Abstract

Interpersonal communication is indispensable to the success of organisations, as it forms the bulk of communication in the workplace. Given the multicultural environment of multinational corporations and the power of interpersonal communication, this study was, therefore, designed to examine the interpersonal communication competence level of employees of selected multinational corporations in Lagos, to establish how the employees have been able to effectively communicate interpersonally despite cultural differences. A descriptive survey was the method selected for the study. Three organisations with a multicultural workforce, Chevron Nigeria Limited, British American Tobacco Company and American International School were purposively selected. The purposive sampling technique was used to administer a questionnaire to a total number of 345 culturally diverse employees. Findings show that interpersonal communication competence was high among the employees, as expectancy violation management was (85.0%) and communication styles (88.0%). This shows that the employees excellently communicated with their colleagues despite their cultural differences. The study recommends that cross-cultural assignments among employees in organisations with operations across cultural borders should be encouraged.