The Role of Internal Communication on Service Delivery: (The Case of Batu Town Municipality) Batu Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the role of internal communication on service delivery in Batu town municipality and to come up with remedial solutions in order to improve the current practices. The effect played by internal communications in an organization is tangible as an effective tool in service delivery. To this end, descriptive design and mixed research approach were applied. Both primary and secondary sources of data were collected using questionnaires, interview and document analysis. Primary data were collected from 50 employees and 6 management part of town whereas secondary data were collected from reports and manuals of the municipality/town. These collected data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics and narration to come up with valid and reliable conclusions.  The finding of the study shows that respondents had awareness of the importance of internal communication to build service delivery in the area. In study area, respondents had understood the role of internal communication through training, personal preference of internal communication channels, and message from work place colleagues were mechanism used. But respondents’ awareness on importance by training given for the staff on internal communication had no trends of continuity. Major role of internal communication systems that could be used to promote service delivery under the study area like hiring, staff training, supervision and monitoring and evaluation.  The municipal /office had no more problem of employee engagement in communication. The role of internal communication were hindered by factors like absence of inter departmental co-operation, managerial interference poor, language barriers, but poor internal communication channel is the main factor affecting internal communication. Identifying factors hinders internal communication, the researcher recommends continues training that focus on practice of internal communication.