Formal Organizational Communication Approaches and Employee Performance at Kampala International University Kampala, Uganda

ABSTRACT The report is based on a study of the relationship between formal organizational communication approaches and employee performance at Kampala International University. The research study was directed by three specific objectives namely, assessing the relationships between downward communication and employee performance; upward communication and employee performance; and horizontal communication and employee performance. The target population for the study was 790 staff members of Kampala International University comprising administrators, academic staff, and support staffs The research sample consisted of 99 staff members, systematically chosen from the different staff categories using stratified random sampling. The study used a co relational cross-sectional survey design, and a quantitative paradigm. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaires, and an interview guide. Data was analyzed quantitatively using the SPSS statistical software, first to compute relative frequencies, means and standard deviations, and then correlate employee performance with formal organizational communication using Pearson’s Linear Correlation Coefficient. It was discovered through the study that employees perceived their performance to be high, while they rated the different formal communication approaches to be only fair. A significant positive correlation was found to exist between employee performance and downward, upward, and horizontal communications; and with all the three communication approaches combined.