Internal Communication Satisfaction, Engagement, and Life Satisfaction: A Process Model

This study investigates whether internal communication satisfaction (ICS) operates consistently across cultural contexts and how it connects organizational and technological conditions to employee engagement (EE) and life satisfaction (LS). Guided by Social Exchange Theory and the Media Affordances Perspective, we tested a process model in Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom ( N = 1,458). ICS was examined as an outcome of perceived organizational support (POS), psychological contract fulfillment (PCF), and digital communication acceptance (DCA), and as a predictor of EE and LS. We further hypothesized cultural moderation, expecting stronger POS–ICS links in hierarchical societies and stronger ICS–EE effects in individualistic contexts. Using a three-wave survey and country-level regressions, results show that all modeled paths are statistically significant, though only two of five cultural hypotheses are supported. POS relates more strongly to ICS in high power distance contexts, while ICS relates more strongly to EE in individualistic settings.

PurposeThe study explored the relationship between the two concepts—internal communication satisfaction (ICS) and life satisfaction. Additionally, the study analyzed the link between eight internal communication dimensions (satisfaction with feedback, satisfaction with communication with immediate superior, satisfaction with horizontal communication, satisfaction with informal communication, satisfaction with information about the organization, satisfaction with communication climate, satisfaction with the quality of communication media and satisfaction with communication in meetings) and life satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachTo exclude the potential impact of contextual factors, we conducted a quantitative field research on a homogeneous sample of 507 respondents, employed in a multinational organization. For the assessment of ICS, we used the Internal Communication Satisfaction Scale (UPZIK), developed by Tkalac Vercic et al. (2009). For the assessment of life satisfaction, we used the satisfaction with life acale (SWLS) developed by Diener et al. (1985).FindingsResults showed a very high, statistically significant correlation between ICS and life satisfaction. All dimensions of ICS are highly correlated with life satisfaction, but this relationship proved to be the strongest between life satisfaction and two dimensions of ICS (satisfaction with informal communication and satisfaction with communication climate).Research limitations/implicationsOur study has three general limitations: (1) the dataset is of cross-sectional nature, which prevents inferring causality between variables; (2) a common source bias is present (ICS and life satisfaction are measured from the same source) and (3) we used self-reports [given the subjective nature and others’ reports of life satisfaction yield weaker but similar results (Erdogan et al., 2012)].Originality/valueWe identified satisfaction with internal communication, as a work domain that has not yet received attention in the management literature, to have an important role in life satisfaction. Among others, we found satisfaction with informal communication and satisfaction with communication climate to be especially relevant ICS dimensions, implying that organizations should primarily cultivate non-formalized dimensions of internal communication—a positive communication environment.

In order to improve internal communication within organizations, it is necessary to understand it better. This study explores the potential impact of internal communication on employee engagement and employer attractiveness by testing the mediating effects of social exchange quality indicators. A survey of 1,805 employees was used to test the relationships between internal communication satisfaction, employee engagement, and employer attractiveness and the potential mediating variables; reflecting the perception of the social relationship between an organization and its employees. The results showed that communication satisfaction correlated positively with the social exchange quality indicators (psychological contract fulfillment and perceived organizational support) and both outcomes—employee engagement and employer attractiveness. Additionally, the social exchange quality indicators partially mediated the relationship between internal communication satisfaction and both employee engagement and employer attractiveness. Our findings were consistent with the theoretical models in which internal communication satisfaction leads to higher employee engagement and employer attractiveness.

This article aims to help communication practitioners know which cultural dimensions are associated with communication satisfaction. The meta-theoretical framework is the Excellence Theory of Public Relations and Communication Management (Dozier, Grunig and Grunig 1995, 35). The conceptual theoretical framework; cultural dimensions by Geert Hofstede (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005, 39) and communication satisfaction by Downs and Hazen (1977, 68) and Gray and Laidlaw (2004, 427) fit into the Excellence Theory of Public Relations and Communication Management. The research design was a quantitative survey with an online questionnaire as a data collection method distributed among a random sample. Validity was improved through pilot tests and the sampling technique. In terms of reliability this survey's scores sufficed as accurate and consistent, scoring above the acceptable score of 0.7 (Van Heerden 2001); 0.72 for national culture and 0.83 for communication satisfaction. Regression analysis was used to analyse the relationship between cultural dimensions (independent variables) and communication satisfaction (dependent variable). The findings clearly showed that national cultural dimensions have significant relationships with communication satisfaction. The implication was that internal communication practitioners could now be informed about the dynamics of the interaction between the cultural dimensions prevalent amongst South African employees and internal organisational communication satisfaction.

This book proposes a model of internal communication based on empirical research to demonstrate how contemporary organizations strategize, organize, perform, and measure it. Internal communication is the management of communication between an organization and its members to inform, motivate, engage, and cocreate meanings to make organizations more effective. The book presents key concepts defining the successful implementation and execution of internal communication: internal communication satisfaction, employee engagement, employer branding, organizational support, and psychological contract fulfillment. Including an extensive literature review and informed by in-depth interviews conducted with corporate communication directors and human resource management directors in 25 Croatian organizations, the book uses original research to give practical guidance on internal communication best practices. The book is an ideal resource for researchers and advanced students of public relations and corporate communication broadly and internal and employee communication specifically.

The study examines the influence of internal crisis communication practices on internal crisis communication satisfaction and the job performance of frontline employees. Also, the mediating effects of internal crisis communication satisfaction are considered. Data were collected from 284 frontline employees working in the UAE public service organisations, and SmartPLS was used to test the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that internal crisis communication practices are positively related to internal crisis communication satisfaction. Also, the relationships between internal crisis communication satisfaction and the identified work outcomes (job satisfaction, employee engagement and affective organisation commitment) were statistically significant. This study will assist service organisations in converging their attention on communication practices, particularly during crisis time to enhance employees’ work-related outcomes and achieve desired job performance. Our research extends work on organisational communication in an emerging economy context. This study offers solutions to advance communication practices in service organisations.

Organisations have recently become more aware of the importance of their employees and their contributions to organisational success (Bakker and Schaufeli, 2008). Employee engagement is one of the contributors that has been recognised to have several positive outcomes for organisations. This study was conducted in order to explore how different employee-related concepts affect employee engagement. Its purpose was to determine whether internal communication can influence employee engagement by insuring employees perceive a fulfilled psychological contract, as well as adequate organisational support. A total of 3,457 employees from 26 different organisations completed a survey that measured internal communication satisfaction, employee engagement, level of psychological fulfilment and perceived organisational support. To test the relationship between these variables, mediation analysis was conducted. Two research models with internal communication satisfaction as a mediator between the relationship of psychological contract fulfilment and engagement, and perceived organisational support and engagement were tested. The results show that internal communication satisfaction is a significant mediator of both the relationship of psychological contract fulfilment and engagement, as well as the relationship between perceived organisational support and engagement. This indicates that internal communication could be used in order to manage psychological contract fulfilment and perceived organisational support with the intent of increasing employee engagement, and consequently, overall organisational performance.

Employee performance at informal educational institutions has an important role in supporting the achievement of organizational goals. However, the identification of the determining factors and their impact on employee performance at the institution is often done partially. This study focuses on three factors, namely organizational commitment factors, internal communication, and job satisfaction. Specifically, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of organizational commitment and internal communication on job satisfaction and employee performance at informal educational institutions in Kampung Inggris, Pare Indonesia. In this study, organizational commitment and internal communication act as independent variables, employee performance acts as the dependent variable, and job satisfaction acts as a mediator variable. This study uses a questionnaire to collect data. The sample obtained and valid for use was 116. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The results of the analysis indicate that organizational commitment and internal communication factors have a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction and employee performance in informal educational institutions in Kampung Inggris, Pare region, Indonesia. This finding implies that these institutions need to find and implement ways to build a system of internal communication and organizational commitment and direct it to increase job satisfaction in order to improve the performance of their employees. Keywords: organizational commitment, internal communication, job satisfaction, employee performance DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-3-09 Publication date: January 31 st 2021

Problem Statement: Huge data makes it difficult to get relevant information to reach employees for engagement and maximum productivity Research Questions: To analyze the internal communication strategies of Pune Retail stores in managing and motivating employees. Purpose of the Study: Whether internal communication in retail stores motivated the employees and whether it really helped them serve customers better. Research Methods: Personal Interviews were conducted at Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Archies, Esprit, More, Lifestyle, Pune Secondary research regarding internal communication and retailing was conducted Research Surveys conducted by the batch of 2011-2013 in some retail stores in Pune Findings: Internal communication plays a very important role in motivating employees to perform better and to attend to customers, which in turn increases customer footfalls. Communication has to be largely oral either face to face or telephonically for greater effectiveness while key messages can be reinforced through the written medium. Conclusions: Interpersonal, dialogic communication remains important throughout the organization. When the vision and the employees’ role in fulfilling it is made clear to them, employees are motivated to work towards its attainment communication satisfaction has a positive correlaion with job satisfaction, organizational identification and commitment, and satisfaction with work relationships.

This study explores how a major external crisis, like the COVID‐19 pandemic, affects employees' perception of their employers, as a result of changes in internal communication practices. A total of 3457 employees filled out a questionnaire on internal communication satisfaction and employer attractiveness; 1805 just before the first COVID‐19 outbreak in Europe and 1652 after the first outbreak. Multi‐group structural equation modelling was conducted to examine how the relationship between internal communication satisfaction and employer attractiveness changed as a result of the crisis. The effect of different internal communication aspects on employer attractiveness was altered. Horizontal communication remained only significant determinant of positive employer perception even after the crisis. Channels of internal communication and informal internal communication lost their significant influence on employer perception, whereas communication climate and level of available corporate information gained significant influence. This study elucidates how an external crisis alters the relationship between internal communication and employer branding and can help organizations optimize their communication strategies during and after a major crisis to retain and attract desired employees.

Educational organizations need organizational commitment because it affects how motivated, engaged, and effective teachers are in their jobs. This research looked at how joint practices and satisfied internal communication affect the link between educational leaders' relational leadership and teachers' organizational commitment in Region XI public elementary schools in the Philippines. A path analysis-based quantitative descriptive–correlational approach was used. Utilizing adapted survey forms, data were gathered from 400 public elementary school teachers chosen through stratified random sampling. The data was analyzed with mean, Pearson Product–Moment Correlation, and linear regression. There were very high levels of collaborative practices, internal communication satisfaction, relational leadership of school heads, and dedication to the organization. Researchers found that relational leadership and collaborative practices were strongly linked, as were internal communication satisfaction and company commitment. Concerning relational leadership of school heads and organizational commitment, however, there was no clear significant relationship found. These results show that collaborative practices and happiness with internal communication are fully mediating. The results show how important it is to create joint spaces and support good internal communication to get teachers more committed to their organizations. Improving these aspects of relational leadership could lead to more engaged teachers, better school success, and better outcomes for all students in public elementary schools.

PurposeThis study aims to contribute to the understanding of internal communication and its connections to engagement and employer brands. The authors wanted to test the relationship between the three variables and explore if employees' perception of employer brands is affected by internal communication satisfaction and engagement. Creating a desirable employer brand can have significant benefits for organizations, such as higher employee satisfaction, employee engagement and retention. It is crucial to have a clear grasp of how the determinants of these relationships affect each other.Design/methodology/approachA total of 1,805 employees participated in a large communication survey that measured internal communication satisfaction, employee engagement and perception of employer brand (operationalized as employer attractiveness). To test the relationship between variables, the authors used multiple regression analysis.FindingsThe results show internal communication satisfaction and employee engagement as significant predictors of employer brand. All of the internal communication satisfaction dimensions and two out of three employee engagement dimensions have been identified as determinants of at least two employer attractiveness dimensions.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include using a cross-sectional dataset, which reduces the possibility of determining causality, using self-reports and a common source bias.Originality/valueThe authors added to the body of knowledge by analyzing the effects of workplace attitudes on attitudes toward the organization. The authors found that both internal communication satisfaction and employee engagement significantly shape the perception of employer brands.

PurposeAlthough multiple research studies disclosed that internal communication is effective in building trust within organizations, the link between employees' satisfaction with internal communication and their trust in their employers has not been explored. The paper explores the interrelationship between eight facets of internal communication satisfaction (ICS) and five dimensions of organizational trust (OT).Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative questionnaire-based field research was conducted on a sample of 289 employees. For the assessment of the ICS, the Internal Communication Satisfaction Scale – UPZIK developed by Tkalac Vercic et al. (2009) was used. OT was assessed using the scale developed by Shockley-Zalabak et al. (2000).FindingsThe research revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between the ICS and OT, both when considering five individual OT dimensions and the overall OT. Moreover, two ICS dimensions – “Satisfaction with communication climate” and “Satisfaction with communication with immediate supervisor” – were found to be the strongest predictors of OT.Originality/valueThe research adds to the discussion of antecedents of trust in organizations by positioning the ICS as a powerful generator of OT.

The impact of employee engagement, organisational support and employer branding on internal communication satisfaction

This descriptive-correlational study examined the extent to which multifactor leadership and internal communication satisfaction predict organizational commitment among employees in commercial banks. The research aimed to elucidate the dynamic relationships between leadership practices, communication processes, and employee commitment within the banking sector. Data were collected from 200 employees across 15 commercial banks using validated and adapted survey instruments. Statistical analyses, including mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s r, and multiple regression, were employed to interpret the findings. The results indicated that multifactor leadership was a prominent characteristic of bank managers' leadership practices, while internal communication satisfaction was highly observed among employees. Employees also exhibited a high level of organizational commitment. Correlation analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between multifactor leadership and organizational commitment, whereas no significant relationship was found between internal communication satisfaction and organizational commitment. Moreover, multifactor leadership emerged as a significant predictor of organizational commitment, while internal communication satisfaction did not demonstrate a substantial influence. These findings underscore the pivotal role of effective leadership in fostering organizational commitment among employees. In contrast, the role of internal communication in this context appeared limited. Bank administrators are advised to adopt transformational leadership approaches and integrate leadership development programs to enhance organizational commitment. Additionally, fostering transparent and timely communication should remain a priority in organizational policies to cultivate a more engaged and committed workforce in the banking sector.