

Abstract

Many scholars agree that organizations are what they are due to communication interactions which help in collective decision making hence a healthy organization. It is therefore imperative that organizations examine their internal communication strategies and tactics to find out what works best and what does not. This study conducted an audit of internal communication at the Mombasa Water and Sanitation Company (MOWASCO), a water company formed in line with water sector reforms initiated by government in 2002. Anchoring on the systems theory, the study employed a descriptive survey design and collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was collected from a sample of 128 employees using a self-administered questionnaire based on the ICA Communication Audit Survey (CAS). The study included an interview with the organizations’ corporate affairs and customer care manager. Based on survey data and interview results, the study found that an overwhelming number of organizational members perceived internal communication between management and employees within MOWASCO to be top-down. This was contrary to managements feelings as espoused by the corporate affairs and customer care manager that communication between management and employees was two way (top down and bottom up). It was also established that respondents preferred face to face over mediated communication within the office while staff e-mail system, organization website and the organizations internal publication were not popular with internal publics. The study therefore recommends that MOWASCO should put in place mechanisms that will encourage internal publics to give feedback to management as this will keep management abreast with what is happening in different department while giving employees a sense of belonging