•The purpose of the study is to identify how the choice of communication media affects internal communication satisfaction.•We conducted an analysis of the most commonly used channels in corporations ...and linked the results to employees’ satisfaction and media choice.•In exploring internal communication satisfaction and satisfaction with media we found a strong positive correlation between the variables.•The companies that put a bigger effort into adjusting their media towards their employees’ needs, have more satisfied internal audience.
As the environment of internal communication is continually changing for a multitude of reasons, especially new technologies, organizations have to adapt fast in their attempts to reach their employees. When deciding on the type of channel to use, internal communication managers should be aware of their employees’ preferences. The purpose of this study is to identify how the choice of internal communication media affects internal communication satisfaction. In order to explore this relationship further, we conducted an analysis of the most commonly used internal communication channels in ten large corporations and linked the results to employees’ satisfaction and media choice. By expanding the knowledge on preferred communication channels, we are hoping to provide some insight for better management of internal communication.
The digitalization of greater society has permeated organizations, where managers are reassessing how internal communication is practiced and defined, particularly in the context of public relations ...and strategic communication. These changes were already underway before the COVID-19 pandemic, which strongly highlighted the importance of effective internal communication. Now more than ever, digital transformation is profoundly affecting internal communication, yet there are substantial gaps in our understanding of the current situation. This study aims to identify and provide an overview of the research in the area through a systematic review of 77 research studies published in 52 journals between the beginning of 1990 and November 2022. The findings reveal the evolution of research on digital internal communication and highlight geographical, theoretical, and methodological gaps that should be addressed in future work. First of all, the effectiveness of different internal communication channels needs to be thoroughly researched. This includes the effectiveness of collaboration tools and platforms, the influence of channels that enable remote work, and the significance of gamification and an interactive communication approach. Also, digitalization in internal communication should be given more attention from a social perspective, underlining the effects of internal communication digitalization on employees and their satisfaction as well as employee concerns with privacy, control, and other ethical dilemmas regarding easy accessibility to data. Finally, digitalization of internal communication should be researched as a transformation process within organizations, which has not yet been done.
•Systematic review of digital internal communication.•Effectiveness of IC channels needs to be thoroughly researched.•Digitalization in IC should be explored from a social perspective.•Digitalization of IC should be researched as a transformation process.
•Research in the area of employee engagement and internal communication satisfaction tends to treat both concepts as one-dimensional.•In this study we explored the relationship between ...multidimensional ICS and multidimensional employee engagement concepts.•Our study confirmed that internal communication satisfaction has a significant role in high employee engagement.•Most relevant ICS dimensions for EE were satisfaction with feedback, informal communication and communication during meetings.•What matters most is that internal communication and employee engagement “feed” each other in a continuous virtual circle.
Engagement is becoming one of the more popular concepts in various social sciences including psychology, organizational behavior, human resource management, and of course public relations. Even though engagement is applied in several areas of public relations, it is most commonly explored in connection to internal communication. The purpose of this paper is to make a contribution to the growing body of research exploring the relationship between internal communication satisfaction (as a part of internal communication) and employee engagement. Principally we wanted to test the relationship between the eight dimensions of internal communication satisfaction and three employee engagement dimensions.
Internal communication is an important function in an organization in relation to human resource management. This research examined the employee-perceived internal communication and investigated the ...role of internal communication and employee motivation on employee performance. The mediating influence of motivation in influence of internal communication on organizational performance was also investigated. Questionnaires were distributed to employees of BPJS Malang City to collect the data of this study. Path Analysis was performed to analyze the data, which results revealed that internal communication could improve employee performance. Internal communication was also found to enhance employee motivation, which in turn would affect the employee performance. Internal communication will encourage organization-employee relationship. Employees should understand the company's core business to make them aware of the targets to achieve. Through effective internal communication, employees would have better comprehension on the importance of their performance. Future researchers are encouraged to examine job satisfaction as a mediating variable in the relationship between internal communication and employee performance
Purpose
Despite the proven link between internal communication and more effective business results, only a few attempts have been made to answer the essential question of who is responsible for ...managing internal communication in an organisation. This paper aims to examine the presence of internal communication management (ICM) practices in companies in Latvia and launch a new discussion on who should manage internal communication in a modern company to support business strategy and development.
Design/methodology/approach
In the first phase of the study, a survey was conducted in three business sectors in Latvia involved in managing and implementing the internal communications function. Using the multiple case study method, the second phase of the study examined in-depth, ICM and the implementation practices in four different Latvian companies. In total, 13 in-depth interviews were conducted within 4 companies, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the material gained from the interviews.
Findings
The target companies and relevant professionals from different fields have divergent opinions about who should manage the internal communication function. From the research across four companies, it was concluded that internal communication was implemented in a fragmented manner. There was a weak understanding of the meaning and goal of internal communication. The potential of effective internal communication in reaching strategic goals has not been realised. Responsibility for ICM is often limited to the reactive performance of public relations departments, human resources or marketing specialists. The companies clearly did not have a defined scope of responsibilities for managing internal communication amongst the different parts of their organisations. It can be concluded that company managers should pay attention to how internal communication is conducted, clearly delegate this function to a manager and define the expected results that meet the company’s strategic goals. The results of this research can be used to inform recommendations for integrating the ICM function.
Originality/value
Only a few research papers have discussed responsibility for internal communication functions. This research particularly fills this gap and emphasises the need to assign responsibility for an organisation’s ICM function as it is the core factor in strategic implementation and input related to business goals.
► Internal communication is among the fastest growing specializations in public relations and communication management. ► The Delphi study in internal communication in Europe reveals its fuzzy ...picture – it seems to be in adolescence. ► The study defines internal communication as a management function in charge of communication (within organizations). ► Internal communication is an interdisciplinary function integrating elements of human resources management, communication and marketing. ► The hottest issues in practice are employee engagement, loyalty and motivation, value for money, and trust and credibility.
As an organizational function, internal communication is gaining in importance, meriting a special issue on the topic. This importance is evident in many recent efforts among practitioners in Europe and the US to seek recognition of this field as an independent domain. Scholarship on internal communication has not kept pace with these initiatives. This introduction to the special issue addresses several key issues related to this topic and presents findings from a Delphi study of the leaders of European associations on internal communication. Results of the study are fuzzy: respondents see internal communication as interdisciplinary management function integrating elements of human resources management, communication and marketing, but at the same time they see it primarily as a part of the organization's communication function that is simultaneously managerial and technical. However, they contend that internal communication is an independent research field.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how a company’s symmetrical internal communication efforts could influence its employees’ perception of relationship outcomes with the company and the ...subsequent employee communication behaviors about the company to others and their turnover intention. Additionally, the mediation effects of employee-organization relationship (EOR) quality between symmetrical internal communication and employee engagement were tested. Design/methodology/approach The study collected the data from a survey of randomly selected 438 individuals who work as sales representatives of the case organization. Respondents were randomly selected through stratified sampling. For the overall statistical procedure, this study adopted the two-step structural equation modeling: on the basis of the final measurement model analysis from confirmatory factor analysis, the proposed structural model was tested using latent variables. Findings The findings of this research clearly demonstrate: employee/internal communication management is linked with employee engagement; employee engagement enhances supportive employee communication behaviors and reduces turnover intention. Also, the mediation results show strong mediation of EORs on the effects of symmetrical internal communication on employee engagement. Research limitations/implications Employees’ communication behaviors such as megaphoning and scouting have special strategic values to organizations. With information seeking, selecting, forwarding, and sharing behaviors of employees, organizations may obtain more valuable information than through formal procedures and channels. Professional literature has long been supporting the importance of fostering positive employee communication behaviors (ECBs), suggesting that WOM and information from the employees deemed as most trustworthy by the external publics. ECBs about their organizations may be viewed as a testament of the quality of EOR. This study results show that employee engagement plays a key role in creating positive ECBs. Practical implications Pragmatically, as noted in the findings, symmetrical communication is an important factor that leads to positive ECB. To facilitate employees’ favorable communication regarding an organization, therefore, the organization needs to practice a two-way, employee-centered symmetrical communication system in its everyday communication management. Communication managers are advised to nurture internal communication practices that listen to the employees and invite their participation in addition to providing complete and fair information to employees. Second, by showing the significant positive influence of EOR on employee engagement and ECB, the finding of the study suggests that strategic relationship management with internal publics affect overall management effectiveness. Hence, organizational managers need to adopt various relationship cultivation strategies in their communication with employees, which have been previously proposed by several studies. Originality/value The findings of the study demonstrated that the effects of employee relationship management and symmetrical internal communication indeed exist beyond ECBs to the actual managerial outcomes. The findings also suggest a three-stage model of employee communication management: employee/internal communication management antecedents; employee engagement; and supportive outcomes of effective employee communication programs, such as supportive/extra ECBs.
•This study examined the effect of internal communication on positive emotional culture.•The impact of positive emotional culture on supportive employee behaviors was also explored.•A web survey was ...conducted with 506 employees in the U.S.•Results showed symmetrical communication and responsive leadership communication cultivated positive emotional culture.•Positive emotional culture of joy, companionate love, pride, and gratitude fostered organizational citizenship behavior and employee advocacy.
The study surveyed 506 employees in the United States to test the effect of internal communication (i.e., corporate-level symmetrical and leadership-level responsive communications) on fostering a positive emotional culture characterized by companionate love, joy, pride, and gratitude. In addition, we tested the interplay between corporate internal communication and a positive emotional culture and its influence on supportive employee behaviors, specifically, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and employee advocacy. Results indicated that symmetrical communication and responsive leadership communication cultivated a positive emotional culture in organizations. Such culture also fostered employee OCB and advocacy. Moreover, corporate symmetrical communication directly and positively influenced employee OCB. Finally, this study found that employee OCB positively affected employee advocacy. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings for public relations scholars and practitioners were discussed.
► We review concepts relating to employee needs for internal communication content. ► We examine 12 recent studies that audit internal communication. ► We find that audits are focused on ...communication processes rather than employee needs for content. ► We conclude that theory can be broadened to include organisational engagement. ► We propose a new model for employee questions to be addressed through internal communication.
Effective internal communication is a prerequisite for organisational success. Organisations need to evaluate and improve communication especially in increasingly difficult economic pressures. Assessment instruments enable organisations to monitor communication effectiveness. This review of academic and consultancy studies found over reliance on measuring satisfaction with the communication process. The analysis found management-centric rather than employee-centric approaches to assessment. This indicates a need to develop new approaches to assessing internal communication. A conceptual model is proposed here to encourage focus on employee communication needs in terms of content as well as channel. Future approaches to assessment should draw on a wider theoretical and conceptual framework. Assessment instruments need to reflect advances in practice. They need to assess the value of internal communication to employees as well as their organisations.
•A model was proposed to understand the role of internal communication on employees’ management of change during a pandemic.•An online survey was conducted with full-time employees in the U.S. during ...the COVID-19 pandemic•Transparent internal communication encourages employees to adopt control coping strategy to proactively manage changes.•Transparent internal communication can reduce employees’ change-related uncertainty.•Transparent communication along with control coping strategy foster healthy relationships between employees and their organizations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many businesses and organizations to implement changes to manage operational and economic challenges. Understanding how employees manage such changes during the process is critical to the success of organizations. Integrating the literature from transparent internal communication, the transactional theory of stress and coping, and organizational change research, this study proposes a theoretical model to understand the role of internal communication and its effects on employees’ management of organizational change. An online survey was conducted with 490 full-time employees in the U.S. during the second and third weeks of April 2020. The findings of this study demonstrate that transparent internal communication can help encourage problem-focused control coping, reduce uncertainty, and foster employee-organization relationships during organizational change. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
