Assessment of Employees Perception of Wema Bank Internal Communication Strategies in the Management of COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The study assessed employees’ perception of Wema Bank internal communication strategies inthe management of COVID-19. The objectives of the study were to assess the strategies adopted by Wema Bank internal communication before and during COVID-19 pandemic with a view to evaluating the level of workers’ satisfaction with the strategies adopted by the bank. The study was premised on Organizational Information Theory. The study adopted survey design with structured questionnaire as instrument of data collection through which two hundred and ninety-four (294) respondents were sampled from one thousand, one hundred and nine staff members of Wema bank branches across three states of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo. Findings showed that 83.1% of the respondents have communication engagement with the management of Wema bank daily, while others indicated less frequently. Prior to the pandemic, they communicated through multiple channels such as face to face (92.2%); individual official mail (96.1%), memo and circular (36.3%), WhatsApp messaging (22.1%), Zoom (18.8%) and notice board (12.3%), heads of departments (94.1%), corporate communication (96.8%) line managers (90.9%). During the COVID-19 pandemic, 47.4% of respondents that they received information from the management daily during 19.5% said weekly, 8.4% said monthly, while 24.7% said as the need arose. At this time, Wema bank management communicated majorly through individual E-mail (98.1%), WhatsApp loop (92.2%), Zoom (98.7%), corporate communication (96%), heads of departments (96.8%). and line managers (98.1%). 97.4% of the respondents indicated Internet/Online based communication as the major form of communication channel during COVID-19 outbreak. So, there was increased reliance on digital channels with pressure on technology infrastructure and resources. It was concluded that strategic communication effectively applied in crises contexts, enlists the employees as corporate brand disciples who are comm