Theory and Practice: Current Trends and Issues in Internal Communication

NEW PERSPECTIVES IN ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
Current Trends
and Issues in
Internal Communication
Theory and Practice
Edited by
Linjuan Rita Men
Ana Tkalac Verčič
New Perspectives in Organizational Communication
Series Editors
Milton Mayfield, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, TX,
USA
Jacqueline Mayfield, Texas A&M International University,
Laredo, TX, USA
This series will examine current, emerging, and cutting edge approaches
to organizational communication. Throughout this series, authors will
present new ideas in – and methods for – conducting organizational
communication research. The series will present a variety of topics, giving
readers an in-depth understanding of the organizational communication
field to develop the skills necessary to engage in field research.
More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/16587
Linjuan Rita Men · Ana Tkalac Verci
ˇ č
Editors
Current Trends
and Issues in Internal
Communication
Theory and Practice
Editors
Linjuan Rita Men Ana Tkalac Verčič
University of Florida University of Zagreb
Gainesville, FL, USA Zagreb, Croatia
ISSN 2730-5333 ISSN 2730-5341 (electronic)

New Perspectives in Organizational Communication
ISBN 978-3-030-78212-2 ISBN 978-3-030-78213-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78213-9
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Preface
Nearly a century ago (1924–1932) the Hawthorne Studies of employees

at Western Electric Company in Chicago revealed a then startling
discovery: the positive power of internal communications. Worker perfor-
mance was found to improve most when they felt more informed,
involved, and valued in the organization—not when lighting or other
environmental conditions were changed. Productivity was dependent on
social issues and job satisfaction, in addition to monetary incentives and
workplace conditions.
A long chain of research evidence since then underscores the impor-
tance of internal communications in organizations and the crucial roles
leaders at all levels play in strategic communications. Yet, our knowing
more about the positive power of employee communication and leadership
has not been matched over the years by doing more to realize that power
and reap the substantial benefits of enriched workplace communications
and interactions.
Our hesitancy or unwillingness to seize and act upon illuminating
research findings is due to many constraints. They range from blinding
egos and self-interests, to sticky entrapments in long-time practices and
procedures, to lack of belief in research findings, to researchers’ deficien-
cies in communicating their findings clearly and more widely.
But the urgency to do more with what we know regarding internal
communications in all types of groups and organizations has never been
clearer or more urgent. The global pandemic of 2020 starkly framed
v
vi PREFACE
these human needs and our distinct ties to each other and to group,
community, and organizational success. The documented lethal effects
of the pandemic reached and touched all of us, accentuating our utter
connectedness as people.
Similarly, we are linked to others in our workplaces and organizations
globally. Here, too, our connectedness, and the quality and integrity of
our interactions and communications with each other, have everything to
do with individual, team, and organizational performance. Together we
have the opportunity to understand and effect positive changes in internal
communication. Simply put, the power of doing something positive resides
in our hands, hearts, and minds. We must but seize it.
And that is the beauty of this rich, insightful book on internal commu-
nications: it connects our research in the area to our professional prac-
tice. Edited by renowned scholars, Drs. Rita Men and Ana Tkalac Verčič,
this book is a roadmap for doing something positive—clear ideas and
directions for how we and our organizations can move from knowing
what research and theory reveal about internal communications, to doing,
or putting into daily practice those crucial findings and corresponding
knowledge.
The book highlights more than a dozen internal communication
trends and issues, or forces affecting organizations of all kinds and their
people today. These include the crucial roles of leaders as communication
agents; the influences (and pitfalls) of emerging technologies on informa-
tion distribution and content; measurement of internal communications;
internal crises and strategic change communications; employee well-being
and CSR; cross-cultural internal communications; and employee activism,
voice, listening, and dialogue in the workplace.
These areas of study and practice possess the power to affect employee
attitudes, engagement, productivity, trust, retention, teamwork, and poli-
cies and practices in organizations, ultimately rendering the fabric of orga-
nizational culture. Today, employees are vital communication agents and
assets for organizations whose reputations and external relationships are
built from within.
What distinguishes this book is the combination of excellent scholarly
research with the many insights and best practices of leading professionals
worldwide. The book is: (1) grounded thoroughly in empirical research
by highly regarded global scholars; (2) informed by established theories;
(3) enriched through interviews with or mini-cases written by leading
PREFACE vii
professionals; and (4) punctuated by dozens of insightful best practices

and implications.
Bottomline: This is an invaluable resource for practicing communica-
tors, teachers, scholars, and leaders at all levels in diverse organizations.
Its global scope, and topical reach and depth, inform current issues and
trends in internal communications. Combined with professional insights
and implications for professional tactics, strategies, and practices, the book
helps us know more about these crucial issues and surging trends. More
importantly, it arms us to do more to help manage and resolve such issues.
Dr. Nitin Nohria, Indian–American author and scholar, and current
dean of Harvard Business School, succinctly captured this notion of
doing when he described the relationship between communication and
leadership: “Communication is the real work of leadership.”
Meaningful change and improvement grow out of the combina-
tion of knowing more and then doing more. This book is the Rx for
improving the health and enriching the power of internal communica-
tions. I encourage you to read and enjoy the book, learn from it, then act
on your learning and make positive differences in your work, workforce,
and workplace.
Bruce K. Berger, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, USA
Contents
1 Evolving Research and Practices in Internal

Communication 1
Linjuan Rita Men
2 Leaders as Communication Agents 19
Cen April Yue, Linjuan Rita Men, and Bruce K. Berger
3 Internal Public Segmentation for Effective Internal
Issue Management 39
Yeunjae Lee and Jarim Kim
4 Internal Social Media and Internal Communication 57
Vibeke Thøis Madsen
5 Employee Advocates: Unlocking Their Power
Through Internal Communication 75
Patrick D. Thelen
6 Employee Voice and Internal Listening: Towards
Dialogue in the Workplace 93
Kevin Ruck
7 Employee Activism and Internal Communication 113
Arunima Krishna
ix
x CONTENTS
8 Beyond Internal Corporate Social Responsibility

Communication (ICSRC): Creating a Purposeful
Organization 131
Ganga S. Dhanesh
9 Enhancing Employee Well-Being Through Internal
Communication 149
Justin A. Walden
10 Internal Crisis Communication 165
Alessandra Mazzei and Alfonsa Butera
11 Strategic Change Communication 183
Aniisu K. Verghese
12 Measuring and Evaluating Internal Communication 201
Julie O’Neil, Michele E. Ewing, Stacey Smith,
and Sean Williams
13 Internal Communication in a Cross-Cultural
and Global Context 223
Ana Tkalac Verčič, Dejan Verčič,
and Krishnamurthy Sriramesh
14 Closing Thoughts and Future Directions 241
Ana Tkalac Verčič
Index 259
Notes on Contributors
Chapter Authors
Bruce K. Berger is a professor emeritus, University of Alabama. He was

founding director of The Plank Center for Leadership in PR. His research
focuses on employee communications, leadership, and power relations.
Previously, Berger was a corporate PR executive and worked on diverse
communication projects in more than 30 countries.
Alfonsa Butera is an adjunct professor of Corporate Communication

and Senior Researcher of the Centre for Employee Relations and Commu-
nication at Università IULM. She is a freelance consultant in the field of
corporate communication.
Ganga S. Dhanesh (Ph.D., National University of Singapore), is an

associate professor, assistant dean of Research, College of Communica-
tion and Media Sciences, Zayed University, has published on CSR and
strategic communication in journals including Business Horizons, Manage-
ment Communication Quarterly, Journal of Public Relations Research,
Journal of International Management, and Public Relations Review.
Michele E. Ewing, APR, Fellow PRSA has more than 30 years of

experience in public relations practice and education. She teaches public
relations courses in the School of Media and Journalism at Kent State
xi
xii NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
University. Her research focuses on digital communication, fake news

crises, internal communication, and leadership development. She serves
on the National Public Relations Society of America’s Board of Ethics
and Professional Standards.
Jarim Kim (Ph.D., University of Maryland, 2014) is an assistant

professor in the Department of Communication at Yonsei University,
Seoul, South Korea. Her research interests include public behaviors,
crisis communication, public segmentation, strategic message design, and
digital media.
Arunima Krishna, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at Boston University’s

College of Communication. Her research examines publics’ perceptions
of controversial social issues, such as anti-vaccine activism, climate change,
and workplace gender discrimination, and has been published in leading
academic journals including Communication Research, Journal of Public
Relations Research, and Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.
Yeunjae Lee (Ph.D., Purdue University, 2018) is an assistant professor

in public relations and strategic communication at the University of
Miami. Her research interests include relationship management, employee
communication, and internal issue/crisis management.
Vibeke Thøis Madsen is a senior associate professor in organizational

strategic communication at DMJX, Danish School of Media and Jour-
nalism, Denmark. Her research interests are organizational communica-
tion, communication dynamics on internal social media, and employees
as strategic communicators.
Alessandra Mazzei is the director of Centre for Employee Relations

and Communication at Università IULM, where she is an associate
professor of Corporate Communication and Coordinator of the bachelor
programme in Corporate Communication and Public Relations.
Linjuan Rita Men, Ph.D., APR is an associate professor in the Depart-

ment of Public Relations at the University of Florida. Her research
interests include internal communication, leadership communication,
measurement and evaluation, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurial
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xiii
communications. She is the lead author of the book, Excellence in Internal

Communication Management published by Business Expert Press.
Julie O’Neil, Ph.D., APR teaches and researches in public relations,

strategy, and internal communication. A member of the Page Society
and the Institute for Public Relations Measurement Commission, she
has published and presented more than 90 peer-reviewed journal arti-
cles, proceedings, and conference papers. She is an associate editor for the
Public Relations Journal.
Kevin Ruck is the co-founder of PR Academy and the editor and co-
author of Exploring Internal Communication: Towards Informed Employee
Voice published by Routledge.
Stacey Smith, APR, Fellow PRSA is a senior counsel and partner at

Jackson Jackson & Wagner, a behavioral public relations firm. For 40
years, Stacey has helped organizations build mutually beneficial relation-
ships with stakeholders. She sits on IPR’s Measurement Commission and
is co-chair of the Commission for Public Relations Education.
Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, Ph.D. is a professor of Public Relations and

Director of Master of Arts in Corporate Communication at the University
of Colorado, Boulder, USA. His research focuses on topics such as global
public relations, the public relations and culture, public relations for devel-
opment, and CSR. He has taught at universities in Asia, Australasia,
Europe, and North America and received several awards for excellence
in teaching and research including the prestigious 2004 Pathfinder Award
from the Institute of Public Relations. He has co-edited several books
(including two PRIDE award-winning volumes), published over 100
research articles and book chapters, and presented over 100 conference
papers and presentations in over 35 countries.
Patrick D. Thelen is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism

& Media Studies at San Diego State University. He received his Ph.D. in
Mass Communication from the University of Florida in 2019. He began
his professional career in Chile and worked for the multinational PR firm
Hill+Knowlton Strategies.
xiv NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
Ana Tkalac Verčič, Ph.D. is a professor of Marketing and Public Rela-

tions at the Faculty of Economics & Business, at the University of Zagreb.
Her research includes various communication topics, from marketing
communication to internal communication. She has published more than
100 research papers and book chapters and has authored, co-authored and
edited numerous books in public relations, marketing, and social sciences.
Dejan Verčič, Ph.D. is a professor, Head of Department of Commu-

nication and Head of Centre for Marketing and Public Relations at the
University of Ljubljana, and Partner and Knowledge Director in Herman
& partnerji d.o.o., Slovenia. His research interests are globalization,
mediatization, reflective, and strategic communication, and future studies.
Aniisu K. Verghese, Ph.D. is an award-winning internal communica-

tions leader, author, speaker, consultant, and blogger with over 22 years
of experience. The author of Internal Communications—Insights, Prac-
tices, and Models (Sage, 2012), he researches, teaches and speaks on
internal communications, corporate social responsibility, and personal
branding. He is a member of the International Association of Business
Communicators.
Justin A. Walden, Ph.D. is an associate professor of organizational

communication and strategic communication in the Department of
Communication at North Dakota State University. Walden spent eight
years total as a newspaper reporter and public relations professional
before entering academia. He studies employee-organization relation-
ships, work-life boundary navigation, and media use routines in work
contexts.
Sean Williams is an assistant teaching professor at Bowling Green State

University. Previously, he held senior communication positions with
KeyCorp, National City Corporation, Goodyear, True Digital Commu-
nications, and his own company, Communication AMMO. He is also a
member of the Institute for Public Relations Measurement Commission
and the board of directors of the International PR Research Conference.
Cen April Yue, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of

Communication at the University of Connecticut and research editor
of the Organizational Communication Research Center at the Institute
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xv
for Public Relations. Her research interest focuses on internal public

relations, leadership communication, organizational change management,
and relationship management.
Other Contributors
Mahul Brahma, Ph.D., D.Litt. heads Communications, CSR, and

Branding at Mjunction Services Limited. A former journalist, Mahul is
an award-winning communicator, a renowned luxury commentator, and
an author. He is an alumnus of institutes such as Indian Institute of
Management (India) and University of Cambridge (UK).
Martin Flegg Chart.PR has been an internal communication practi-
tioner for over 20 years working in-house and as a consultant in govern-
ment, financial services, legal services, and higher education. He is the
2021 Committee Chair for CIPR Inside and the founder of The IC
Citizen.
Teresa Giradi is the head of internal communication at SNAM, one of
the world’s leading energy infrastructure operators headquartered in Italy.
Her main responsibilities include planning, implementing, and directing
internal communication programs.
Lasse Hoegfeldt is the head of Media and Creative at Jyske Bank and
editor-in-chief of Jyske Bank TV. He is an international keynote speaker
on topics like internal and external communication, brand journalism,
brand Newsroom, and Social Media strategy.
Katarina is Novartis Country Communications & Engagement Head in
Slovenia. She was one of the earliest practicing PR professionals in the
country. Katarina has a Master’s degree from the Faculty of Social Sciences
in Ljubljana. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of Slovenia
and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
Ray Kotcher is a professor of the practice, public relations, at Boston
University’s College of Communication, and the former CEO and
chairman of Ketchum, one of the world’s largest and most awarded public
relations agencies.
Alex Malouf a marketing communications executive who has spent the
last 17 years in the Middle East has lived across the region, working for
xvi NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
the public and private sectors in a variety of communications roles. He is

the Corporate Communications Director for the Middle East and Africa
at Schneider Electric.
Ethan McCarty is the founder and CEO of Integral, an employee
activation agency. Formerly the global head of Employee and Innova-
tion Communications for Bloomberg LP and Global Director of Social
Strategy for IBM, Ethan has more than 20 years of experience leading
digital communications and engagement initiatives at scale.
Kylie McQuain is the Director of Internal Communications at Airbnb,
the world’s leading community-driven hospitality company. Previously,
she was the Director of Communications at Red Ventures for over 5 years.
McQuain holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of
Florida.
Andrea Notarnicola is a partner of Newton, where he works as a
cultural change management consultant for primary global businesses. He
has been a lecturer at various universities and schools, including Università
IULM. He recently (2019) authored the book L’impresa spezzata (The
Broken Enterprise), focused on the recovery phase after an emergency.
Don Stanziano, MHA, APR is the chief marketing & communications
officer for Geisinger, an integrated health system based in Danville,
Pennsylvania, recognized as a national leader in health care innovation.
Don is responsible for all marketing and communications across the
Geisinger enterprise, including brand and growth marketing, internal and
external communications and issues management, and digital customer
and employee engagement across a robust marketing technology stack.
List of Figures
Fig. 4.1 Different factors influencing employee communication

on ISM (slightly altered from Madsen [2017],
with the permission of Journal of Communication
Management ) 60
Fig. 4.2 Three types of communication arenas created by ISM
(Madsen [2018], with the permission of Corporate
Communication: An international Journal ) 64
Fig. 5.1 Internal communication and employee advocacy behaviors 82
Fig. 6.1 The employee listening spectrum (Krais et al., 2020) 100
Fig. 6.2 The alignment, voice, identification, dialogue (AVID)
framework for internal communication 102
Fig. 8.1 Framework for purpose-aligned ICSRC 142
xvii
List of Tables
Table 3.1 Communicative behaviors of segmented employees

regarding organizational issues: means and standard
deviations 48
Table 6.1 Summary of voice, listening and dialogue
in the workplace 97
Table 12.1 Internal communication measurement standards
and definitions (O’Neil et al., 2018) 207
xix
CHAPTER 1
Evolving Research and Practices in Internal

Communication
Linjuan Rita Men
Internal communication, sometimes referred to as employee communica-

tion, internal relations, or internal public relations, has witnessed signif-
icant growth in recent decades as a discipline and profession. Globally,
specialized industry associations and organizations have been established
to foster research, education, and professional development in this arena,
such as the Institute for Internal Communication established in 2010
in the United Kingdom, the Organizational Communication Research
Center of the Institute for Public Relations created in 2012 in the United
States, and the IC Kollectif, established in 2016 in Canada. In tandem,
internal communication has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing
specializations in public relations and communication management (Men
& Bowen, 2017; Tkalac Verčič et al., 2012). Scholarship on internal
communication has also soared in the past decade. According to a recent
systematic review (Lee & Yue, 2020) analyzing 223 articles on internal
L. R. Men (B)
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
e-mail: rlmen@jou.ufl.edu
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1

Switzerland AG 2021
L. R. Men and A. Tkalac Verčič (eds.), Current Trends and Issues
in Internal Communication, New Perspectives in Organizational
Communication, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78213-9_1
2 L. R. MEN
communication published in nine communication journals from 1970 to

2019, over half of the studies appeared after 2011.
The evolvement of internal communication practice was partially
prompted by the increasing recognition of employees not only as the
production force but also as invaluable communication assets for orga-
nizations in today’s increasingly connected, digitized, and transparent
world. As organizational insiders, employees are perceived as trustworthy
sources of information for external publics. What employees say publicly
about the company often forms the basis for how external stakeholders
view the organization. In the social media age, the role of employees as
brand advocates, ambassadors, and authentic voices for the organization
has become more salient than ever. As such, the line between “internal”
and “external” is blurred (Mishra et al., 2014), and anything internal can
easily become external. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic,
Airbnb was lauded for its transparent, authentic, and empathetic approach
to treating employees when the company announced its plan to lay off
25% of their workers. Forbes called it “a master class for empathy and
compassion” (Kelly, 2020). Despite announcing a painful decision, the
company’s effective internal communication was not only well received
by employees, but also projected an external image of a compassionate
and authentic organization.
New realities in today’s business environment necessitate the re-
examination of how internal communication is defined and practiced,
particularly from a public relations and strategic communication perspec-
tive. What do we mean by internal communication today? What key
problems does internal communication address as a sub-discipline of
public relations and strategic communication? Below, the definitions of
internal communication are revisited, an overview of the recent devel-
opments in research and practice in this domain is provided, positioned
through the lens of public relations, along with a discussion of emerging
trends and issues that are shaping the practice. The chapter will end with
the discussion of the vision and goals of the book and an overview of the
book’s structure and content.
What Is Internal Communication?

As an organizational function, internal communication has been broadly
defined as “all formal and informal communication taking place internally
at all levels of an organization” (Kalla, 2005, p. 304). Multidisciplinary
1 EVOLVING RESEARCH AND PRACTICES IN INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 3
by nature, internal communication can be positioned between public rela-

tions, human resources management and (internal) marketing. However,
in practice, it is public relations and strategic communication practitioners
that have the best understanding of internal stakeholders (Tkalac Verčič
& Špoljarić, 2020).
Adopting a stakeholder approach, Welch and Jackson (2007) defined
internal communication as “the strategic management of interactions and
relationships between stakeholders within organizations” and specified
interrelated dimensions that include “internal line manager communica-
tion, internal team peer communication, internal project peer communi-
cation and internal corporate communication” (p. 184). This definition
can be recognized as one of the earliest definitions of internal communica-
tion from a public relations perspective. Further, this definition positions
internal communication as an strategic management function beyond
information exchange and acknowledges the essential role of managing
“relationships” in the process, which concurs with the modern defini-
tion of public relations (c.f., Grunig et al., 2002). Likewise, grounded
in public relation’s excellence theory, Men and Bowen (2017) consider
internal communication as a process co-created by the organization
and internal stakeholders and define internal relations as “the strategic
management of internal communication in managing interdependence
and building mutually beneficial relationships between the organization
and its employees” (p. 12). Following the relationship management
paradigm and a systems theory perspective, this definition recognizes
the interdependent state between the organization and its employees
at various levels and aspires to a win–win situation where long-lasting
quality organization–employee relationships can be cultivated. In this
sense, internal communication may be understood as a means to an end
and is driven by the perceived needs and wants of interacting organiza-
tions and internal stakeholders (Jiménez-Castillo, 2016; Welch, 2012).
Internal stakeholders, predominantly employees, are active players in the
internal communication process, who co-construct meaning with the
organization and co-create the relationship as opposed to being merely
passive message receivers.
In essence, internal communication is both a management function
and public relations specialization. It is strategic in nature which aims
to achieve specific internal communication goals that contribute to orga-
nizational effectiveness. Hence, internal communication can be more
appropriately coined as “strategic internal communication,” which is
4 L. R. MEN
distinct from a similar but easily confused term, organizational communi-

cation. As a well-established field of study, organizational communication
is concerned with studying all communication phenomenon inside the
organization (e.g., persons and their characteristics or motivations, orga-
nizations, structure, teams, networks, discursive resources, discourse,
interpretation, representation, construction of meaning, processes, etc.)
(Kuhn et al., 2019) and focuses on how the organization functions, the
context of organization, and communication processes (Deetz, 2001).
In practice, internal communication involves multiple dimensions: hier-
archical communication (i.e., leadership communication across various
levels), corporate internal communication (i.e., communication initiated
by the communication department) and, horizontal/peer communica-
tion (i.e., employees as communicators, opinion leaders, or message
receivers) (Men & Bowen, 2017; Whitworth, 2011). Internal commu-
nication requires a thorough understanding of how communication
functions to be effective. This entails understanding the communication
players, including communicators/message senders (e.g., the organiza-
tion, the leader, or employees) and internal audiences/message receivers,
the communication process (e.g., communication strategies, tactics, chan-
nels; how meanings are encoded/decoded, how messages are transmitted,
and the feedback loop) and the context of internal communication (e.g.,
culture, climate, structure, leadership, etc.) (Keyton, 2011). Equally, if
not more importantly, as a strategic public relations function, effective
internal communication requires understanding of how organization and
management work and can clearly see how internal communication fits in
organizational strategy and contribute to the attainment of organizational
goals and organizational effectiveness.
Evolving Roles and Functions

of Internal Communication
What can internal communication do? Functions of internal communi-
cation pertain to various roles that internal communication serves in the
organization. A significant amount of research has discussed the functions
of internal communication and resulting outcomes. Consolidating these
perspectives, the evolving roles, and functions of internal communication
can be categorized as the following:
Inform. Traditionally perceived as a function of information exchange,
a fundamental role of internal communication is to keep employees
informed and updated regarding their job roles, the organization, market,
environment, and each other (Berger, 2008; Jiménez-Castillo, 2016; Men
& Bowen, 2017). This serves as the basis of operations coordination and
a fully functioning organization. Also, employees are the backbone of
the organizational production and innovation. They need to be aligned
with the organization’s strategies, decisions, mission, vision, purpose,
and long-term goals so that they can make meaningful contribution
(Hume & Leonard, 2014). Keeping employees informed is the first step
toward aligning employees with the organization’s strategic intent and
implementing goals and strategies.
Listen. Communication should not be a one-way street. As a strategic
management function, internal communication involves listening to
gather employee feedback, views, perspectives, and ideas. Symmetrical
internal communication which highlights listening, feedback, reciprocity,
and an employee-centered approach has been recognized as an important
characteristic for excellent public relations (Grunig, 1992). Hume and
Leonard (2014) emphasize the importance of incorporating the views
of internal stakeholders in organizational strategy development. Active
listening constitutes two-way communication, promotes dialogue where
meanings can be co-created and mutual understanding can be achieved
and also breeds innovation as employee voices and constructive feedback
can serve as the source of innovative ideas and intrapreneurship (Park
et al., 2014).
Connect. As indicated by the definition, building relationships is a
fundamental function of internal communication. To that end, employees
need to feel connected inside the organization—with the company, with
the leader, and with one another. A deeper level of connection goes
beyond an employer-employee exchange relationship. Rather, employee
minds, hearts, and souls are bonded with the organization. Employees
are committed, identified, and engaged. Such outcomes can only be
achieved over time via effective and systematic internal communication
incorporating various players at different levels in the organization.
Acculturate and Inspire. Internal communication helps employees
make sense of the organization, including its mission, vision, values,
beliefs, and purpose (Men & Bowen, 2017). By communicating, inter-
preting, and instilling the values and beliefs among employees, internal
communication helps acculturate employees and create a shared iden-
tity inside the organization. Culture not only represents the personality
and character of the organization, but also serves as the glue that binds
6 L. R. MEN
employees. Culture is intertwined with internal communication (Grunig

et al., 2002; Men & Jiang, 2016). While culture provides a context and
climate for internal practice, culture is created, reinforced, preserved, and
transformed via internal communication. Internal communication exerted
at both organizational and leadership levels influences the way employees
think and act, which is an important manifest of culture.
Motivate and Engage. An organization’s internal communication,
especially from the leadership communication perspective, plays an essen-
tial role in motivating employees. To motivate is to create a desire to
stimulate employee efforts and performance which connects strategies to
action and drives goal attainment (Timm & Peterson, 2000). Commu-
nicating an inspiring vision motivates employees (Men, 2014a; Mishra
et al., 2014). Employees can also be motivated by organizations and
leaders meeting intrinsic needs such as the need for autonomy, compe-
tence, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000). For instance, leadership
communication of positive feedback, encouragement, appreciation, and
recognition can meet employee needs for self-efficacy, which then moti-
vates employees (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Internal communication that
connects personal employee goals to a higher purpose of the organization
can help employees see the meaning and impact of their work, enhancing
their intrinsic motivation for the job (Mayfield & Mayfield, 2018).
Internal communication engages employees. This linkage has been
empirically established in a number of studies (e.g., Mishra et al., 2014;
Tkalac Verčič & Vokić, 2017). For instance, in discussing the expanded
role of internal communication in driving employee engagement, Mishra
et al. (2014) established that internal communication develops a bond
of trust between organizations and employees, which leads to employee
engagement. Likewise, Tkalac Verčič and Vokić (2017) linked multiple
dimensions of internal communication satisfaction with employee feel-
ings of vigor, absorption, and dedication in the organization, further
reinforcing the role of internal communication in engagement.
Overall, the role and function of internal communication can be
summarized as informational (to inform), relational (to listen, connect),
motivational (to acculturate, inspire, motivate), and behavioral (to
engage). Various by products can be generated in the process of internal
communication such as employee trust, satisfaction, commitment, align-
ment, enhanced organizational reputation, and customer satisfaction
(Mishra et al., 2014), which can eventually lead to financial indicators as
well (Men & Bowen, 2017). Given the modern integration of commu-
nication functions and multiple touchpoints employees have with the
organization online and offline, and inside and outside of the organiza-
tion, an emerging role of internal communication is to create a wholistic
employee experience based on cumulative interactions employees have
with the organization in their journey (from on-boarding to offboarding).
This requires an integrated view of internal communication practice and
an emphasis on not only employee perceptions and attitudes, but more
importantly on actions and behaviors. Organizations also need to think
holistically about the entire employee experience in the organization
rather than discrete events and recognize that employee relationships with
the organization begin before they join the company and persist after
they leave (Plaskoff, 2017). While human resources management is crit-
ical in crafting employee experience during the process of employment,
internal communication needs to go hand in hand. As such, internal
communication practitioners play the role of not only facilitators, trainers,
relationship managers, motivators, but also experience designers in the
organization.
State of Research in Internal Communication

Decades of internal communication research has yielded an abundance of
scholarship. Research in this arena has grown exponentially, particularly
after 2000 with a sharp increase in the past decade (Lee & Yue, 2020).
Overall, research on internal communication can be broadly categorized
as the following streams:
1. Defining internal communication and describing the practice

2. Demonstrating the value of internal communication
3. Exploring best practices/excellence in internal communication
4. Internal communication in various contexts (special topics) such as
in change, crisis management, multi/cross-cultural communication
context.
(1) Defining and describing internal communication. Pioneer

public relations scholars (Grunig, 1992; Wright, 1995) highlighted
internal communication as a public relations function and specializa-
tion over twenty years ago. However, research on internal communi-
cation from a public relations perspective has been lagging until the
8 L. R. MEN
start of the new millennium. Public relations and corporate commu-

nication scholars have since defined internal communication from the
tactical channels perspective (Cornelissen, 2004), the integrated, multidis-
ciplinary perspective (Kalla, 2005), stakeholder (Welch & Jackson, 2007),
strategic management/alignment (Hume & Leonard, 2014), and rela-
tionship perspectives (Jiménez-Castillo, 2016; Men & Bowen, 2017).
Efforts have also been made to position the field, describe the functions
and practice, and explicate the differences between internal communica-
tion and its sister fields such as organizational communication, business
communication, or management communication (Kalla, 2005; Men &
Bowen, 2017; Tkalac Verčič et al., 2012; Welch & Jackson, 2007).
(2) Demonstrating the value of internal communication. An
important body of work in the past ten years pertains to demonstrating
the value of internal communication. Research has evidenced the positive
impact of internal communication on a number of positive employee
outcomes, such as employee-organizational relationships (e.g., Kim &
Rhee, 2011; Lee & Kim, 2017; Men, 2014a), employee trust (e.g.,
Men, Yue, et al., 2020), organizational reputation (e.g., Dortok, 2006;
Men, 2014b), employee engagement (Kang & Sung, 2017; Mishra
et al., 2014; Tkalac Verčič & Vokić, 2017), organizational identification
(e.g., Yue et al., 2020), employee advocacy (Men, 2014a; Thelen, 2019;
Walden & Westerman, 2018), employee communication behavior (Kim
& Rhee, 2011), employee voice behavior (Ruck et al., 2017), organi-
zational citizenship behavior (Men & Yue, 2019), work-life enrichment
(Jiang & Men, 2017), and employee life satisfaction (Coric et al., 2020).
Beyond these outcomes at cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral levels,
internal communication has also been linked to financial indicators, such
as employee retention (Kang & Sung, 2017), innovative performance
(Jiménez-Castillo, 2016), and intrapreneurship (Park et al., 2014).
Recognizing the multiple levels of impact of internal communication
on organizational effectiveness, scholars have also devoted effort to
providing guidance on measuring the effectiveness of internal communi-
cation, which incorporates output, outtake, and outcome measures and
is tied to business objectives and organizational bottom lines (e.g., Meng
& Berger, 2012; O’Neil et al., 2018; Ruck & Welch, 2012).
(3) Exploring best practices/excellence in internal communication.
Another important stream of research focuses on the “know-how” of
internal communication; that is, how can internal communication be
managed/practiced to contribute to organizational effectiveness. Overall,
research has explored internal communication strategies, channels, and

other organizational contextual factors that foster excellence in internal
communication. For instance, symmetrical (e.g., Kang & Sung, 2017;
Kim & Rhee, 2011; Men, 2014a; Men & Stacks, 2014) and trans-
parent communication (e.g., Jiang & Men, 2017; Men, 2014b; Yue
et al., 2020) have been consistently demonstrated as excellence charac-
teristics for internal communication that contribute to numerous positive
employee outcomes. Authentic, empathetic, responsive, and assertive
communications, especially from the leadership perspective (Jiang & Men,
2017; Mayfield & Mayfield, 2018; Men, 2015) have been shown to affect
positive employee outcomes such as motivation, engagement, and rela-
tional outcomes. A bulk of works have also examined the optimization
of communication channels in achieving communication effectiveness.
Face-to-face communication (Mishra et al., 2014) and internal social
media (e.g., Ewing et al., 2019; Madsen, 2016) have especially achieved
enormous scholarly attention and demonstrated the efficacy in engaging
employees and fostering positive employee relationships. Scholars have
also explored sundry organizational contextual factors that contribute
to internal communication effectiveness. Among these factors, organiza-
tional culture, and leadership have been most prominently discussed. For
instance, participative, innovative, and supportive organizational cultures
and positive emotional cultures of joy, companionate love, pride, and
gratitude have been tied to excellent internal communication (Grunig
et al., 2002; Jiang & Men, 2017; Yue et al., 2020). Leadership factors,
including CEO leadership communication style, strategies, channels, and
credibility (Men, 2015; Men, Yue, et al., 2020), and supervisory lead-
ership styles, including transformational, authentic, ethical, and servant
leadership behaviors have been demonstrated as important organizational
antecedents that affect the organization’s internal communication practice
and effectiveness (e.g., Jiang & Men, 2017; Men, 2014a, 2014b; Men &
Stacks, 2014; Thelen, 2020).
(4) Internal communication in various contexts. A growing
amount of research has examined internal communication issues in
various contexts, such as issue or crisis management, change manage-
ment, multi/cross-cultural communication, corporate social responsibility
(CSR) communication, and so forth. For instance, public relations
scholars have explored the role of internal communication in different
stages of crisis management (Frandsen & Johansen, 2011) and how
effective internal crisis communication strategies contribute to positive
10 L. R. MEN
employee relational and behavioral outcomes (Kim, 2018; Mazzei &

Ravazzani, 2015). Change communication, despite being long discussed
in the management literature, has recently caught the attention of
public relations scholars. Research has revealed the functions of internal
communication/public relations during change (Elving, 2005; Luo &
Jiang, 2014) and the impact of internal communication climates, public
relations strategies, channels (Men, O’Neil, et al., 2020; Neill et al.,
2019), and employee-organization relationships (Men, Yue, et al., 2020)
on employee change reactions. In comparison, research on internal
communication in the global/cross-cultural or multi-cultural context
has been limited. Most studies that incorporated a global or interna-
tional perspective examined some aspects of internal communication
in a different country or cultural context (e.g., Chong, 2007; Mazzei
& Ravazzani, 2015). An important work that filled the gap of global
and cross-cultural internal communication, by Tkalac Verčič (2019),
provided concrete suggestions for multi-cultural organizations to effec-
tively communicate with their global employee base. However, the lack
of empirical research on internal communication in the cross-cultural and
multi-cultural contexts still warrants opportunity for future research.
The current internal communication scholarship seems to be domi-
nated by the management paradigm. To advance research in this arena,
scholars could incorporate other theoretical approaches such as the critical
or rhetoric perspective (Lemon & Palenchar, 2018; Pompper, 2012) to
better understand the internal discourse and dialogue, address employee
needs and experiences, and explore other important but under-researched
issues such as gender, diversity, activism, and power in internal commu-
nication. Despite being a multidisciplinary area of study where theories
from mass communication, human resources, management, and social
psychology hold explanatory power, internal communication as a core
public relations function and sub-discipline warrants the establishment of
a clearer scholarly identity to advance theory development.
Current Trends and Issues

in Internal Communication
Multiple trends have reshaped the internal communication landscape and
practice today. First and foremost, with social, economic, and technolog-
ical transformations happening at an unprecedented pace, companies and
their leaders are challenged to harness disruption in a rapidly changing
environment. Workplace dynamics and culture today have shifted with the
dominance of millennials and the entry of Gen Z into the workplace (Men
& Bowen, 2017). Today employees demand high levels of transparency
and authenticity from their organization and leaders. We have seen more
and more employees speak or walk out for or against their employers on
controversial social issues or push their companies and leaders to take a
political stance (Wingard, 2020). Employee activism is on the rise and
changing the workplace. With declining trust in public institutions glob-
ally (as shown in Edelman’s Trust Barometer study), companies are under
pressure to be an important force driving positive social change. Commu-
nicating purpose and social conscience and aligning values and mission
with business goals has become an important challenge for organizations.
Technological advancements have blurred the line between internal
and external. Web 2.0, social media, and emerging technologies such
as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality, big data,
blockchain, etc., have brought new opportunities and challenges for
internal communication and employee engagement. Additionally, the
workforce has become more diverse and globalized. Many leaders face
increasing challenges in leading global teams comprised of workers from
different cultural backgrounds or face scrutiny or even backlash when
implementing the same internal messages to culturally diverse internal
audiences.
While some of the above-mentioned issues are emergent, others are
long-standing. Regardless, the evolving environment, new trends, issues,
and audiences are calling for updated internal communication theories,
models, research, and practices. Internal communication research has long
lagged behind practice until the recent decade (Lee & Yue, 2020; Tkalac
Verčič et al., 2012). While scholarship on internal communication espe-
cially from a public relations perspective has grown significantly, review
work that integrates the accumulated knowledge and research has been
lacking. Men and Bowen’s (2017) book lays a fine foundation for theo-
rizing internal public relations. The scope and width of book, however,
could be extended to cover the emerging internal communication issues
that come with current trends. An abundance of recent research in this
arena published in the past five years may also be integrated. In that effort,
this book assembles a group of top-notch scholars and thought leaders in
internal communication from across the globe to provide a comprehen-
sive review of the evolving internal communication research and practice
12 L. R. MEN
addressing current trends and emerging issues. Specifically, this edited

volume will tackle the following sets of questions:
● What are organizational leaders’ internal communication roles?

What is the relationship between leadership and communication?
What communication channels can leaders utilize to communicate,
connect, and engage with stakeholders? How should CEOs lead
and communicate in turbulent times such as during a change or
crisis (e.g., COVID-19)? [ Chapter 2: Leaders as Communication
Agents].
● How can organizations effectively segment internal publics? What
are the implications for internal issue management? How can
the situational theory of problem-solving inform this process?
[ Chapter 3: Internal Public Segmentation for Effective Internal Issue
Management].
● How can emerging technologies (e.g., internal social media, AI)
be integrated into internal communication efforts? What are some
potential benefits, challenges, and nuances in adopting internal social
media? How can organizational leaders adapt their management
philosophy and managerial practices to the new communicative envi-
ronment enabled by new technologies? [ Chapter 4: Internal Social
Media, Emerging Technologies, and Internal Communication].
● What is employee advocacy? Why is employee advocacy impor-
tant for organizations from a public relations perspective? How
does internal communication drive employee advocacy? [ Chapter 5:
Employee Advocates : Unlocking Their Power Through Internal
Communication].
● How do organizations promote dialogue in the workplace through
“informed employee voice?” What is the relationship between
listening, voice, and dialogue? How are these concepts related to
internal communication? [ Chapter 6: Employee Voice and Internal
Listening : Towards Dialogue in the Workplace].
● What is employee activism? What are the roles of internal commu-
nication in the rise of employee activism? How should organizations
resolve conflicts and manage relationships with employee activists?
[ Chapter 7: Employee Activism and Internal Communication].
● How does internal communication contribute to a purposeful orga-
nization? How can organizations involve employees in corporate
social responsibility (CSR) communication efforts, and why does it
matter? How to develop purpose-aligned internal CSR communi-

cation? [ Chapter 8: Beyond Internal Corporate Social Responsibility
Communication (ICSRC): Creating a Purposeful Organization].
● How can strategic communicators and organizational leaders hinder
and promote various aspects of employee wellbeing? How could
internal communication affect employee wellbeing? [ Chapter 9:
Enhancing Employee Well-being Through Internal Communication].
● How does internal communication contribute to organizational crisis
prevention and management? What is the role of internal communi-
cation in the three dynamic stages of a crisis: pre-crisis, the acute
phase, and post-crisis organizational recovery and renewal? How
are existing crisis communication theories applied to the internal
context? [ Chapter 10: Internal Crisis Communication].
● How does internal communication serve to manage organizational
change and disruption? When, how, and what should be commu-
nicated to employees regarding organizational change? What are
the underlying mechanisms of effective change communication?
[ Chapter 11: Strategic Change Communication].
● How can organizations measure internal communication effective-
ness? What should be measured and evaluated in internal commu-
nication? What are the new ways of measuring and evaluating
internal communication? [ Chapter 12: Measurement and Evaluation
Internal Communication].
● How does culture shape global internal communication? What effect
does technology have on global internal communication? What
are the necessary competencies for intercultural or multi-cultural
communication? What are the most important trends which will be
affecting the future of internal communication in a cross-cultural
and global context? [ Chapter 13: Internal Communication in a
Cross-Cultural and Global Context].
This book is grounded in solid scientific research and informed by

evolving theories and practice in internal communication. Each chapter
includes a practitioner’s perspective at the end contributed by an industry
leader in internal communication, being a professional interview or a
mini-case study. Given its depth, currency, and integration of theory and
best practices, the book will provide a comprehensive source for internal
communication researchers and practitioners.
14 L. R. MEN
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CHAPTER 2
Leaders as Communication Agents
Cen April Yue, Linjuan Rita Men, and Bruce K. Berger
Leadership and Communication

In the past century, our understanding of leadership has evolved from the
leader trait perspective and behavioral approaches to defining leadership
in terms of influence, interactions, and relationships (Lord et al., 2017).
For instance, Van Vugt et al. (2008) defined leadership in terms of “influ-
encing individuals to contribute to group goals” and “coordinating the
pursuit of those goals” (pp. 182–183). Similarly, Yukl (2010) believed
leadership is “the process of influencing others to understand and agree
C. A. Yue (B)
University of Connecticut, Stamford, CT, USA
L. R. Men
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
e-mail: rlmen@jou.ufl.edu
B. K. Berger
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
e-mail: berger@apr.ua.edu

Switzerland AG 2021
20 C. A. YUE ET AL.
about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facil-
itating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives”
(p. 8).
Leaders exert influence on the effectiveness of an organization or
group through various activities. Some activities are more abstract and
strategic, such as choosing the right goals and objectives, designing struc-
tures and programs, and cultivating shared values and culture. Some are
more direct and concrete, including mentoring and motivating followers,
imparting knowledge and skills, and coordinating work activities (Yukl,
2010).
Leadership and communication are inextricably linked. Many
researchers suggest a communicative lens to studying leadership; they
view leadership as a language game and a special form of human
communication. For instance, Johnson and Hackman (2018) offered
a communication-based definition of leadership as “human (symbolic)
communication that modifies the attitudes and behaviors of others in
order to meet shared group goals and needs” (2018, p. 12). Similarly,
De Vries et al. (2010, p. 368) defined a leader’s communication style
as “a distinctive set of interpersonal communicative behaviors geared
toward the optimization of hierarchical relationships in order to reach
certain group or individual goals.” The communicative constitution of
organization perspective, spearheaded by organizational communication
scholars, regards communication as the central, fundamental element that
constitutes and constructs leadership (Fairhurst & Connaughton, 2014).
Common in these conceptualizations is the belief effective leader-
ship requires skillful use of communications, storytelling, active listening,
emotional intelligence, and strategic self-reflection. Excellent communi-
cation pertains to how leaders influence others, build trust, strengthen
relationships, enrich workplace culture, and forge employee alignment
and engagement to achieve a shared vision. Importantly, understanding
leadership from a communication standpoint does not negate the impor-
tance of other widely acknowledged components of leadership such as
abstract reasoning, strategic and tactical knowledge, and management
skills. Rather, communication is a valuable resource that complements
leadership repertoire.
Despite its importance and relevance, research into the communi-
cation aspects of leadership has been sparse (De Vries et al., 2010).
As Mayfield and Mayfield (2017, p. 6) pinpointed, communication is
“the elephant in the room of leadership” as most research collapses
2 LEADERS AS COMMUNICATION AGENTS 21
assessment of leader communication into broader leadership styles, such

as charismatic-transformational leadership (van Knippenberg & Stam,
2014). However, there are several benefits of distinguishing leadership
communication from leadership styles (e.g., transformational, ethical,
authentic leaderships).
To start, measures of leadership styles are typically too parsimonious to
account for the specific communication acts that occur between leaders
and followers. By constructing leadership in a higher-level, gestalt manner,
researchers overlooked the conceptual richness of communication behav-
iors and their predictive power on outcomes (De Vries et al., 2010).
From a practical standpoint, a dive into precise communication strate-
gies provides clear guidance for leaders and communication managers
regarding which communication behaviors likely elicit positive outcomes,
so crucial to developing actionable, concrete behavioral interventions
(Van Quaquebeke & Felps, 2018). In what follows, we break down lead-
ership communication into executive and supervisory levels and discuss
their respective functions.
Leaders as Communicators
Executive Leadership Communication
Executive leaders are senior managers of an organization, including
CEOs, heads of business units, and top management team members.
Internally, executive leaders, in particular CEOs and founders, define an
organization’s DNA and shape culture, character, and value of the organi-
zation. They are also the representatives, spokespersons, and faces of their
organizations to external constituencies (Men & Bowen, 2017; Park &
Berger, 2004).
A key internal function of executive communication is to express the
organizational vision to followers and align followers’ personal goals with
the vision. Vision communication is “the act of motivating followers
by communicating images of the future of the collective” (Stam et al.,
2014, p. 1172). Leaders do so by creating stories, legends, and anec-
dotes of their organizations and consistently publicizing and interpreting
them to followers (Men & Bowen, 2017). Strategic vision communication
attracts followers and improves leadership evaluations, follower attitudes,
22 C. A. YUE ET AL.
and performance (Stam et al., 2014). Senior leaders’ vision communica-

tion has proven effective in inducing followers’ support especially during
organizational change (e.g., Men, Yue, et al., 2020).
The role of senior leaders expanded rapidly in recent years. Public
relations professionals used the term “chief engagement officer” to high-
light CEOs’ communication and engagement responsibility (Edelman,
2014). Research has explored how senior leaders can leverage person-
alized and interactive communication to build relationships with internal
and external stakeholders. For instance, CEOs with a professional online
disclosure strategy (i.e., posting about corporate issues) are likely to
increase positive perceptions of the organization from online audi-
ences (Yue, Chung, et al., 2020). Internally, when communicating with
compassion, sincerity, and warmth, CEOs can cultivate good employee-
organization relationships and build internal reputation (Men, 2015).
Senior leaders also can influence internal communication by installing
systems and programs, and fostering a positive, participative culture to
facilitate two-way, transparent communication.
Supervisory Leadership Communication

Supervisors are described as “the linchpin of employees” and “the surest,
most direct path” to followers’ support and loyalty (Therkelsen &
Fiebich, 2003, p. 120). Supervisor communication is one of the most
salient elements of communication for organizational members because it
serves multiple functions in daily interactions with subordinates. As infor-
mation providers, supervisors keep members informed about jobs and the
workplace (e.g., job instructions, policies, and rules). Many employees
rated information provided by supervisors as more accurate, timely, and
useful than by senior management during organizational change (Allen
et al., 2007). Employees depend on immediate supervisors for instru-
mental support, including clarifying tasks and improving their skills and
efficacy. They also go to supervisors to negotiate matters related to work-
place flexibility (e.g., work schedule, location, job duties, task autonomy).
Therefore, supervisors should solicit questions and suggestions, offer
timely feedback on subordinates’ performance, and communicate openly
and sensitively (Myers, 2015).
Supervisors’ communication styles and effectiveness have received
increasing scholarly attention in recent decades (Myers, 2015). Research
has examined the positive impact of supervisor communication on
employee and organizational outcomes from various angles, including

communication styles, content, quality, and quantity (Jian & Dalisay,
2017). For example, Bakar and Connaughton (2010) found that super-
visory communication, characterized by upward openness, positive rela-
tionship messages, and job-relevant information, engendered followers’
organizational commitment (OC). Conversation quality, defined by “effi-
ciency, coordination, and accuracy in meaning interpretation and infor-
mation transfer in the process of task accomplishment,” also fostered
followers’ OC (Jian & Dalisay, 2017). Additionally, supervisors’ use of
motivating language cultivated a positive organizational emotional culture
and facilitated employees’ organizational identification (Yue, Men, et al.,
2020). Other positive outcomes, such as supervisor-subordinate rela-
tionship quality, workgroup relationship, job satisfaction, trust, loyalty,
engagement, and advocacy behaviors were positively related to effective
supervisory leadership communication (Men & Yue, 2019; Myers, 2015).
Leadership Communication:
An Overview of Theoretical Frameworks
In this chapter, we focus on leaders’ communication styles rather than
leadership styles, though we acknowledge the influence of leadership
styles on organizational communication climate. Scholars have empirically
supported that transformational (e.g., Men, 2014a) and authentic lead-
ership (e.g., Jiang & Men, 2017) helped foster a symmetrical internal
communication system and transparent communication climate, featured
by trust, openness, feedback, negotiation, accountability, and employee
empowerment. Leaders with these styles are likely more committed to
creating systems and programs to facilitate an open, inclusive communi-
cation culture. The culture may also form via a cascading mechanism, i.e.,
senior leaders’ attributes and working styles—including their communica-
tion styles—get transmitted down the organizational hierarchy. We offer
three theoretical approaches to studying leadership communication.
Socio-Communicative Style
Socio-communicative style (SCS) refers to the skills individuals use to
initiate, adapt, and respond to interpersonal communication (Thomas
et al., 1994). The two primary dimensions of SCS are assertiveness
and responsiveness. Assertive communicators are dominant, independent,
24 C. A. YUE ET AL.
forceful, competitive, and willing to take a stand. Responsive communi-

cators are warm, friendly, tender, compassionate, and sensitive to others’
needs. Responsive communicators also place greater emphasis on main-
taining “liking” in a relationship, while assertive communicators focus
on the task dimension of a relationship (Richmond, 2002). However,
assertiveness should not be confused with aggressiveness. Unlike aggres-
sive communicators who make demands, assertive communicators make
requests without hurting others’ chances to succeed (Richmond, 2002).
Scholars have recently integrated SCS in examining leadership commu-
nication. Men (2015) found CEOs with responsive communication
style (vs. assertive style) were perceived to be more effective commu-
nicators, though both communication styles fostered quality employee-
organizational relationships. Similarly, CEOs who applied personal
messages and a down-to-earth tone (i.e., responsive communication) on
social media were more likely to cultivate meaningful interactions and
relationships with the online publics (Tsai & Men, 2017). Most recently,
researchers found positive connections between responsive communica-
tion employed by supervisors, the cultivation of a positive emotional
culture, and employees’ extra-role behaviors (Men & Yue, 2019).
Motivating Language Theory

Motivating language theory (MLT) is a linguistic framework primarily
applied in leadership communication context. This theory, known as
“a systematic, research-tested model that covers all forms of leader-
to-follower speech,” places communication in the center of leader-
ship behavior (Mayfield & Mayfield, 2018, p. 2). According to MLT,
strategic leader speech is comprised of three categories—direction-giving,
meaning-making, and empathetic language—and is most effective when
all three are used. Direction-giving language contains articulating task
parameters, role expectations, reward contingencies, performance feed-
back, and emphasizes transparency and uncertainty reduction. Meaning-
making language concerns successfully translating and transmitting orga-
nizational mission, value, and purpose to followers. By telling organi-
zational stories and using metaphors, leaders align followers’ individual
pursuits with higher organizational purpose and help followers under-
stand how their work contributes to the big picture. Empathetic language
refers to leaders using empathy, compassion, and care to connect with
followers emotionally. Empathetic language is not limited to work-related
tasks, but can also be applied in personal life events. For instance, leaders
can show their authentic, human side by congratulating followers on
achieving personal milestones or expressing genuine, heartfelt concerns
for their setbacks.
Motivating language has been consistently linked to positive employee
outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational identification, work
engagement, job performance, and creativity and innovation (Mayfield
& Mayfield, 2018). Leader motivating language also is instrumental in
creating a positive communication culture (Mayfield & Mayfield, 2017)
and a positive organizational emotional culture replete with joy, pride,
gratitude, and companionate love (Yue, Men, et al., 2020).
Leadership Listening
Leaders who have their followers’ best interests at heart are active
listeners. As Lacey eloquently noted, “without a listener, speech is
nothing but noise in the ether” (2013, p. 166). Management scholars
have studied listening in the context of interpersonal, dyadic interac-
tions between leaders and followers. Rogers (1959) referred to active
listening as an accepting and non-judgmental way of perceiving and
attending to an individual. Lloyd et al. (2017) defined listening quality
as “the individual’s perception of being attended to, accepted, and appre-
ciated” (p. 433). Van Quaquebeke and Felps (2018) incorporated verbal
and non-verbal signals in describing attentive listening in interpersonal
communication. Specifically, leaders demonstrate attentive listening by
adopting “adequate eye contact, appropriate facial expressions…, head
movements that convey understanding…, occasional verbal reassurances
that encourage the speaker to continue…, and showing that the content
resonates…” (p. 5). In contrast, poor listening entails leaders gazing off,
interrupting responses, or checking phones. Research examining super-
visor listening behavior has identified a positive link between supervisor
listening and perceived leader-follower relationship quality, follower job
satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors. It also decreased
follower turnover intention and emotional exhaustion (Lloyd et al.,
2017).
Macnamara (2016) lamented that “listening is mostly referred to in
passing with no examination of what listening entails at an organization-
public level” (p. 152). Often, listening is present, yet implicit, in the
26 C. A. YUE ET AL.
conceptualization of various organization-public communication strate-

gies. For instance, researchers define a two-way communication model
in public relations as entailing active organizational listening , mutual
understanding, and a balance of power through negotiation between
organizations and publics. However, listening has been too little explored
in public relations and internal communication research.
Public relations scholarship has traditionally explored listening as an
organizational rather than leadership behavior. For instance, the two-
way symmetrical communication model highlights the importance of
organizational listening in building mutual understanding and quality
relationships with strategic publics (Grunig et al., 2002). Dialogue also
requires organizations to demonstrate the capacity to “listen without
anticipating, interfering, competing, refuting, or warping meanings into
preconceived interpretations” (Kent & Taylor, 2002, p. 27). However,
organizational listening cannot be achieved without the support of lead-
ership. Leaders can enhance organizational listening by serving as a good
role model and actively managing listening. To elaborate, leaders who
demonstrate exceptional listening skills are likely to cultivate a listening
culture in their organizations. Understanding the importance of listening,
leaders can create tools, systems, and policies to enable and encourage
large-scale listening on the organizational level. We invite future research
to explore the mechanisms through which leadership listening may impact
organizational listening.
Leadership Communication
Channels and Effectiveness
Organizational leaders today have numerous communication channels
within the organization and externally, including traditional face-to-face
interactions, print, electronic media, and digital channels. Leaders’ choices
of communication channels depend on multiple factors—the organiza-
tion’s size, culture, communication content, purpose, cost, reach, channel
richness, and employees’ preferences (Men & Bowen, 2017; Tkalac Verčič
& Špoljarić, 2020).
Traditional Communication Channels

Traditional communication channels include face-to-face interactions
(e.g., town halls, small group meetings, one-on-one meetings, manage-
ment by walking around, and after-work informal meetings), print
publications (e.g., newsletters, memos), phone calls, and voice mails.
According to media richness theory, which centers on matching the rich-
ness of a medium to the equivocality of a task, print publications are
lean media best used for one-way, routine messages in the workplace.
Phone calls and e-mails fall in the middle of the media richness continuum
(Lengel & Daft, 1988).
Face-to-face communication is the richest medium for conveying
complex, nonroutine messages and facilitating immediate feedback. Face-
to-face communications from supervisors are immensely valued. In
comparison with social media, employees were more satisfied with one-
on-one or team meetings with supervisors (Tkalac Verčič & Špoljarić,
2020). Similarly, Men (2014b) found supervisors most often used face-to-
face communications with followers, which engendered followers’ satis-
faction with organizations and perceived symmetrical internal communi-
cation. In addition, there is a high demand among employees for some
degree of face time with senior leaders (Roy, 2018). Thus, senior leaders
should consider creating more opportunities for interpersonal interac-
tions, such as “lunch and learn” programs, daily executive rounding,
and an open-door policy. For instance, Credit Karma founder and CEO
Kenneth Lin invites anyone to come by his office and share their thoughts
about the company, whenever he is in office and available. These inter-
personal interactions put a human face on a leader’s title and help build
trust, understanding, and a sense of a shared goal. However, depending
on company size and location, employees’ face-to-face time with senior
management, particularly with the CEO, may be limited. In this case,
digital and electronic forms of communication should come into play.
New Digital Channels

New digital channels, such as intranets, instant messengers, social
networking sites, and videoconferencing systems, are at the forefront
of leadership communication with diverse stakeholders. The two-way,
interactive feature of digital media amplifies stakeholder voices and
provides leaders convenient venues for listening and responding. Rich
28 C. A. YUE ET AL.
features (e.g., online chat functions, embedded audio or video, webcams,

liking, commenting, and sharing features) of digital channels mimic the
communal and relational aspect of offline face-to-face communication
(Tsai & Men, 2017). Consequently, digital channels flatten the tradi-
tional hierarchical structure of internal communication and narrow the
psychological distance between leaders and stakeholders (Men, 2014b;
Yue, Chung, et al., 2020).
Furthermore, leaders with a strong internal digital presence were found
to facilitate employees’ upward communications, relationship outcomes,
and work engagement (Tsai & Men, 2017). Today, stakeholders demand
greater access to the opinions and insights of corporate leadership in
open communications. Executive leaders’ social media activities influence
how external stakeholders perceive the leader and the organization (Yue,
Chung, et al., 2020). Examination of U.S. CEOs’ use of social presence
strategies, dialogical principles, disclosure types, and message strategies
on social media supported the CEO’s role as the relationship builder and
engagement officer (e.g., Men et al., 2018; Yue et al., 2019; Yue, Chung,
et al., 2020).
More recently, prominent CEOs from the U.S. have spoken out on
thorny social and political issues online and offline. Business leaders like
Tim Cook of Apple and Marc Benioff of Salesforce agree that CEOs
today need to stand up for everybody, not just shareholders, but also
employees, customers, partners, the community, and the environment.
Despite ongoing debates on the impact of CEO activism on business and
society, one thing is certain: In the social media age, “silence is more
conspicuous—and more consequential” (Chatterji & Toffel, 2018, p. 81).
Therefore, it has become essential for public relations and communication
officers to help senior leaders decide what, when, and how to weigh in
on controversial topics and measure progress and outcomes on various
communication platforms.
Leadership Communication in Turbulent Times

One of the many challenges leaders must cope with in today’s increas-
ingly VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world
is regarding how to lead through changes (e.g., merger & acquisition,
layoffs, culture change, leadership change, etc.) and crises (e.g., natural
disaster, product recall, financial scandal, etc.). Leadership communi-
cation, if done properly, can help facilitate organizational change and
maintain stakeholder relationships during crisis times, which contribute

to organizational resilience and effectiveness.
Leadership Communication in Organizational Change

There’s no doubt leadership communication is a key determinant of
successful change management. Aiken and Keller (2007) discussed four
roles of CEOs leading through transformation: (1) making the transfor-
mation meaningful, (2) role-modeling, (3) building committed teams,
and (4) pursuing impact while being accountable, all of which can’t be
achieved without effective leadership communication. For instance, to
make transformation meaningful, leaders, especially CEOs, should clearly
define the vision of the change and explain why change is happening and
where the organization is heading. Such clarity can reduce employees’
uncertainty and resistance, and facilitate change implementation (Men &
Bowen, 2017).
In fact, leaders’ visionary communication during change has been
recognized as a key vehicle in motivating employees toward change
(Venus et al., 2019). Recently, Men, Yue, et al. (2020) identified
three communicative behaviors of charismatic leaders that contribute to
employees’ support for change: envisioning, energizing, and enabling.
Envisioning refers to executive leaders’ communication about the vision
of change. Energizing refers to executive leaders channeling personal
passion, energy, and confidence about the change initiative. Enabling
refers to executive leaders’ communication of care, support, empathy, and
showing an understanding of employees’ feelings and concerns during
change.
Leadership Communication in Crisis Times

Crises can pose immense challenges for leadership communication as
employees are often faced with increased uncertainties, stress, and nega-
tive emotions. Communication has been recognized as one of the two
most critical leadership competencies required to successfully handle
crises, along with decision-making under pressure (Wooten & James,
2008). Jamal and Abu Bakar (2017) showed that charismatic leader-
ship communication during a crisis can effectively mitigate the crisis
impact and strengthen organizational reputation. Increased research on
crisis leadership has revealed a preference for certain leadership styles
30 C. A. YUE ET AL.
during crisis times, which provides implications for leadership commu-

nication. In particular, transformational leadership is preferred as such
leaders demonstrate care for the welfare of followers and provide inspi-
ration by connecting employees’ roles to a higher organizational purpose,
needed more in turbulent times. However, research has also shown that as
threats become overwhelming, such as during times of catastrophic crises,
employees expect leaders to centralize authority and take actions; more
power and less open consultation become more acceptable than during
normal times (Haddon et al., 2014).
More recently, literature related to the COVID-19 pandemic has
discussed best practices of leadership communication during crisis times.
Corroborating such literature, Men, Heffron, and colleagues (2020)
proposed the TAEO leadership communication framework (transparency,
authenticity, empathy, and optimism) and empirically demonstrated the
strong positive impacts of CEOs’ TAEO communication in reducing
employees’ uncertainty, enhancing their psychological wellbeing, and
building their trust during the pandemic. In particular, leaders’ trans-
parent communication involves openly and proactively sharing relevant
information to stakeholders in a timely and digestible manner and being
honest and upfront about the impact of the crisis. Transparency also
emphasizes listening to employees’ needs and understanding what trans-
parency really means for each stakeholder group. Authentic leadership
communication refers to leaders being truthful to their characters, values,
and beliefs, being genuine, real, and personable in their communication,
and being cognizant of their self-limitations in handling the situation.
Empathetic leadership communication is characterized by a people-first
mindset and leading with humanity. It involves leaders’ perspective-
taking and communicating understanding, compassion, care, support,
encouragement, sympathy, and gratitude. Leadership optimistic commu-
nication stresses positivity, calmness, faith, hope, and confidence which
fosters stakeholders’ positive thinking. It is strategic, inspirational, and
motivating aimed to cultivate employees’ confidence and resilience.
Leadership Self-Reflection
The practice of self-reflection (SR) provides a rich opportunity for
improving leadership communications—if we but seize it. Self-reflection
is the primary way we examine ourselves and how others see us to increase
self-awareness, a crucial quality for leaders. Greek philosophers believed
self-knowledge was the highest form of knowledge. American educational
pioneer John Dewey claimed we do not learn from experience but rather
from reflecting on that experience. The value of SR for leaders is docu-
mented in studies in many fields but is largely absent in public relations
research and education (Mules, 2018). However, a recent study of SR
among public relations leaders underscored its crucial role in improving
employee communications, team building, decision-making, and overall
performance (Berger & Erzikova, 2019).
The Strategic Self-Reflection Process

Self-reflection (SR) is deliberate, conscious introspection to better under-
stand our thoughts, experiences, and emotions—to become aware of
them, learn from them, and increase self-awareness. Many public rela-
tions leaders say they practice SR, though frequency and approaches
vary (Berger & Erzikova, 2019). Some use a me-reflection approach,
focusing almost totally on the self. Others use a more holistic we-reflection
approach, considering others’ perceptions and feelings, too, or some-
times even including others in the process. The most common approaches
include: (1) daily self-talks, (2) inspired writings or journaling, and (3)
seeking feedback from team members, colleagues, or others.
The two biggest barriers to meaningful SR are (1) the ego problem,
which may inhibit honest self-evaluation, or lead to excessive self-criticism
and (2) real, or perceived time pressures. Drawing upon their research,
Berger and Erzikova (2019) developed a six-step, strategic process for
SR. This includes: deliberately making time for SR each day, no matter
how busy; creating the right mindset, by adjusting mental focus; being
self-honest and not letting ego overpower self-assessment; formulating,
calendaring, and then carrying out relevant actions; and writing things
down to evaluate action outcomes.
32 C. A. YUE ET AL.
Crucial Benefits of Self-Reflection for Leaders

Studies in communication, education, and psychology over the past
40 years documented a handful of crucial benefits for leaders at all
levels. Self-reflection can be a transformative experience through which
we examine who we are and our values, question our assumptions, and
come to an altered awareness and sense of identity. Making SR a crucial
part of work and personal life may yield substantial benefits.
SR can improve leadership communications and growth by “gaining
wisdom from an experience” (Kail, 2012). It boosts emotional intel-
ligence by helping us recognize and understand our emotions, listen
better, and be more empathetic (Goleman, 1995). SR also enriches
critical-thinking and decision-making (Miller, 2012), and builds stronger
relationships with team members, as well as more engaged and productive
work teams (Eurich, 2017).
SR seems implicit in the three theoretical approaches noted earlier,
especially motivating language theory and leadership listening . In addi-
tion, the potential benefits of SR could empower those in the profes-
sion and the classroom: the opportunity for advancement of leadership
communications is huge. Yet, while many leaders say they are active and
honest self-reflectors, research findings challenge such claims. Eurich’s
(2017) extensive research with thousands of leaders across professions
indicated that only 10–15% of leaders are highly self-aware; most strongly
overvalue their own skills and performance.
Conclusion
Leadership and communication are inherently linked. This chapter
discussed three theoretical frameworks—i.e., sociocommunicative style,
motivating language theory, and leadership listening—that should
provide insight into future research in leadership communication.
Furthermore, we examined leadership communication from both exec-
utive and supervisory levels and reviewed their respective functions in
organizations. Understanding the increasingly versatile communication
channels that leaders can leverage to reach internal and external stake-
holders, we reviewed both traditional and new digital channels, and
pointed out the advantages of a strong digital presence for organiza-
tional leaders. As the impact of COVID-19 intensifies globally, how to
lead organizations through disruption and adapt to complex realities has
never been more important for leaders. This chapter concluded with a
call for leaders’ self-reflection, which can be used to improve leadership
communication and growth.
A Mini-Case Study: Transparency in a Crisis

Kylie McQuain, Internal Communication Director, Airbnb
One of the key tenets of internal communication at Airbnb is trans-
parency. When you’re a business built on the premise of trust, being open
and honest with your employees is table stakes. Whether it’s an email or an
all-hands meeting, we start with why, we provide context for the decisions
we make, and we communicate in a conversational and human way.
Our commitment to transparency has never been more important
than when the world and our business faced a global pandemic. Within
a matter of weeks, our entire company began working remotely, our
industry (travel) came to a standstill, and our business began to struggle.
It would be natural for most leaders to hunker down behind closed doors
during a time like this. We took a much different approach.
Our CEO increased the frequency of his company-wide Q&As from
twice a month to weekly. Each Thursday, he addressed employees honestly
about the business, shared the Executive Team’s plans for recovery, and
openly acknowledged that we would have to make difficult decisions
to reduce costs. He told the company that nothing was off the table.
Employees submitted and upvoted questions, and we didn’t shy away
from any of them: Will there be layoffs? Should we expect pay cuts?
What about our plans to go public? We worked hard every week to be
as transparent as possible about the situation we were in.
In a time of such uncertainty, you might expect the culture to suffer
or trust in leaders to plummet. In our case, just the opposite happened.
Our CEO received hundreds of e-mails from employees expressing grat-
itude for his openness and authenticity during such a difficult time.
Employees said the weekly Q&As were the highlight of their week and
that watching alongside their teammates helped them feel like we were
all in this together. An engineer even built a tool where employees could
choose a seat in a virtual audience and “sit together” as teams and react
to the meetings with emojis and comments. In a time when employees
felt isolated, these Thursday meetings brought the company together in
a way we never anticipated.
34 C. A. YUE ET AL.
The goodwill we built was put to the ultimate test in early May 2020
when we announced we had to let go around 25% of the company. Our
founders and Executive Team worked hard to do it compassionately and
respectfully. Employees received generous severance packages, and we
helped people impacted find new jobs. Instead of retreating in this painful
moment, our CEO once again leaned in. Just two days after the layoffs
were announced, he showed back up in front of our team—1900 of
whom had just learned they were losing their jobs—and hosted his weekly
Q&A. The questions weren’t easy to answer, but he was honest and open.
In a time of crisis, being transparent is one of the most important things
you can do.
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CHAPTER 3
Internal Public Segmentation for Effective

Internal Issue Management
Yeunjae Lee and Jarim Kim
Effectively segmenting internal publics based on certain characteristics

and common interests is key to improving targeted employee communi-
cation (Men & Bowen, 2017). Internal public segmentation is especially
valuable in identifying and analyzing internal publics and understanding
their perceptions and behaviors for organizations facing issues or crises
(Lee, 2019). Strategically selecting identifiable, accessible, and action-
able segmentation tools is thus critical for public relations and internal
communication practitioners. This chapter focuses on using the internal
public segmentation method as a tool for understanding internal publics’
perceptions and behaviors in relation to organizational issues. It explains
Y. Lee (B)
University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
e-mail: yxl992@miami.edu
J. Kim
Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
e-mail: jarimkim@yonsei.ac.kr

Switzerland AG 2021
40 Y. LEE AND J. KIM
how public relations theory (e.g., the situational theory of problem-

solving: Kim & Grunig, 2011) can be applied in the internal issue
context and how the segmentation method can be utilized to effectively
manage internal issues. It also includes two empirical studies—one of a
“high-responsibility” issue, the other of a “low-responsibility” issue—
to compare and analyze internal publics’ situational perceptions and
behaviors.
Internal Publics
In public relations, “publics” are defined as groups of people who
face problems, are divided regarding the solutions, and organize to
discuss them (Grunig, 2003). “Publics” are often differentiated from
“stakeholders,” a term that refers to individuals or groups who affect
or are affected by organizations’ decisions, policies, and communica-
tion practices. In other words, stakeholders can encompass broader
groups of people with similar stakes in organizations including employees,
customers, and community members, while publics arise independently
when they recognize problems around organizations (Grunig & Repper,
1992). Therefore, several different kinds of public (e.g., active, passive
publics) can be found within each stakeholder category.
This definition of publics provides important insights for defining
internal publics. As members of interdependent groups who are mostly
involved in organizational issues, problems, or events, employees are often
considered organizations’ primary stakeholders (Broom & Sha, 2013).
Internal publics—the key stakeholders in effective public relations prac-
tices—are thus defined as internal members at all levels of an organization
ranging from frontline workers, line managers, and middle-level manage-
ment to senior management and executives (Men & Bowen, 2017).
However, when facing organizational issues, not all employees cogni-
tively engage or respond similarly. Indeed, their responses to different
types of organizational issues may vary, depending on their experiences
at work, individual values, attitudes toward the issues in question, and
relationships with their organizations. In other words, although internal
members can be important stakeholders who are directly involved in orga-
nizational issues, they are not necessarily “publics” who share common
problems and address issues through individual or collective behaviors.
Therefore, from a public relations perspective, internal publics can be
defined as groups of members within organizations who recognize given
organizational issues as problematic and take action to solve them.
3 INTERNAL PUBLIC SEGMENTATION FOR EFFECTIVE … 41
Public Segmentation
Public segmentation, defined as “divid[ing] a population, market, or audi-
ence into groups whose members are more like each other than members
of other segments” (Grunig & Repper, 1992, p. 129), is an important
tool in public relations. Different public segments have different beliefs
and attitudes toward organizations. To effectively communicate with
each public segment, therefore, organizations need to employ different
strategies with messages tailored to the target publics (Berkowitz &
Turnmire, 1994; Kim & Grunig, 2011). Segmenting publics allows orga-
nizations to strategically and effectively manage issues and relationships
with different publics. Specifically, it makes communicating with various
publics more cost-efficient and facilitates the attainment of goals such as
gaining publics’ support or fostering stronger relationships with publics
(Kim et al., 2008).
Internal Public Segmentation

Like external publics, internal publics vary depending on socio-
demographic, psychographic, cultural, or behavioral characteristics
(Grunig, 1989). Segmenting employees helps organizations understand
working environments, their relationships with their employees, commu-
nication flows, and the information needs of given groups, which
facilitates more effective communication with said groups about their
problems and interests. The multigenerational and diverse nature of
contemporary workforces and accelerating digitization are making the
current business environment increasingly complicated (Men & Bowen,
2017). Effectively analyzing employees is, therefore, crucial to achieving
targeted communication and tailoring messages to meet their communi-
cation needs.
More importantly, as noted above, the members of internal publics
respond differently to organizational communication messages about
issues depending on their characteristics. In particular, some contend that
active publics, who have high levels of situational motivation to solve
problematic situations, are more likely to actively communicate with orga-
nizations than non-active publics (Kim & Grunig, 2011). These active
publics can thus serve as both assets and threats to organizations during
periods when issues arise. Similarly, when internal publics become active
by reacting either positively or negatively to organizations’ behaviors,
organizations must actively communicate with these publics to effec-

tively deal with the voices from inside. These active publics typically
make issues out of the consequences of organizational decisions (Grunig,
1989). Thus, organizations that fail to effectively identify and communi-
cate with these publics will face issues or crises that will require greater
effort and resources to resolve. More strategic communication targeted to
each segment of internal publics will better satisfy their communication
needs, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of issue/crisis communication
efforts.
Different Approaches to Identify and Segment Internal Publics

The idea of segmenting employees (or internal publics) is not new in the
literature. Scholars from various disciplines including marketing, human
resources (HR) management, and public relations have developed a
diverse segmentation method (e.g., Boudreau & Ramstad, 2005; Moroko
& Uncles, 2009; Waite, 2007). These studies, however, include a some-
what disorganized list of segmentation tools (Grunig, 1989). In general,
there are several ways to segment employees based on certain character-
istics such as demographic factors, psychographic factors, and behavioral
factors.
First, employees in organizations can be segmented based on observed
variables (i.e., demographic/geographic factors) such as age, gender,
race/ethnicity, income, education level, physical location, organizational
tenure, position, and job classification. During the organizational issue
stage, employees in different segments may perceive the issue itself
differently depending on the issue’s nature. For example, for workplace
discrimination issues, minority employees (e.g., women, African Ameri-
cans, and LGBT employees) may have different needs and expectations
for their companies than majority group employees. Employees’ positions
at work also play an important role in how they respond to organizational
issues. High-level employees (e.g., managers) are more likely to speak up
during issue periods to solve the issues and defend the company externally
(Lee, 2017). Younger and new employees may also have higher levels
of uncertainty and job ambiguity than older and experienced employees
when organizational issues arise, and these characteristics require different
communication approaches from organizations.
In addition to the objective variables observed by secondary sources

(i.e., demographics), the use of inferred variables, which include indi-
viduals’ perceptions, attitudes, and cognitions, can make segmentation
more effective. Accordingly, psychographic factors can serve as impor-
tant bases for employee segmentation. Such factors include individual
employees’ values, attitudes, political views, social needs, interests, person-
alities, lifestyles, work styles, career focus and preferences, and desired
career benefits (Men & Bowen, 2017). During periods in which orga-
nizational issues arise, individual employees’ personal beliefs and values
may affect how they respond to organizations’ decisions to deal with
the issues. For example, employees who value economic as opposed
to ethical managerial approaches to solving organizational issues may
require different approaches and messages from organizations. Likewise,
employees’ who prioritize economic rewards over work-life balance or job
stability may have different information needs during such periods.
Lastly, behavioral variables such as employees’ media consumption
habits, involvement and engagement levels, organizational citizenship
behaviors, and adoption of new changes or initiatives can also be impor-
tant criteria for internal public segmentation (Men & Bowen, 2017).
Public relations scholars have paid particular attention to individuals’
communication behaviors (i.e., information seeking). Grunig (1989)
developed a nested segmentation model, composed of the following seven
layers of segmentation concepts: individual communication behaviors in
the core nest; publics; communities; inferred variables such as psycho-
graphics, lifestyles, subcultures, or social relationships; geo-demographics;
socio-demographics; and the mass audience in the most outer nest. The
more a segmentation tool is located in the inner nest, the more specific,
powerful, and precise its predictions (Grunig, 1989; Grunig & Repper,
1992). Several scholars (Grunig, 1997; Hallahan, 2000; Kim et al., 2008)
have thus developed useful segmentation models that utilize individuals’
communication behaviors. One representative theory in this vein is the
situational theory of problem-solving (STOPS).
Segmenting Internal Publics Using the Situational Theory

The situational theory of publics (STP), first developed by J. E. Grunig
(1968), is one of the most useful frameworks in public relations scholar-
ship to understand why and how the publics become motivated to engage
in communicative behaviors (Aldoory & Sha, 2006). Formed by Dewey’s
(1927) conceptualization of the public—which arises when people face

and recognize similar problems and organize to resolve the problem—
the situational theory of publics (STP; Grunig, 2003) focuses on publics’
perceptual and cognitive variables (i.e., problem recognition, involvement
recognition, and constraint recognition).
Specifically, problem recognition refers to “one’s perception that some-
thing is missing and that there is no immediately applicable solution to
it” (Kim & Grunig, 2011, p. 128). People enter problematic situations
when they recognize a problem but fail to resolve it immediately (Grunig,
1997). Involvement recognition is defined as “the extent to which people
connect themselves with a situation” (Grunig, 1997, p. 10). Lastly,
constraint recognition refers to the extent to which “people perceive that
there are obstacles in a situation that limit their ability to do anything
about the situation” (Grunig, 1997, p. 10); such perceived obsta-
cles discourage publics’ communication behaviors, even when publics’
problem recognition and involvement are high. The STP (Grunig, 2003)
also explains how the three independent variables predict communication
behaviors, which can be either active or passive. Grunig (1989) argued
that active communicative behavior involves effortful information seeking
regarding an issue under consideration, whereas passive communicative
behavior involves passive processing of information that is given to them
(Hamilton, 1992).
This theory allows for public segmentation based on these publics’
perceptions of given issues. Grunig and Hunt (1984) identified four
public types (i.e., non-public, latent public, aware public, and active
public) based on their perceptions of given issues. Non-publics include
those who do not recognize any problems or the relevance of any
problems. Latent publics comprise those who engage in an issue, but
do not recognize given problematic situations. Latent publics are often
the targets of communication campaigns that attempt to increase their
problem recognition levels and convert them into active publics. Once
members of such a public detect problems, they become an aware public.
Aware publics needs organizational communication efforts; otherwise,
they are likely to become active publics. Finally, active publics include
those who face problematic situations, perceive-related issues as highly
relevant, and recognize few constraints. Active publics are likely to orga-
nize and act together to resolve their problems, potentially decreasing
organizational effectiveness since managing active publics requires orga-
nizational resources.
The situational theory of problem-solving (STOPS; Kim & Grunig,

2011), which extended the STP, identifies three types of individual
communicative behaviors as dependent variables: information acquisi-
tion, information selection, and information transmission (Kim & Grunig,
2011). Information acquisition refers to individuals’ planned scanning
of the environment for messages about a given topic (i.e., informa-
tion seeking) and unplanned discovery of messages followed by the
continued processing of said messages (i.e., information attending). Infor-
mation selection includes the extent to which individuals both fend of
certain information by judging its value and relevance for given prob-
lems (i.e., information forefending) and accept information related to
said problems (i.e., information permitting). Information transmission
refers to individuals’ proactive and planned information-giving behav-
iors (i.e., information forwarding) and reactive and passive information
sharing about given problems (i.e., information sharing). The situa-
tional theorists (Grunig, 1997; Kim & Grunig, 2011) suggested that
when individuals have high levels of problem recognition and involve-
ment recognition, and low levels of constraint recognition, they are more
likely to actively engage in communication behaviors (i.e., information
acquisition, selection, transmission).
While the STOPS has been applied in various contexts (e.g., political
communication, health communication (Kim & Krishna, 2014), recent
internal communication studies have begun to use it as a key theoret-
ical framework. Using the dependent variables of STOPS, Kim and Rhee
(2011) developed the concept of positive megaphoning, which refers to
positive external communicative behaviors on the parts of employees—
specifically, organization-related information sharing and forwarding to
people in their personal network (e.g., family, friends). As a core outcome
of organizations’ communication practices, previous studies have high-
lighted the importance of employees’ positive megaphoning in issue/crisis
management contexts as a managerial asset for organizations (Lee, 2019;
Mazzei et al., 2012).
Applying the STOPS to segment internal publics is expected to provide
insight into what types of internal publics exist and who are more or less
likely to become active publics when issues arise. Organizations are not
free from the various issues that can arise internally, including protests,
product crises, or labor union strikes. Effective segmentation of employees
based on their issue-specific perceptions can enable public relations practi-
tioners to tailor communication strategies to satisfy the needs of different
segments and effectively and efficiently communicate with key “active”

internal publics.
Application of STOPS in Issue

Management Communication
This chapter presents two examples of public segmentation using two
organization-related issues. The first example involves an issue in which
the organization has a high level of crisis responsibility (i.e., gender
discrimination at work) (Study 1) and the second involves an issue in
which the organization has a low level of crisis responsibility (i.e., rumor)
(Study 2).
Study 1
We conducted an online survey with 150 full-time employees in the U.S.
across industry sectors. In the survey, participants were given a hypothet-
ical crisis situation involving gender discrimination at work. They were
asked to imagine a situation where the company they currently worked for
was sued in federal court for engaging in discriminatory practices against
women in the workplace. Participants were also provided with more
detailed information. Specifically, they were told that Lauren, one of their
female colleagues, filed a lawsuit against the company for discriminating
against female employees, as she was deprived of a senior-level promo-
tion because of her gender. As information regarding unfair treatment
in the company spread rapidly on Facebook and Twitter, it prompted a
deluge of public criticism. After exposing them to this experimental mate-
rial, we measured participants’ issue-specific perceptions (i.e., problem,
involvement, and constraint recognition) and communicative actions
(i.e., information acquisition, transmission, positive megaphoning). We
adopted items from previous studies that used the STOPS (e.g., Kim &
Grunig, 2011; Kim & Rhee, 2011) and adjusted them to fit this study’s
context. Sample items include “I think this is an important corporate
crisis for my company,” “I believe employees in my company need to
pay more attention to this crisis.” for problem recognition, “I feel I can
make a difference with regard to this crisis,” “If I want, I can make my
opinions and ideas about this crisis matter to those who are addressing
it in my company.” for constraint recognition, and “This crisis affects me
substantially,” “I am closely connected with this crisis” for involvement
recognition. Samples items of information acquisition include “I would

ask managers/supervisors for more explanations of this crisis,” “I would
proactively search for more relevant information about this crisis.” For
information transmission, items such as “I would participate in a discus-
sion to understand the consequences of this crisis,” “I would proactively
develop and make suggestions for this crisis to my company.” Finally,
items such as “I would advocate for my company’s position regarding
this crisis actively to people around me (e.g., friends, family),” “I would
be proactive and aggressive in defending my company during the crisis”
were used for positive megaphoning.
For public segmentation, we used a summation method (Kim, 2011)—
a simple way of segmenting publics (i.e., non-publics, aware/latent
publics, and active publics) by adding the scores of individuals’ percep-
tual variables (e.g., problem, involvement, and constraint recognition)
about an issue (Kim & Ni, 2013; Kim et al., 2008). Specifically, we re-
coded the items measuring problem recognition, constraint recognition,
and involvement recognition into two scales, 0 (= low) and 1 (= high)
after taking the midpoint of the survey scale. The points ranged from 0
to 3, with three variables used. We categorized participants with scores
of 3 as “active” publics, those with scores from 1 to 2 as “aware/latent”
publics, and those with scores of 0 as “non-publics.” Then, to compare
the communicative behaviors of each segmented group, we conducted a
series of analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Based on the summation method results, we segmented 39.3% of the
150 employees (n = 59) into active publics, 49.3% into aware/latent
publics (n = 74), and 11.3% (n = 17) into non-publics. Our anal-
ysis showed significant differences among the groups in terms of their
information acquisition (F (2,147) = 37.42, p < 0.001), information
transmission (F (1,247) = 29.84, p < 0.001), and positive megaphoning
behaviors (F (2,147) = 17.51, p < 0.001). As shown in Table 3.1, we
found that active publics are more likely than either aware/latent publics
or non-publics to engage in all types of communicative behaviors. We also
found that aware/latent publics are more actively engaged in information
acquisition and transmission than non-publics.
Table 3.1 Communicative behaviors of segmented employees regarding orga-

nizational issues: means and standard deviations
Dependent variables (DVs) M(SD)

Issue 1 Non-active Aware/latent Active
Gender discrimination Internal publics Internal publics Internal publics
(n = 17) (n = 74) (n = 59)
Information acquisition 2.98 3.62 4.32

(0.86) (0.78) (0.39)
Information transmission 3.08 3.78 4.31
(0.83) (0.69) (0.40)
Positive megaphoning 3.14 3.29 4.06
(0.95) (0.92) (0.57)
Issue2 Non-active Aware/latent Active
Corporate rumor Internal publics Internal publics Internal publics
(n = 11) (n = 54) (n = 52)
Information acquisition 3.34 3.74 4.25
(0.98) (0.89) (0.49)
Information transmission 3.37 3.94 4.25
(1.16) (0.78) (0.49)
Positive megaphoning 3.10 3.76 4.16
(0.93) (0.90) (0.55)
Study 2
In Study 2, we focused on a crisis for which the organization had a low
level of responsibility. As in Study 1, we conducted an online survey with
117 full-time employees in the U.S. Participants were exposed to a hypo-
thetical situation in which their current company had been the target of
consistent negative rumors. Specifically, they were given the following
information: “Your company has been a target of a false rumor (misin-
formation) spread by email: the company has been accused of exploiting
child labor in Africa to produce its products. Vicious hate mail has been
hitting inboxes for years describing how the company had used child labor
and announcing consumer boycotts against your company for these prac-
tices.” After exposing them to this material, we administered the same
questionnaires from Study 1 to participants to measure their issue-specific
perceptions and communicative behaviors. Based on their responses, we
used the summation method described above to segment the participants
into three groups: active publics, aware/latent publics, and non-publics.
We segmented 44.4% of the 117 employees (n = 52) into active

publics, 46.2% (n = 54) into aware/latent publics, and 9.4% (n = 11)
into non-publics. The ANOVA results revealed significant differences
between these groups in terms of their information acquisition (F (2,114)
= 9.88, p < 0.001), information transmission (F (2,114) = 7.43, p <
0.001), and positive megaphoning behaviors (F (2,114) = 9.54, p <
0.001). As shown in Table 3.1, we found that active publics engage in all
types of communicative behaviors more than either aware/latent publics
or non-publics.
Additional Analysis
The results also showed no significant differences between the partic-
ipants in Studies 1 and 2 in terms of their issue-specific perceptions
(i.e., problem, constraint, involvement recognition) or their communica-
tive behaviors (i.e., information acquisition, information transmission). In
other words, study participants had similar levels of situational percep-
tions and communicative actions for two organizational issues—gender
discrimination and corporate rumor. However, we did find that the Study
2 participants, who were exposed to a crisis regarding which the organiza-
tion had a low level of responsibility (i.e., rumor), more actively engaged
in positive megaphoning behavior than the Study 1 participant.
Implications for Practice

Although hypothetical scenarios were used, the results of these two empir-
ical studies highlight the theoretical and practical utility of both the
situational theory of publics and the segmentation method in the context
of internal issue management and communication. Supporting the main
assumption of the STOPS, the results showed that active publics who
are more cognitively aware of crisis situations and feel involved and less
constrained when it comes to solving crises engage more actively in
communication behaviors regarding crises involving both high and low
levels of organizational responsibility. Those active internal publics are also
more likely to engage in positive megaphoning, by advocating or sharing
positive information about their companies externally. Thus, regardless
of the crisis type or the attribution of responsibility, internal members
who are situationally motivated in relation to a crisis are more likely to
be “active” in addressing said crisis. The analysis also showed that the
attribution of responsibility for an issue does not affect employees’ issue-

specific perceptions and communicative behaviors. This is because, unlike
other types of public (e.g., consumers), employees as key internal stake-
holders of organizations affect and are affected by crises to some extent,
either directly or indirectly. However, employees are more likely to engage
in positive megaphoning behavior when experiencing a low-responsibility
issue than a high-responsibility issue. This is partially due to the fact
that employees tend to protect their employer’s external reputation by
defending their company when it is “victimized” by an uncontrollable
issue.
These two studies suggest that during crises, organizations should
identify key internal publics by considering not just demographics or
work-related characteristics (e.g., the positions and departments/units
that are directly affected by the crisis), but also the psychological percep-
tions of employees. Employees who view a crisis as “problematic” and
are situationally motivated should be strategically targeted because they
strongly identify with the crisis and therefore may actively engage in
the crisis-solving processes by cooperating with the organization. Being
highly motivated to effectively and ethically solve the crisis, these active
employees can be the key people who may develop practical, creative,
and tailored solutions and ideas that help the organization to efficiently
overcome the crisis.
Organizational leaders and practitioners of corporate communication,
public relations, and human resources (HR) can use this segmenta-
tion tool for effective issue/crisis internal communication and manage-
ment. Conducting formalized and regular company-wide surveys will
be particularly useful by incorporating the existing measures of employ-
ees’ perceptions and communicative behaviors about an issue. Formative
research before and during the issue periods will help practitioners to
identify employees’ current perceptions and attitudes on diverse internal
and external organizational issues. Evaluative research should also be
conducted after the issue stage to assess the effectiveness of organiza-
tions’ communication efforts and employees’ perceptual and behavioral
change.
Conclusion
This chapter examined internal public segmentation as an important tool
that public relations and organizational communication scholars and prac-
titioners can use to understand employees’ responses to organizational
issues. Among various approaches to segmenting employees, it suggests
that the STOPS provides one useful approach for segmenting internal
publics especially during the periods when issues arise; this approach
helped organizations categorize publics into homogeneous groups based
on their distinct perceptions, behaviors, and interests. In the context of
internal publics, the STOPS can be used to reveal who is likely to become
active regarding a given issue. Examining how individuals’ cognitive
factors (i.e., problem recognition, constraint recognition, involvement
recognition) determine internal publics’ levels of active engagement in
internal issues helps organizations identify and reach out to groups of
employees who are motivated to actively engage in issue-specific commu-
nicative behaviors. Segmenting these internal publics using the STOPS
allows internal communicators to identify and predict potential internal
issues or crises before they grow to the level of activism (e.g., labor
union strikes, walk-outs, protests) created by active internal publics and
to prevent and resolve them by proactively meeting the communication
needs of each segmented public.
Professional Interview
Interviewee: Teresa Giradi is the head of internal communication at
SNAM, one of the world’s leading energy infrastructure operators head-
quartered in Italy. Her main responsibilities include planning, imple-
menting, and directing internal communication programs.
Regarding corporates’ internal issue management and employee
segmentation, a professional interview was conducted in November 2020
with Teresa Giradi, who is the head of internal communication at SNAM,
which is one of the main energy infrastructure companies headquar-
tered in Italy. The interviewee’s primary responsibilities include designing,
implementing, and delivering internal communication programs and
initiatives.
The practitioner described that the company’s overarching internal
communication goals can be summarized as follows: sharing, engaging,
and listening . In specific, SNAM aims to share the information related to
the company’s strategy and culture to its employees effectively through a

variety of communication channels (i.e., news/video, internal webinars
and talks, newsletters). The company also strives to improve employ-
ees’ engagement with diverse programs such as contests, volunteering
programs, team building games, and holiday events and listen to employ-
ees’ needs and concerns through regular surveys. The practitioner noted
that these methods have been successful in increasing employees’ partici-
pation in communication programs and encouraging their voices.
The practitioner pointed out the COVID-19-related issues as major
issues in internal communication during the time when the interview
was conducted. To effectively manage the issue, during the first phase
of COVID-19, the company set up a dedicated “crisis management inter-
functional team” and the department of internal communication played
a huge role in it. The team was responsible for defining the compa-
ny’s actions, establishing communications strategies (e.g., which channels
should be used, how frequently and what types of messages should be
delivered, how to set up the tone of messages, etc.), and designing
specific engagement activities that are aligned with the company’s values
with the following key initiatives: “Closeness,” “Inclusion,” “Caring
and listening.” Specifically, during the COVID-19 phase, the company
adopted the “over-communication” approach to inform employees of
necessary and important company decisions and policies as much as
possible and as frequently as possible, using diverse online communi-
cation channels such as e-mails and corporate intranet. The company
also actively conducted formative and evaluative research by launching
a survey to measure employees’ feelings and evaluations of the compa-
ny’s actions. The company received a considerable number of positive
responses from employees, as they were satisfied with the company’s
ability to communicate and inform effectively. Employees gave compli-
ments for the company’s communication efforts and the support they
received, expressing gratitude, pride, and a strong sense of belonging.
In terms of the internal segmentation method, the practitioner
answered that SNAM has not used any type of public segmentation
tool when communicating with employees. Rather, the company prefers
an “open” approach to provide company-related information to every
employee. This helps employees to have opportunities to learn about
and selectively register for or participate in different types of corporate
initiatives they are interested in. The practitioner also emphasized that
the internal communication team is working closely with the external
communication department to make sure that all the messages distributed

externally are consistent with the messages delivered internally.
The idea of internal public segmentation for issue/crisis manage-
ment is recently introduced among scholars and practitioners as one way
of increasing the effectiveness of organizations’ internal communication
strategies. As learned from the interview, it may not be common practice
to adopt and use internal public segmentation tools in real settings yet.
Given its theoretical strength and practical values, however, more research
and case studies with a variety of examples of internal issues seem to be
necessary.
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CHAPTER 4
Internal Social Media and Internal

Communication
Vibeke Thøis Madsen
Introduction
Internal social media (ISM) offers a communication platform inside the
organization where organizational members can share knowledge, view-
points and connect with each other across departments, hierarchical levels,
and geographical distances. ISM comes in many varieties: it can be an
integrated part of the intranet, also known as a social intranet; a separate
communication tool such as Yammer, Slack, or Microsoft Teams; or take
the form of a closed group on social network services such as LinkedIn
or Facebook. The social tools could include social networking sites, wikis,
discussion forums, blogs, and instant messaging. Leonardi et al. (2013)
define enterprise social media in broad terms as:
V. T. Madsen (B)
DMJX, Danish School of Media and Journalism, Aarhus, Denmark
e-mail: vtm@dmjx.dk

Switzerland AG 2021
58 V. T. MADSEN
web-based platforms that allow workers to (1) communicate messages with

specific co-workers or broadcast messages to everyone in the organization;
(2) explicitly indicate or implicitly reveal particular co-workers as commu-
nication partners; (3) post, edit, and sort text and files linked to themselves
or others; and (4) view the messages, connections, text, and files commu-
nicated, posted, edited and sorted by anyone else in the organization at
any time of their choosing. (p. 2)
From a communication perspective it is more interesting to explore

what type of communication develops on a platform, and how it evolves,
than to explore the technical constitution of the platform itself. In other
words, technology becomes interesting only in regard to how it influences
communication. ISM exists to enable horizontal and vertical commu-
nication across different organizational sectors, making visible people,
communication, and interactions to all organizational members (Treem
et al., 2020). Madsen (2017) therefore defined ISM as “an user-friendly
and visible web-based communication arena inside an organization in
which employees and managers can communicate, interact, connect, and
make sense of their work and organizational life” (p. 3). This chapter will
first present the benefits of using ISM in internal communications, then
review challenges involved. It will be argued that ISM can develop into
three different types of communication arenas. Three sections will then
explore different communication dynamics on ISM, explain the prerequi-
sites for creating open and transparent communication, and illustrate how
emerging technologies can interact with ISM. Finally, future research and
managerial implications are discussed.
Benefits of Using ISM

ISM enable symmetrical communication (Grunig, 2009) and employee
participation (Cardon & Marshall, 2015; Falkheimer & Heide, 2014;
Heide, 2015). These two goals have long been hailed as an ideal toward
which organizations should strive (Grunig & Hunt, 1984; Heron, 1942;
Redding, 1972). Treem and Leonardi (2012) even argue that ISM will
have profound consequences that will alter “socialization, information
sharing and power processes in organizations” (p. 143). Employees are
very knowledgeable about their work, and when organizations draw
on their knowledge it should make for better decisions and practices,
creating a more effective organization (Redding, 1972). Theoretically,
4 INTERNAL SOCIAL MEDIA AND INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 59
ISM can therefore be a transformative media in the internal commu-

nication strategy (Men et al., 2020) which will empower employees
to become active communicators instead of passive receivers (Madsen,
2016).
Several researchers have pointed out the array of benefits that would
result from introducing ISM into organizations, such as visible commu-
nication strengthening existing connections; the development of new
horizontal and vertical connections; the increase in social capital among
employees as competencies become more visible (Fulk & Yuan, 2013;
Laitinen & Sivunen, 2020); the creation of enhanced knowledge-
sharing capability (Vuori & Okkonen, 2012); and the improvement and
acceptance of decisions (Madsen, 2016; Madsen & Johansen, 2019).
Communication on ISM could furthermore be a key to create a sense of
community (Laitinen & Sivunen, 2020; Uysal, 2016), which would help
employees to display organizational citizen behavior (Madsen & Verho-
even, 2016). Other benefits include enhancing workplace productivity
(Leftheriotis & Giannakos, 2014), improving ideation and innovation
(Gode et al., 2019), and providing better customer service (Men &
Bowen, 2016; Ruck, 2015) as employees can share thoughts and ideas
about how to improve services, point out short-comings in existing offers
and solve sudden and unexpected problems.
When organizational issues are discussed in the ISM communication
arena, managers get a useful sense of the pulse of the organization.
Managers at all levels can listen to the employees and understand how
they make sense of internal communication. Managers can also engage in
conversations with employees about organizational issues, which provides
feedback about products, services, and work processes that can be richer
than face-to-face discussions because they involve more participants. A
CEO who communicates with employees will come across as more
personal and amiable (Ewing et al., 2019), and when managers react,
answer and provide additional explanations, the employees feel that they
are heard and listened to (Madsen, 2016; Men et al., 2020). When orga-
nizational members discuss organizational issues on ISM, they are actually
re-negotiating rules, norms, and organizational identity (Madsen, 2016;
Uysal, 2016). This communication enhances organizational transparency
and help employees identify with the organization (Madsen, 2018, 2020;
Men et al., 2020). Participatory communication on ISM can thus involve
and empower employees (Madsen, 2018; Men et al., 2020). There is a
60 V. T. MADSEN
strong link between internal communication and engagement that espe-

cially seems to go through communication that involves, activates, and
empowers employees (Men et al., 2020), which is precisely the promise
of ISM (Men et al., 2020).
Challenges with Introducing ISM

Despite the benefits of using ISM in internal communication, several
studies have found that organizations are far from unlocking the full
potential of ISM (Madsen, 2017; Men & Hung-Baesecke, 2015; Ruck,
2015; Sievert & Scholz, 2017). Introducing ISM does not automati-
cally introduce participatory communication. Many factors influence how
employee communication on ISM will develop in an organization (see
Fig. 4.1). The variability of the ISM organizational experience shows that,
there are better and worse practices. The perception and the use of ISM
differ not only from one organization to another, but, from one employee
to another. The following sections will explore these factors.
The organizational context will influence the degree and quality of
employee communication on ISM. The organization must be prepared
to embrace participatory communication (Parry & Solidoro, 2013).
Fig. 4.1 Different factors influencing employee communication on ISM

(slightly altered from Madsen [2017], with the permission of Journal of
Communication Management )
Post-bureaucratic organizations with a flat structure and a tradition of

involving employees in decision-making are therefore more likely to
develop employee communication on ISM than a more hierarchical orga-
nization. A central issue is the conflict between the organization’s need
to control organizational communication and the nature of communica-
tion on social media as open and uncontrollable (Macnamara & Zerfass,
2012). Organizations may thus choose a “closed” or an “open” approach
to ISM (Baptista & Galliers, 2012). In the closed approach the orga-
nization control the editorial content, and therefore restrict the range of
commenting employees are allowed; in contrast, the open approach allows
open debate and comments. These two options correspond to the success
of the ISM as a communication arena. In the open case, communica-
tion is perceived as welcome, and thus enables a greater use and depth of
employee communication, while in the closed case, employees will feel less
welcome to communicate and will consequently avoid the ISM forum for
any but pro forma communications (Baptista & Galliers, 2012; Pekkala,
2020). The open case is supported by several studies that have shown how
important it is that managers listen to employee voices on ISM (Chin
et al., 2015; Trimi & Galanxhi, 2014). Managerial receptiveness is not
a matter of managers explicitly claiming to be receptive. It is rather a
matter of managers conducting communicative practices such as actively
engaging with employees on a regular basis and reacting to employee
voice with respect, and for example provide additional explanations for
managerial directives (Ellmer & Reichel, 2020). Furthermore, the orga-
nizational culture has to encourage employees to share their knowledge
and opinions. A survey of 500 organizations in Germany found that orga-
nizational culture, especially the lack of trust, was a major impediment to
integrating ISM (Sievert & Scholz, 2017). Huang et al. (2013) compared
the use of ISM in three different organizations and found that ISM did
not become multivocal in the organization that encouraged a competitive
culture, while in the two others, which were more open, ISM did become
multivocal as employees regardless of their role and position in the hier-
archy trusted that they were welcome to participate. Employees are thus
not only concerned about retaliation from managers but also comments
and reactions from other coworkers (Madsen & Verhoeven, 2016). In
this respect, as studies in employee voice have found the perceived safety
and perceived efficacy of voice determines whether employees will voice
their opinion in an organizational context (Morrison, 2014). Thus, the
organizational context, style of leadership, management philosophy and
62 V. T. MADSEN
managerial practices play a huge role in shaping the ISM experience,

as norms and power struggles tend to move into the communication
arena. If communication is contaminated with distrust and power strug-
gles before ISM, these factors could even be enhanced by ISM (Denyer
et al., 2011).
The process of introducing ISM often makes a difference as to whether
communication on ISM become multivocal. ISM tends to fail when:
● the purpose of ISM is unclear (Denyer et al., 2011; Laitinen &

Sivunen, 2020; Madsen, 2017; Manuti, 2016; Trimi & Galanxhi,
2014);
● ISM lacks support from (top) managers (Chin et al., 2015; Trimi &
Galanxhi, 2014); or
● employees interpret and understand the social technology in a
different way than anticipated (Högberg & Olsson, 2019; Madsen,
2017; Rice et al., 2017).
Broadly speaking the introduction of ISM can be treated as either a

functionalistic technology project or as a change management project
(Madsen, 2017). When it is treated as a technology project, employees
tend to be unsure of what the new media should be used for, espe-
cially if there are other alternatives as emails, newsletters, meetings, and
conversations with colleagues around the coffee machine. Successful ISM
launches undertake it as a change management process, where employees
get a clear picture of how and why ISM is being introduced and what is
expected of them (Denyer et al., 2011). In other words, it is important
to get employees on board (Madsen, 2017). In this process, communi-
cation professionals can play an important role as change agents, helping
employees and managers make sense of the new media, provide training
and help facilitate communication on ISM (Madsen, 2017).
The ISM technology provides a communication arena that make multi-
vocal and participatory communication possible (Baptista & Galliers,
2012; Madsen, 2018). Especially the visibility of the communication
makes it different from other types of organizational communication
(Treem et al., 2020). Welch (2012) argue that organizations need to
take media affect into account, and when an organization introduces
ISM, employees will expect dialogue and interaction that they know
from external social media, although they might also be concerned that
the communication will be social and not work-related (Madsen, 2017).

Scholars distinguish between lean and rich media where rich media
include face-to-face communication, meetings, and lean media involve
company magazines, electronic newsletters, bulletin boards, and intranet.
Employees prefer rich media to lean media (Verčič & Špoljarić, 2020).
One advantage of ISM is that it straddles the divide between lean and
rich media. On one hand it consists of written text, which is character-
istic of lean media, while on the other hand the writing is informal and
conversational, and pictures of employees appear next to their post, which
integrate elements from rich media (Ewing et al., 2019).
Where employees have many different information and communica-
tion channels, ISM must be positively presented as a different type of
communication arena (Ellmer & Reichel, 2020), since employees may
otherwise experience it as task overload (Cardon & Marshall, 2015; Chin
et al., 2015; van Zoonen & Sivunen, 2020). In other words, employees’
initial interpretation and sensemaking of ISM is crucial to how communi-
cation on ISM will develop (Ellmer & Reichel, 2020; Högberg & Olsson,
2019). Madsen (2017) found that many different organizational factors
influence how employees interpret and understand communication on
ISM (see Fig. 4.1). Apart from the overriding degree of openness in the
organizational context, it mattered how communication among organi-
zational members on ISM developed. If the communication appeared
to be fruitful, interesting and valuable, it would in general be rated
positively. However, if it appeared to be a “waste of time”, this, too,
would have prolonged effects (Madsen, 2017). In other words, employees
communicating in the ISM arena can inspire other employees to do the
same.
Three Types of Communication Arenas on ISM

Many different factors influence how communication on ISM develop.
Madsen (2018) proposes three different types of communication arenas
on ISM: a quiet arena, a knowledge-sharing arena and a participatory
communication arena (see Fig. 4.2).
In the quiet arena, departments mainly use ISM as a one-way commu-
nication channel to inform employees. The latter may comment or like
a post, but dialogue or threads are not encouraged. In the knowledge-
sharing arena, employees share knowledge about customers, products and
tasks horizontally across the organization. Finally, in the participatory
64 V. T. MADSEN
Fig. 4.2 Three types of communication arenas created by ISM (Madsen

[2018], with the permission of Corporate Communication: An international
Journal )
communication arena, organizational members share knowledge across

the organization, and they discuss organizational identity and strategy
with colleagues and managers. Thus, a horizontal, vertical and multi-
vocal space is carved out for different voices and opinions. Participatory
communication on ISM only seems to arise when employees perceive
that they have a license to criticize organizational procedures and strate-
gies without fearing comments and consequences from colleagues and
managers. Participatory ISM is usually connected to a previously nour-
ished culture of manager receptiveness. Madsen (2018) argues for the
importance of the participatory communication arena, since it is here that
ISM is different from other communication channels—and it is here that
ISM has the potential to radically change internal communication.
Dynamics of Employee Communication on ISM

Employee communication on ISM is different from communication on
external social media since employees have a contractual and psychological
relationship with the organization (Frandsen & Johansen, 2011) which
motivates and restrains their communication on ISM. Although empir-

ical research on actual communication on ISM is still in its infancy, the
following sketches out some of the dynamics that influence communica-
tion on ISM.
Madsen and Verhoeven (2016) found that employees were worried
about providing low quality posts and comments, harming personal
reputation, and violating unwritten rules, as well as receiving negative
comments and reactions from other coworkers and managers. These risks
made them consider their post carefully and apply seven self-censorship
strategies: (a), postponing publishing content; (b), framing content in
a constructive manner; (c), imagining responses from organizational
members; (d), asking managers or colleagues for a second opinion; (e),
using another channel; and (f), withdrawing or only writing positive
comments. Self-censorship was a deliberate and ultimately prosocial tactic
that helped create more valuable communication on ISM for other orga-
nizational members. It became a social media skill that developed over
time. Some scholars argue that social media policies are necessary to
guide employees about what to use the platform for (Ewing et al., 2019),
while others argue that the norms of the organization tend to move onto
the platform anyway (Uysal, 2016) and that explicit policies might just
discourage employees from posting and commenting.
Employees can use ISM to raise issues and gain support from other
organizational members, and it can develop into a spiral of voice as more
organizational members comment or like the post (Madsen & Johansen,
2019). Due to the visibility of employee communication, the managers
or staff who are responsible for the relevant issue have to react or risk
the trap of double criticism as it has been defined in crisis communication
(Frandsen & Johansen, 2017): the substantial issue raised by the orig-
inal criticism provokes a second criticism, which is directed toward how
the first criticism was (not) handled. Organizations often fear these spirals
of voice, but Madsen and Johansen (2019) argue that if critical issues
raised on ISM are explained and dealt with in a constructive manner in
the ISM arena, it will contribute to creating a more open communication
culture and lead to a more robust organization. When employees discuss,
challenge and negotiate organizational issues on ISM, they construct
organizational identity and acquire a deeper insight into organizational
issues and decisions (Madsen, 2016). Madsen (2016) argues that this
experience could make employees better prepared to face criticism from
outsiders and act as organizational ambassadors.
66 V. T. MADSEN
Employee communication on ISM in open organizations connects

frontline employees with top managers. This can make middle managers
feel threatened and redundant (Koch et al., 2012), which on the one
hand, flattens the hierarchy, and on the other hand, can lead to middle
manager discontent. It makes it harder for middle managers or specialists
to ignore issues of importance to employees (Madsen, 2020). Madsen
(2021) found that communicative leadership on ISM was enacted not
only by managers but also by knowledgeable individual organizational
members, as well as being co-constructed by groups of employees. In
this respect, employees can find solutions to problems and organiza-
tional issues without the mediation of managers. This strongly implies
that easing the rules on ISM communication for and welcoming non-
hierarchical cooperation works, creating quicker, better thought out
feedback and decisions-making, with a considerable advantage to the
organization in successfully engaging employees.
Prerequisites for Creating Open

and Transparent Communication on ISM
As pointed out, the best strategic use of ISM in the organization
springs from an open mindset among managers at different levels in
the organization, most especially among top managers, and it depends
on management’s willingness to expose itself to criticism and feedback
(Madsen, 2018; Madsen & Johansen, 2019). An open culture takes time
to nourish: Employees have to learn how to feel free to speak their mind
without aggressiveness or self-protective gestures, and managers have to
learn not to confuse criticism with disobedience or ill-will. A first step is to
appreciate that employees have competences and situated knowledge not
necessarily possessed by management, and that making it safe and efficient
to speak up is a net gain. Employees tend to remember how their view-
points have been received in the past, which influences whether they will
speak up again (Garner, 2013). If discussions or comments are ignored,
employees will quickly stop posting.
When a situation with employee dissent on ISM is treated construc-
tively, other employees will notice how it has benefitted the organization
as well as the dissenter. This is likely to develop into an organiza-
tional story that creates incentives for employees to voice their opinions
(Madsen, 2020).
Emerging Technologies
in Internal Communication
ISM competes with other technologies populating the internal communi-
cation, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), which
are increasingly used to optimize and automate work processes and
knowledge-sharing. Machine learning is a computational method that
classifies phenomena and identifies underlying patterns through statistical
analyses on large data-sets (Provost & Fawcett, 2013). Artificial intel-
ligence is based on what a computer have learned about the users of
different digital tools. Machine learning can give managers and commu-
nication departments insights into how employees use different digital
tools and communication channels. Using these tools in combination
with ISM can uncover the interest and relevance of different types of
content, which can help shape digital services such as chat-bots that can
answer questions from employees or personalize the intranet frontpage so
that it fits the needs of the individual employee. Machine translation is
used in multinational organizations to automatically translate documents
and news into the users’ language, which can facilitate interactions on
ISM between employees of different nationalities. Furthermore, machine
learning can help identify and find employees with certain skills based on
their communication and interaction of ISM.
Virtual reality is also becoming a tool for training employees and
helping them acquire certain skills, and this will no doubt have massive
effect on internal communication. However, as the technostructure is
new, little research has been done on the use of these technologies in
internal communication and how they can be used in relation to ISM.
Surely future research will emerge in parallel with the proliferation of
these tools and platforms, which will explore their real-time use, how
employees interact with and perceive of them, as well as assess their
benefits and negatives in relation to internal communication.
Future Research and Implications

ISM is on track to become a major component of the internal commu-
nication mix, and as such it comes heralded by employee expectation
that it will make for more authentic and transparent internal communica-
tion. Some organization have even begun to use external social media as
their internal communication channel, blurring the lines between internal
68 V. T. MADSEN
and external communication in an attempt to make the organization

seem more transparent to their customers or with citizens in general. In
this respect, ISM requires managers to rethink organizational commu-
nication, bringing to the fore fundamental issues about transparency,
open communications, privacy, decision-making hierarchies, and feed-
back. Future research will have to explore the positives and negatives—as
well as the unexpected consequences—of increasing transparency on ISM
and external social media, whether it influences managerial practices,
whether it makes internal communication clearer and more democratic,
and whether it produces greater employee engagement.
Two Practitioner’s Perspectives

Mini-Case
The Catfish Discussion: Listening to the Employees
Jyske Bank is the third-largest bank in Denmark with approximately
3500 full-time employees divided between 98 different locations. Their
internal social media is integrated with the intranet, hosting a discussion
forum called “The Word is Free”. All the employees can start, comment
on, or like a discussion. The bank uses a catfish as an organizational
symbol, a symbol of the bank’s difference between itself and other banks,
which became the topic of a memorable exchange between employees
concerning the Bank’s organizational identity.
The discussion started with a long and well-formulated post entitled:
“Is the Catfish dead?”. A bank adviser argued that, though the bank
promoted itself as a different kind of bank from its competitors, it was
hard to see any substance to this claim. He explained at length, and with
several examples, that the bank was not delivering a different experience
to its customers. The post received 43 comments and 900 likes. The first
eight comments supported the bank adviser. Some just wrote “agree”
or “agree—well written”, while a lower-middle manager from a different
branch supported the spirit in the post and commented: “I hope it is not
an impossible fight”. Then, a top manager entered the scene and wrote:
Good and well-formulated post [name of initiator of the post]. This

deserves a serious comment also here from the board of directors. ‘We
are working on the case’ it says when you press a link here on the intranet.
Actually, we are working on many initiatives and considerations in relation
to your post, but the question is which one of them we will pursue. To
find the answer to that is I guess called the ‘strategy process’ according to
theory books. Management will return to the question in the near future,
but until then, it would be nice to hear the opinions and viewpoints from
the readers.
This encouraging comment sparked 30 comments that supported the

initial post and added more examples of frustrations, problems, and
suggestions for improvement. Then, another senior manager commented
that while he did not agree with everything in the initial post, he appre-
ciated that the bank adviser wanted to act as a spokesperson on behalf of
his coworkers. The post was then praised for being valuable and an inspi-
ration to management: “I believe that your post is exactly what the CEO
has hoped for and will cherish”. This was followed by the comments of
three more employees and a comment from one of the journalists from
the communication department, who announced that the next issue of
the monthly internal TV-program would be completely dedicated to the
issue. The discussion turned into an organizational story known as “the
catfish-discussion”.
Creating an Internal Culture Where Debate Is Welcome
In 2013 Jyske Bank launched a social intranet with news, debate and
videos called JB United. Lasse Høgfeldt, Head of Communications,
reflected in an interview on what it takes to develop participatory
communication on ISM.
We call it our internal culture of debate, and it is a cornerstone of our
internal communication. We are an organization scattered around almost
100 different locations and we have about 3500 employees, and if we
want to be a value-based organization then we need an open democratic
debate.
Historically it started when our present CEO was elected by the board.
He felt that it was really difficult to know what was happening in the
organization. He therefore initiated a culture of debate and a bottom-
up culture where we can bring issues we have to the CEO. Employees
can comment on JB United, and we as a communication department are
expected to critically focus on things that do not function well. It is the
CEO’s choice to do something about it or leave it alone. But he can never
say that he did not know. We also have top down communication where
70 V. T. MADSEN
we “make our CEO shine”. That is the other part of our job, but it is
still in the context of our culture of debate. When we make a TV-spot
with the board of directors or the CEO, it is always meant to serve as a
starting point for a debate.
We have worked in this culture of debate for more than 20 years.
Management and especially top management must appreciate that
employees bring topics, stories, facts and emotions up to the surface so
that we have to deal with them. On a regular basis the CEO responds
to posts from employees even if he does not agree with them, and that
it extremely important. As an employee you really risk something when
you utter an opinion, which is why, as a communication department, our
job is to do everything we can to support the employees so that they
do not feel alone in their criticism. In our internal TV-department we
will follow up on the story and find more perspectives to present it, chal-
lenging the managers to answer. We turn it into a journalistic story. We
might also interview the person that initiated a post to recognize his or
her courage and demonstrate to the organization that it is appreciated.
Our journalistic approach is however always constructive. We cover many
different perspectives to find solutions, not to blame someone. Our task
is to create a good working environment.
Our model is that we have taken the talk that takes place around the
coffee machine, across the lunch table or over a beer on a Friday after-
noon and now the talk is shared across the organization on JB United
(our ISM) as a democratic deliberating process. It gives employees a good
sense of what is going on in the organization and they feel that they are
able to influence things when they have ideas.
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CHAPTER 5
Employee Advocates: Unlocking Their Power

Through Internal Communication
Patrick D. Thelen
Scholars will frequently refer to employees as one of the most impor-

tant publics for organizations (Grunig et al., 2002; Kang & Sung,
2017). In addition to their productive role, “employees are becoming
the ultimate reputation makers or breakers in a world where every orga-
nization sells experiences rather than products and where the truth is
more accessible and shareable than ever—particularly by those on the
‘inside’” (Frank, 2015, p. 144). The in-depth knowledge they have of
their organizations makes them credible sources of information for many
publics, including customers (Dortok, 2006; Shinnar et al., 2004). Given
employees’ strong reputational role, the communication and business
community are increasingly paying attention to a concept that has rapidly
become a buzzword: employee advocacy.
Despite the interest generated by employee advocacy among commu-
nications and marketing practitioners, it remains an understudied topic
P. D. Thelen (B)
San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
e-mail: pthelen@sdsu.edu

Switzerland AG 2021
76 P. D. THELEN
in the public relations literature (Men, 2014). However, previous studies

have begun to shed light on this research area (e.g., Lee & Kim, 2020;
Men, 2014; Thelen, 2018, 2020; Walden & Kingsley Westerman, 2018).
The impact that employees can have on an organization’s reputation and
relationship with external publics when they use their personal networks
to promote their organizations has been recognized by scholars (Kim
& Rhee, 2011; Men & Stacks, 2013). This understanding has led to
the growing awareness of the necessity to develop strategies that can
manage and guide employees’ advocacy behaviors (e.g., Lee & Kim,
2020; Thelen, 2020; Walden & Kingsley Westerman, 2018). Drawing
from this scholarship, this chapter seeks to answer the following four ques-
tions: (1) What is employee advocacy? (2) Why are employee advocacy
behaviors important for organizations? (3) What factors drive employee
advocacy? (4) How does strategic internal communication influence
employee advocacy?
Defining Employee Advocacy

Although the literature on employee advocacy is scarce, there currently
exist several definitions. Some have defined advocacy as “employees’
willingness to act as ‘part-time marketers’ of the organization to both
potential customers and potential employees” (Schweitzer & Lyons,
2008, p. 563). Similarly, Božac and colleagues have argued that advo-
cacy refers to “the promotion of an organization by its employees, where
the workforce acts as the voice of the company” (2017, p. 25). Advo-
cacy is also understood as a boundary-spanning employee outcome that
can help spread goodwill with external publics (Vlachos et al., 2017).
What unites these definitions is that they view advocacy as a positive
word-of-mouth behavior in which employees support their organizations
to external publics by, for example, recommending their products and
services or highlighting the work environment (Bettencourt & Brown,
2003; Schweitzer & Lyons, 2008; Tsarenko et al., 2018).
Other scholars have argued that in addition to positive word-of-mouth,
employee advocacy also entails defending an organization from criticism
(Men, 2014; Walden & Kingsley Westerman, 2018). As noted by Madsen
and Verhoeven (2019), employees embody, promote, and defend their
organizations externally. Employers are increasingly needing employees
who can support them by defending their position when they are under
scrutiny (Weber Shandwick, 2014). In other words, scholars who view
5 EMPLOYEE ADVOCATES: UNLOCKING THEIR POWER … 77
employee advocacy as more than positive word-of-mouth, define this

behavior as a “voluntary promotion or defense of a company, its products,
or its brands by an employee externally” (Men, 2014, p. 262).
Despite these differences, most of the literature has consistently defined
employee advocacy as a verbal behavior directed toward external publics.
However, a recent study incorporated two additional elements to our
understanding of employee advocacy (Thelen, 2020). First, it suggested
that advocacy can also be expressed nonverbally. Two common nonverbal
advocacy behaviors include using company swag (e.g., shirts, keychains)
and volunteering in community relations activities. Second, the study
highlighted that employee advocacy behaviors could also take place within
an organization. In other words, advocacy behaviors can be directed to
external publics (e.g., family, friends, and acquaintances) and internal
audiences (e.g., other employees). As these two elements broaden the
influence and scope of advocacy behaviors, the following definition
was proposed: “Employee advocacy is a verbal (written and spoken)
or nonverbal voluntary manifestation of support, recommendation, or
defense of an organization or its products by an employee to either
internal or external publics” (Thelen, 2020 p. 8).
The Importance of Employee Advocacy

When employees advocate and transmit an aspired brand image to
diverse publics, they help organizations drive brand awareness. A survey
conducted by Trapit, a company that enables social media content sharing
by employees, found that 43% of employees state that their sharing helps
increase their company’s brand awareness (Springer, 2015). Employees’
interactions with external publics can positively impact public relations
outcomes such as reputation and organization-public relationships (Kim
& Rhee, 2011).
Building high-quality relationships with employees who encourage
behavioral outcomes such as employee advocacy contributes to organi-
zational effectiveness and provides monetary value to the organization
(Grunig et al., 2002). Scholars have argued that, for example, posi-
tive word-of-mouth impacts an organization’s success and influences its
growth and revenue (e.g., Godes & Mayzlin, 2004; Gremler et al., 2001).
When employees are genuinely excited about their employer’s products
and service, they will be more likely to speak about them enthusiastically.
As employees know the products of their organizations better than anyone
78 P. D. THELEN
else, they are in an ideal position to influence sales and growth. According
to a study conducted by Hinge Research Institute and Social Media Today
(2015), nearly two-thirds (64%) of organizations with formal employee
advocacy programs in place state that they have helped them attract and
develop new business (Frederiksen, 2015). At the same time, research
has shown that when organizations acquire customers through employee
endorsements, both the contribution margins and retention rates are
higher (Schmitt et al., 2011; Villanueva et al., 2008). Given this reality,
it is not surprising that empowering and motivating employees to engage
in this behavior reinforces an organization’s financial performance (Miles
et al., 2011).
In addition to acquiring customers, employee advocacy positively
impacts human capital in several ways. First, it helps organizations recruit
suitable employees and attract highly skilled human capital (Cervellon &
Lirio, 2017; Collins & Stevens, 2002). A study conducted by Wilden
and colleagues (2010) found that prospective employees seek cred-
ible employer information through personal relationships and consider
employee referrals as the most credible sources of information. Hence,
having employees who are willing to act as brand ambassadors will help
organizations share relevant brand messages to job seekers (Wilden et al.,
2010). Second, advocacy also influences employee retention and engage-
ment. Organizations with successful employee advocacy programs are not
only 58% more likely to attract talent but also 20% more likely to retain
employees (Levinson, 2018). Regarding engagement, research shows that
employees feel more connected and enthusiastic about their organizations
after sharing work-related content (Altimeter, 2016).
Finally, employees have the power to shape an organization’s reputa-
tion when they describe their experiences within a company in a way that
humanizes the brand and builds goodwill. When employees say positive
things about their organization or volunteer on behalf of the organization
they are building favorable perceptions and goodwill among community
members that can have a positive effect when facing issues and even crises
(Thelen, 2020).
Drivers of Employee Advocacy

Drivers of employee advocacy can be separated into three basic categories:
individual, group, and organizational. Individual factors focus on indi-
vidual differences in employees and are person-specific. Group factors are
concerned with variables such as role, status, norms, and cohesiveness

within groups of two or more individuals working for a particular objec-
tive. Finally, organizational factors are concerned with the structure and
working culture of an organization.
Individual factors: Regarding individual factors, research has
suggested that attitudes such as job satisfaction, organizational identifi-
cation, and organizational commitment play an important role in driving
employee advocacy (Thelen & Men, 2020). Committed employees feel
identified, involved, and psychologically attached to their organizations
and are willing to contribute to the organization’s wellbeing by giving
something of themselves (O’Reilly & Chatman, 1986; Tsarenko et al.,
2018). Although in-role performance (i.e., those activities relevant to
employees’ formal job assignment) can be considered an antecedent
of employees’ commitment and satisfaction toward their organizations,
extra-role performance (i.e., activities that aid the organization but are
not explicitly required of employees) is expected to be a consequence
of these attitudes (MacKenzie et al., 1998; O’Reilly & Chatman, 1986).
Similarly, employees will engage in brand-building behaviors when they
trust their organization (Punjaisri et al., 2013).
Feeling organizational pride and person-organization fit are two addi-
tional individual factors that can lead to employee advocacy behaviors
(Thelen & Men, 2020). Working for successful companies or organiza-
tions with a meaningful purpose contributes to developing a sense of
pride among employees. Finally, an individual’s personality and whether
or not they perceive advocacy as a means to some end (e.g., boosting
their personal brand) may also play an important role in driving advocacy
behaviors (Thelen & Men, 2020). Employees that desire positive recogni-
tion and are eager to promote themselves and their traits, may see online
employee advocacy as an opportunity to share their organizational identi-
ties (e.g., Fieseler et al., 2015; Marwick & Boyd, 2011; van Zoonen et al.,
2018). Having said this, it is important to note that a study conducted by
Lee and Kim (2020) found that self-enhancement had no significant effect
on an employee’s willingness to advocate on behalf of their organization
on social media. On the other hand, altruistic (i.e., helping the organiza-
tion) and hedonic (i.e., enjoyment) motives increase advocacy intentions
among employees (Lee & Kim, 2020).
Group-level factors: Group factors are a second broad area that can
encourage advocacy behaviors. Among group factors, leader-member
relationships, which refer to the degree of confidence, trust, and respect
80 P. D. THELEN
that subordinates have in their leader, can play a significant role in

predicting advocacy behaviors (Thelen & Men, 2020). When leaders and
supervisors exhibit a transformational style of leadership by, for example,
acting as a coach and mentor, living the organization’s brand values,
expressing a unifying brand vision, and allowing employees to individually
determine the role of a brand representative, they enable employees’ moti-
vation and increase their commitment, authenticity, and proactivity, which
are referred to as the core characteristics of a brand advocate (Morhart
et al., 2011). However, it is important to clarify that while scholars
believe that the transformational approach is more effective in enhancing
advocacy behavior than transactional leadership (MacKenzie et al., 2001;
Morhart et al., 2009), research also suggests that leaders should not
completely refrain from transactional leadership (Morhart et al., 2009,
2011).
A study conducted by Morhart et al. (2011) suggested that the best
way to increase employee advocacy is by exhibiting a combination of a
high level of transformational and a moderate level of transactional lead-
ership behavior. Servant leadership, which has been described as a more
people-centered and ethical theory of leadership (Clegg et al., 2007), has
also been found to have a positive relationship with employee advocacy
(Thelen, 2019). Finally, group cohesion is another factor that can play a
role in advocacy behaviors (Thelen & Men, 2020). In other words, when
group members support and validate one another while at work, they are
more likely to advocate for the organization.
Organizational-level factors: Organizational factors also play a rele-
vant role in generating advocacy behaviors. Among these organizational
factors, top management and the culture of an organization are additional
factors that can impact employees’ willingness to advocate on behalf of
their organizations (Thelen & Men, 2020). Additionally, internal commu-
nication and communication management (i.e., the way an organization
communicates with its employees) can also influence advocacy behaviors.
Researchers have found that there is a positive relationship between
internal branding and employee-related outcomes such as commit-
ment (King & Grace, 2008) brand identification, loyalty (Punjaisri &
Wilson, 2011), person-organization fit, and intention to stay (Matanda &
Ndubisi, 2013). By educating employees on the organization’s business
proposition and brand values through communication and focusing on
ensuring that employees adopt and deliver the brand promise to external
publics (Foster et al., 2010), internal branding increases the likelihood
that employees will advocate on behalf of the organization (Löhndorf

& Diamantopoulos, 2014). Similarly, research has found a positive rela-
tionship between an employee’s internal brand knowledge and their
propensity to endorse their organization (Morokane et al., 2016). The
formal and informal messages that employees receive from their orga-
nizations and internal communication teams increase employees’ level
of internal brand knowledge. These messages also help construct the
psychological contract, defined as the perceptual, and often tacit, implicit,
and subjective agreement of the exchange relationships that employees
establish with their organizations (Conway & Briner, 2005; Mangold
& Miles, 2007). Researchers have found that perceived psychological
contract violations decrease employees’ levels of trust, satisfaction, and
commitment toward their organizations (e.g., Morrison & Robinson,
1997; Robinson & Morrison, 1995; Rousseau, 1995), and can therefore
have an indirect negative effect on employee advocacy.
Strategic Internal Communication

and Employee Advocacy
Research has shown that internal communication can help generate posi-
tive employee attitudes such as trust (Jo & Shim, 2005), job satisfaction
(Gray & Laidlaw, 2004), and organizational identification (Smidts et al.,
2001). These attitudes lead to outcomes such as favorable employee
communication behavior (Kang & Sung, 2017; Kim & Rhee, 2011),
higher productivity, and improved performance (Berger, 2008). A study
conducted by Kim (2018) found that internal communication may
increase organizational social capital and the likelihood that employees
will have strong interpersonal relationships and share organizational
information.
An exploratory study conducted by Thelen and Men (2020) looked
at the role that internal communication plays in employee advocacy and
what internal communicators should focus on to encourage this behavior.
The results indicated that the factors could be separated into two layers:
corporate communication strategies (macro-level) and employee advocacy
management factors (micro-level). A visual display of the role played by
internal communication in employee advocacy is found in Fig. 5.1.
Corporate communication strategies: The corporate communication
strategies were separated into four categories. The first of these categories
is openness and transparency. Public relations scholars have examined the
82 P. D. THELEN
Fig. 5.1 Internal communication and employee advocacy behaviors
relationship that transparent communication (Rawlins, 2008, 2009)—

an organization’s intentional distribution of information that is truthful,
substantial, and complete (Men & Bowen, 2017)—has with employee
outcomes. As a result of these studies, a positive relationship between
transparent communication and outcomes such as engagement (Jiang
& Men, 2017) and EORs (Men & Stacks, 2014) has been estab-
lished. J. E. Grunig (1992) proposed that symmetrical communication,
which emphasizes “trust, credibility, openness, relationships, reciprocity,
network symmetry, horizontal communication, feedback, adequacy of
information, employee-centered style, tolerance for disagreement, and
negotiation” (Grunig, 1992, p. 558), is one of the key components of
an excellent internal communications program. He also suggested that
excellent employee communications could lead to high-quality relation-
ships with employees and supportive employee behaviors toward their
employers (Grunig, 2001). Several studies have confirmed that an organi-

zation that communicates symmetrically with employees by emphasizing
aspects such as openness, will be more likely to develop high-quality rela-
tionships with employees that can lead them to speak positively about
their organizations (e.g., Kang & Sung, 2017; Kim & Rhee, 2011). The
second category is positivity. In addition to being open and transparent,
internal communicators should not forget to emphasize all of the positive
things that are happening within an organization. This idea is related to
the concept of positivity, which was conceptualized by Hon and Grunig
(1999) as “anything the organization or publics do to make the rela-
tionship more enjoyable for the parties involved” (p. 14). By promoting
the positive things occurring within an organization, employees may feel
more proud of where they work, and as a result, more vocal about their
place of work (Thelen & Men, 2020).
Legitimacy and empowerment is a third environmental category that
was highly emphasized in Thelen and Men’s study (2020). In other
words, internal communicators need to focus on legitimizing employees’
concerns by giving them a voice, listening to their needs, and asking for
their feedback. Regarding empowerment, internal communicators need
to facilitate the development of opportunities for employees to assume
responsibilities in driving the conditions and experiences they desire in the
workplace. These insights are aligned with research suggesting that the
more opportunities employees are provided to get involved in decision-
making processes, the more satisfied they will feel toward the work itself
(Niehoff et al., 1990). By empowering employees and making them feel
that they work in an inclusive environment where everyone has a voice,
they will be more likely to advocate for the organization (Thelen &
Men, 2020). The fourth environmental factor mentioned by the study is
the importance of recognition, and the role that internal communication
can play in developing a culture that acknowledges and appreciates the
behaviors of employees in an organization (Nelson, 2005). As employee
recognition has the potential to increase employee engagement and satis-
faction (Gostick & Elton, 2007), it seems plausible that it can also be
connected with employee advocacy behaviors.
Employee advocacy management factors: The micro-level employee
advocacy management strategies were separated into five categories
(Thelen & Men, 2020). The first category concerns understanding the
business strategy. Internal communicators need to be focused on the
drivers and objectives that are most important to an organization at a
84 P. D. THELEN
particular point in time. In addition to understanding the business objec-

tives, the second category refers to developing or updating social media
policies and guidelines and taking the time to educate employees on
employee advocacy. The third category is facilitation. In other words,
the organization needs to make sure that they are making it easy for
employees to share and communicate (Cervellon & Lirio, 2017). As
noted by Frank (2015), “we need to make the tools and channels simple
and available, if we are to turn engaged employees into regular, active
advocates” (p. 145). Given today’s digital world, scholars have researched
the best ways to encourage employee advocacy on social media. As
many employees lack confidence in their social media competence and
have developed psychological barriers toward engaging on social media,
Cervellon and Lirio (2017) recommend encouraging digital natives to
take the initiative and help their peers increase their proficiency in social
media. In other words, peer-to-peer communication can play a role in
increasing advocacy behavior.
The fourth category refers to the importance of creating interesting
and meaningful content. If employees are to advocate on behalf of the
organization, the organization needs to generate compelling, relatable,
inspiring, or emotional stories that they will be excited to share (Cervellon
& Lirio, 2017; Springer, 2015). A study conducted by Altimeter (2016)
found that job postings, daily workplace life (e.g., office pictures),
company accomplishments/news, community involvement, and product
information are the five most popular types of content that employees
share about their work-life through social channels. Finally, the fifth
category emphasizes that internal communicators should collaborate and
build synergistic relationships with other departments, such as external
communications and human resources. This will help them develop new
opportunities for employee advocacy.
Conclusion
As employee advocacy is becoming such a relevant topic among orga-
nizations, additional empirical and theoretical research on this topic is
necessary. This chapter examined the definition of employee advocacy,
its importance, the drivers of this behavior, and the role that internal
communication plays in influencing advocacy. Overall, this chapter
suggests that employee advocacy is an extended behavioral outcome of
internal communication. Employees will not genuinely and voluntarily
praise, recommend, and defend their organization out of thin air. These
behaviors are the result of a reputable organization that is engaging and
building high-quality relationships with its employees via strategic internal
communication.
Prior to the existence of social media, it would have been practically
impossible to reward an employee’s advocacy behavior. However, social
media has given employers the opportunity to track what their employees
are saying online (Altimeter Group, 2015). Several businesses offering
employee advocacy programs are currently recommending companies to
tangibly and intangibly reward employee advocates through monetary
rewards (e.g., Amazon vouchers, movie tickets), learning opportunities
(e.g., seminars and training programs), fun and wellness activities (e.g.,
hosting an off-site event), or employee recognition (e.g., congratulating
employees) (Green, 2017). Hence, while offline, face-to-face advocacy
seems harder to reward, some organizations are currently rewarding
online advocacy. This situation presents a dilemma that requires further
investigation: Should organizations reward employees for engaging in
advocacy behaviors? Does it depend on the type of reward? Future
research should answer these important questions, which may help
practitioners implement successful employee advocacy programs.
Interview with Ethan McCarty (CEO,

Integral Communications Group)
What should internal communicators focus on to encourage advocacy
behaviors?
I typically shy away from the word “internal”—so let’s say employee
communications professionals. As a profession, we should focus on busi-
ness strategy. Launching employee advocacy software is not going to help
unless you’re going to use it in a way that serves the business strategy.
Communicators will often describe themselves as the storytellers of their
organizations. There’s nothing wrong with telling great stories; however,
our role needs to go beyond that. We can start by asking ourselves:
how will our programs change employees’ behaviors, roll back into the
business strategy, and enhance business outcomes?
What steps should organizations take when they begin to develop an
employee advocacy program?
The first impulse that I typically see among organizations is to immedi-
ately start shopping for advocacy software as a tool to increase the number
86 P. D. THELEN
of employees sharing company news. That’s the wrong approach. The

most valuable first step will be listening. When communications teams
read or listen to what their employees are saying online, they can gather
relevant insights. For example, it can be very telling to see what employees
do on LinkedIn. Do they have complete profiles? Do they follow your
company’s page? Did anyone comment or share anything? Companies can
also look at what their competitors do in this same regard. The second
step is to look at the company’s social media policy and see if it needs revi-
sion. And finally, as I mentioned previously, the communication strategy
needs to align with the business strategy. Why develop this employee
advocacy program? Organizations generally promote employee advocacy
to achieve one or more of three things: (1) to better sell or market the
company, (2) to recruit and retain talent, and (3) to successfully address
issues management. In other words, the advocacy program needs to align
with the current needs of the organization.
What’s your position on rewarding employees for engaging in advo-
cacy behaviors?
If you create short-term incentives, you’ll get short-term behaviors.
For example, if a company gives out an iPad, they will definitely get
employees to advocate on their behalf. But the minute they stop the
incentive, they’ll see the behaviors also come to an end. The more durable
programs I’ve worked on with clients will have an intrinsic reward system.
When I worked at Bloomberg, our company would reward employees for
doing volunteer work through matched giving. If you did volunteer work
for a certain number of hours each year, the company would write a check
to the nonprofit of your choice. We also linked our social media advocacy
program with that same idea. If you shared content about Bloomberg’s
philanthropic efforts and innovation programs, you could earn money
for a charity of your choice by engaging in these social media activities.
Finally, I think it’s important to add that as a consultant, I would never
advise an organization to set up any kind of advocacy program with a
monetary reward without disclosure.
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CHAPTER 6
Employee Voice and Internal Listening:

Towards Dialogue in the Workplace
Kevin Ruck
This chapter starts with reviews of employee voice and internal listening,
before exploring dialogue in the workplace. It then considers how voice,
listening and dialogue lead to a redefinition of internal communication
and how they add new perspectives to theory and practice.
Employee Voice
Employee voice is a well-established concern in human relations manage-
ment literature (Marchington, 2015) which recognises the benefits that
accrue from robust systems of employee involvement and participa-
tion. Satisfaction with employee voice is often discussed as driver of
employee engagement (Ruck et al., 2017; Ruck & Welch, 2012; Truss
et al., 2006). Rees et al. (2013) observe that employee voice was orig-
inally equated with trade union membership and collective bargaining,
K. Ruck (B)
PR Academy, Maidstone, UK
e-mail: kevin.ruck@pracademy.co.uk

Switzerland AG 2021
94 K. RUCK
but it is now more frequently seen as a range of ways in which

employees have a say about what goes on in their organisation. This
is summarised as employees’ ‘speaking up’ with constructive ideas that
aim to improve or change the status quo. According to Van Dyne et al.
(2003, p. 1369) the management literature contains two major concep-
tualizations. The first approach describes speaking up behaviour such as
when employees proactively make suggestions for change. The second
uses the term to describe procedures that enhance justice judgments
and facilitate employee participation in decision-making. Wilkinson et al.
(2004) developed a multi-dimensional approach to employee voice which
is communication-oriented, highlighting exchanges of views, providing
feedback on specific topics, the ability for employees to express their views
to managers in an open environment and an expectation that employee
views will be taken into account and may lead to changes in how deci-
sions are made. While Truss et al. (2006) found that having opportunities
to feed views upwards was one of the three most important factors for
engagement, Purcell and Hall (2012, p. 3) assert that: ‘Having a voice,
and being listened to, is one of the most important antecedents of engage-
ment’ (emphasis added). Ruck et al. (2017) also report senior managers
seeking employee views and responding to suggestions as antecedents
of engagement. The literature suggests that opportunities for employees
to have a say about what goes on should be complemented with active
seeking of views and responses if the full benefits of associations with
employee engagement are to be achieved.
Internal Listening
Macnamara (2016a) outlines seven canons of organisational listening:
recognition, acknowledgement, attention, interpreting, understanding,
consideration and responding. These highlight rational and emotional
listening, taking what others say as receptively as possible, trying to
understand others’ perspectives and feelings, and providing a substan-
tive response after considering what has been said. Macnamara (2020)
argues that voice has no value without listening and proposes a turn
from a focus on voice to active listening. The expectation of views being
taken into account might not be sufficient. Voice without appropriate
consideration and response can lead to negative effects such as disen-
gagement and decreased productivity (Macnamara, 2016a). Listening is
6 EMPLOYEE VOICE AND INTERNAL LISTENING … 95
reviewed by Macnamara in the context of public communication and prin-

ciples are posited to apply equally to a range of stakeholders. However,
the dynamics of listening to employees are, as is argued in this chapter,
notably different to those that are used for listening to other groups
such as customers. This is because of specific barriers that might exist
inside organisations that can make listening to employees more prob-
lematic. These barriers can include assumptions and expectations about
the relative role of leaders and those they lead and the lack of emphasis
on listening to employees in management education. Krais et al. (2019)
suggest that there are four barriers to listening to employees: cultural (for
example, employees can be concerned that they may potentially ‘say the
wrong thing’), the way leadership is understood (for example, a focus on
the ‘need to provide answers’ rather than listen), an underinvestment in
listening capability development, and a lack of structures and processes to
support listening. Macnamara (2016b, p. 147) also emphasises a struc-
tured approach: ‘organisational listening requires policies, processes and
systems’. Edmondson (2019) argues that psychological safety, highlighted
in the point above about employees being concerned about speaking out,
is lacking in many organisations. In order to develop corporate climates
where fears about psychological safety can be lessened, Krais et al. (2020,
pp. 13–16) identify five core principles for listening to employees:
Openness—good listening requires an open mind.

Planning—good listening is the result of thorough planning across
the organisation.
Distributed leadership—listening needs to be led at multiple levels.
Empathetic and creative feedback—good listening involves
creating impactful and emotive feedback approaches.
Human—good listening is rooted in a humanistic approach to
communication and change.
This section has outlined some of the concepts associated with listening
to employees, where listening has more emphasis on understanding,
consideration and responding than is sometimes found in the literature
on employee voice. This is a useful differentiation although there a range
of definitions for voice and the distinction between voice and listening is
not clear cut. However, an emphasis on listening reinforces the require-
ment to respond to what is said and this is the basis for dialogue which is
reviewed in more detail in the following section.
96 K. RUCK
Dialogue in the Workplace

Before reviewing dialogue in the workplace, this section of the chapter
firstly distinguishes dialogue from discussion. It then explores how
dialogue is understood in the wider public relations literature and how
dialogue is applied in the workplace. According to Senge (2006) a discus-
sion is a process of exchanges of views, where pre-existing views are
presented and defended. Dialogue is a process whereby alternative views
are presented as a way to develop a new view. DeBussy and Suprawan
(2015) provide a useful overview of the meaning of dialogue with refer-
ence to the twentieth-century Jewish theologian, Martin Buber who in
1932 argued that leaders should view organisations not as ‘a mechanical
structure with “organic servants”’ but as ‘an association of persons with
faces and names and biographies’ (Buber, 2002, p. 204). This led Buber
to posit dialogue in workplaces being grounded in leaders understanding
‘persons as persons’. In the public relations literature, Kent and Taylor
(2002, pp. 24–25) set out five dimensions for dialogue:
Mutuality—The acknowledgement that organisations and publics

are inextricably linked.
Propinquity—The willingness and capacity of publics to express
their demands to the organisation, and the latter’s ability to consult
the former regarding matters of mutual interest.
Empathy—The atmosphere or environment required for fruitful
dialogue.
Risk—The fact that the outcome of a dialogic process may be
unpredictable.
Commitment—The parties to the dialogue must be truly
committed to real conversation.
These dimensions are suggested to apply to all stakeholders. Ruck

(2017, p. 4) found that dialogue has to be authentic. Employees can sense
when managers are ‘smiling, but not with their eyes’. Gutiérrez-García
et al. (2015) point out that although the term ‘dialogue’ has been part of
the lexicon of public relations for many years, no clear consensus has yet
emerged as regards its definition, and there has been little research into its
applications or the management processes involved. This chapter aims to
begin to address this point for dialogue with employees. As with an appli-
cation of broad principles of listening to a range of stakeholder groups
discussed in the previous section, dialogue in the workplace requires more

localised consideration.
The term ‘social dialogue’ is often used in conjunction with collec-
tive bargaining on working conditions. It is defined by the International
Labour Organisation (2018, p. 4) as ‘all types of negotiation, consultation
or information sharing among representatives of governments, employers
and workers, or between those of employers and workers, on issues of
common interest relating to economic and social policy’. Social dialogue
in this context can take many different forms, from the relatively informal
to more formal and institutionalised structures and mechanisms. The term
‘dialogue in the workplace’ is used in this chapter to convey a less formal
and fluid process used for a wider range of defined and open topics.
DeBussy and Suprawan (2015, p. 74) outline three key attributes for this:
Listening—suspending one’s own frame of reference.

Positive regard—valuing people as people.
Willingness to change—participants must enter into dialogue with
the intent to reach an understanding.
Dialogue in the workplace therefore incorporates many of the aspects

of voice and listening outlined in the previous sections, with the additional
and notable points about positive regard and willingness to change. This
requires empathy and commitment to developing deeper understandings.
This chapter has outlined broad definitions for voice, listening and
dialogue. These can be considered to be separate, reasonably narrowly
defined concepts, or as concepts with considerable overlap as illustrated
in Table 6.1.
Table 6.1 Summary of voice, listening and dialogue in the workplace
Employee voice Listening to employees Dialogue in the workplace
Having a say about what Paying attention to what is Willingness to change

goes on, making said
suggestions
Speaking up, expressing Interpreting what is said Positive regard
views, exchanging views and responding
Overlap: consideration of what is said Overlap: suspending own frame of
reference
98 K. RUCK
Finally, Taylor and Kent (2014, p. 395) argue that dialogue will not be
possible until two related conditions are met: (a) public relations profes-
sionals are trained in how to facilitate dialogue and (b) management
becomes convinced of its value. In the next section the way that dialogue
in the workplace is incorporated into definitions of internal communica-
tion is considered before turning to the issues of internal communication
education and capabilities.
Redefining Internal communication

Welch and Jackson (2007) suggest that internal communication is best
situated within what is termed ‘strategic public relations’ alongside media
relations, public affairs, environmental communication, investor relations,
labour market communications (recruitment) and corporate advertising.
In a response to other definitions that simplistically consider all employees
as a single group, Welch and Jackson (2007, p. 184) propose a definition
that identifies separate internal stakeholder groups:
The strategic management of interactions and relationships between

stakeholders within organisations across a number of interrelated dimen-
sions including, internal line manager communication, internal team
peer communication, internal project peer communication and internal
corporate communication.
This definition notably moves away from ‘communications transactions’

to ‘interactions and relationships’. The position taken for this chapter is
that internal communication is a function that incorporates the distri-
bution of information as a fundamental component for relationship
building through voice and listening that leads to dialogue in the work-
place. As Macnamara (2020) argues, corporate listening is an element
of corporate communication that hereto has received relatively little
attention. However, listening connects corporate communication to the
large body of communication theory and research that emphasises two-
way communication, dialogue, and engagement. With active, effective
corporate listening, corporate communication extends beyond one-way,
top-down information dissemination and gains insights, understanding,
and engagement that lead to trust, loyalty and sustainable relationships.
A revised definition for internal communication is proposed that connects
it to corporate communication theory that emphasises dialogue and

engagement:
Keeping employees informed about what they need to know and what they
are most interested in, giving them multi-faceted and regular opportunities
to have a say about what goes on, and actively listening and responding to
what is said with empathy and positive regard to them as human beings.
This definition acknowledges the importance of providing employees with

the information that they want and need; the traditional, transactional,
one-way, dissemination aspect of the role. However, it also incorporates
voice and listening as critical components of any definition of practice.
The combination of informing and listening is explored in more detail in
the following section.
The Alignment-Voice-Identification-Dialogue
(AVID) Framework
Effective employee voice is, to an extent, dependent on an understanding
of the organisation’s key priorities and in turn appreciating how an
employee’s work contributes to organisational success. Employee sugges-
tions, views and feedback are grounded in (or constrained by) that
knowledge. As Welch and Jackson (2007, p. 185) highlight in their
internal communication matrix, the process of informing employees oper-
ates at many levels with strategic manager communication described as
‘predominantly one-way’. Employee voice and listening can also be incor-
porated into all levels of internal communication. For example, it is not
solely a line manager responsibility. According to Ruck (2020) employees
expect line manager communication to be more oriented around local
team tasks and explanations about how this aligned with corporate plans,
whereas senior manager communication is expected to be more oriented
in clear explanations about broader aims, plans and priorities of the
organisation. When communication includes listening and responding,
Ruck (2016) found strong associations with organisational engagement,
defined by Welch (2020, p. 53) as:
A dynamic, changeable psychological state which links employees to their

organisations, manifest in employee role performances expressed physically,
cognitively and emotionally, and influenced by organisation level internal
communication.
100 K. RUCK
Fig. 6.1 The employee listening spectrum (Krais et al., 2020)
Line manager communication can enable employees to align their work

to the overall success of the organisation whereas senior manager commu-
nication can enable employees to identify with the broader organisation
and to develop a sense of belongingness to it. Ruck’s (2020) Alignment-
Voice-Identification-Dialogue (AVID) Framework sets out this distinc-
tion between line and senior manager communication and incorporates
employee voice and dialogue (see Fig. 6.1). The framework was devel-
oped from research conducted with 2066 employees in the UK in 2016
(Ruck, 2016). The components of the framework are reviewed in the
following sections.
Alignment
According to Robinson and Hayday (2009), the top two behaviours cited
by team members for an engaging line manager are firstly making it clear
what is expected from the team and secondly listening to team members.
Gatenby et al. (2009) conclude that it is important for most managers to
focus on doing the ‘simple’ things well, including communicating clear
work objectives that employees can understand. This emphasises the focus
on communication about team tasks. However, as Men (2014) highlights,
a symmetrical communication environment is typified by managers who
listen and align individual goals with organisational goals. The challenge
for line manager communication is therefore to connect the micro to the

macro. This is not straightforward. Indeed, Baumruk (2006) suggests
that line managers may not be the best people to communicate about
strategy as senior managers believe that they have problems with ‘com-
plexity’ and ‘strategic stuff’. It is therefore unrealistic to expect line
managers to communicate about strategy per se. Instead, they should
be informed enough about ‘strategic stuff’, with the support of their
managers (the middle management layer in organisations), to be able to
make meaningful connections that resonate with their team at a time
when it is most appropriate to do so—in an unforced and authentic
manner.
Voice
Employee voice has been explored in previous sections of this chapter.
The term ‘voice’ within the AVID framework is based on a broader
understanding of voice that includes consideration of what is said and
responding. It operates at line and senior manager levels and is under-
pinned by a systemic, multi-method, approach to listening throughout the
organisation. This approach to voice and listening can be extended into a
spectrum, as outlined by Krais et al. (2020) ranging from passive to deep,
as illustrated in Fig. 6.2. The shift from passive to active listening requires
a step-change in approach in many organisations. However, practice is
evolving in this direction as listening and dialogue are now increasingly
perceived as important activities with 80% of internal communication
manager respondents agreeing that they are involved with ‘two-way
communication with employees’ (Gatehouse, 2020, p. 7). As Macnamara
(2020, p. 381) highlights, ‘in the era of online digital communication,
natural language processing, machine learning content and textual analysis
applications, voice to text (VTT) software, and other sense-making tools,
expressions of voice can be listened to 24/7, compared with traditional
employee engagement surveys that are usually conducted once a year’.
Madsen and Johansen (2019) found that employees are now making use
of internal social media platforms to raise concerns which were, gener-
ally, treated seriously by managers who either accepted or rejected the
issue raised. If they did not accept it, they typically supplied a long and
well-supported explanation of why things were the way they were.
102 K. RUCK
Fig. 6.2 The alignment, voice, identification, dialogue (AVID) framework for
internal communication
Identification
Identification with an organisation stems from organisation engagement,
as defined by Welch (2020) in the previous section. Engagement is not
simply with one’s work. As Kahn (2010, pp. 27–30) observes, employees
also engage with leaders and aspects of the organisation itself: ‘Leaders
needed to learn to dismantle the obstacles to engagement—structures,
processes, and, for some, themselves—and create new patterns of inter-
action with and among employees. They had to create learning forums
that were safe enough for employees to tell them the truth of their
experiences’.
Millward and Postmes (2010) report that the fact that identification
with the superordinate grouping of ‘the organisation’ was particularly
relevant to performance is important for theoretical, empirical, and prag-

matic reasons. Fleck and Inceoglu (2010, p. 38) outline two separate
dimensions for organisational engagement: identification—a sense of
belonging, and alignment—the congruence between employees’ beliefs
about where the organisation should be heading, what the goals and
aspirations of the organisation should be, and the actual direction of
the organisation. They argue that identification is affective and alignment
is cognitive. This conceptual differentiation underpins the AVID frame-
work, with an important distinction being made between the communi-
cation role for line managers (for alignment) and for senior managers (for
identification). According to Galunic and Hermreck (2012), although
local job conditions matter, senior management has a unique voice and
understanding of strategy, and this may help explain the substantial
influence they have on strategic embeddedness when they engage with
employees.
Identification is dependent on symmetrical internal communication,
which focuses on ‘employee-centric values and organisations’ genuine care
and concern for employees’ interests’ (Men & Bowen, 2017, p. 174).
This includes meaning making and empathy which, according to Yue
et al. (2020) enhances organisational identification. Men and Yue (2019)
found that when the desire to be heard is satisfied and when this takes
place in open and equal communication, employees can be happy, proud,
appreciative, and affectionate. This is a relational perspective of leadership
(Fairhurst & Uhl-Bien, 2012) where it is seen not as a trait or behaviour,
but as a phenomenon generated in the interactions among people acting
in context. At the core of this view is the assumption that leadership is
co-constructed in social interaction processes that include employee voice
and listening. CEOs should communicate in a ‘responsive, warm, friendly,
empathetic, sincere, caring, and interested manner to demonstrate their
concern for their employees, openness, and willingness to listen’ as this
is positively associated with employee-organisation relationships (Men,
2015, p. 469). Furthermore, Walker and Aritz (2014, p. 13) suggest
that this approach to leadership means that communication becomes ‘the
primary concern rather than a secondary or tertiary consideration’.
104 K. RUCK
Dialogue
Dialogue in the workplace has been explored in a previous section of
this chapter. The term ‘dialogue’ within the AVID framework is based
on a willingness to change and a positive regard for all employees. This
can be further extended to the ways that organisations, as Deetz (2005,
pp. 85–86) puts it, ‘allow greater democracy and more creative and
productive cooperation among stakeholders’. This view is representa-
tive of the pursuit of alternative, critical, communication practices that
underpin this chapter. It can be associated with the wider literature on
employee involvement and participation (Miller, 2009) which has also
been extended by some critical theorists (Cheney, 1995) to a general
concept of workplace democracy, based on humanistic principles about
how people should be treated in society, including in organisations.
Incorporating Voice, Listening

and Dialogue into the Role
of the Internal Communication Manager
In this final section of the chapter, implications for incorporating voice,
listening and dialogue into the role of the internal communication
manager are considered. In a review of internal communication knowl-
edge foundations and post-graduate education, Welch (2013, p. 616)
argues that ‘In medicine, general practitioners have valuable knowl-
edge, but specialists have in-depth knowledge of particular disciplines or
branches of medicine. Just as we wouldn’t expect our family doctor to
perform brain surgery, perhaps we should not assume that general PR
and communication management knowledge is enough to equip internal
communication specialists’. Throughout this chapter, the requirement to
extend and adapt broad communication concepts to the particular context
of communication inside organisations has been stressed. This can now
be extended to specialist role descriptions, training and education that
reflect a broader approach to internal communication that includes voice,
listening and dialogue.
The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Manage-
ment’s Global Capability Framework (2020) incorporates listening within
a broader relationship facilitation capability, set out as follows: ‘You iden-
tify, analyse and listen to stakeholders and their communication needs’.
This suggests that listening is restricted to understanding ‘communica-

tion needs’ rather than listening being related to organisational issues.
The UK Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) describes listening
as a personal behaviour (together with other behaviours such as ‘tenacity’
and ‘curious’) rather than a professional area of activity in its profes-
sion map (IoIC, 2020) where listening to employees receives minimal
attention. This brief overview of capabilities raises two concerns. Firstly,
broad corporate communication capability frameworks fail to recognise
the specialist nature of internal communication. Secondly, where specialist
profession maps exist, they may currently have a limited appreciation of
how voice, listening and dialogue underpin good practice.
The rationale for the internal communication manager taking respon-
sibility for establishing robust processes and systems for listening to
employees is that this is a natural corollary to keeping employees
informed. Adopting the listening and dialogue principles outlined in
this chapter requires internal communication managers to take on a
primary responsibility, collaborating with other functions, for imple-
menting organisation-wide listening channels, processes and systems. This
entails analysis of the views, issues and concerns that employees raise with
expert input from data analysts. It is the analysis that generates insights
and trends that may go beyond individual employees. The analysis forms
the basis of management reporting that enables leaders to consider and
reflect more deeply on what is being said and then provide meaningful
responses that leads to wider trust in the listening process.
In practical terms, this requires an internal communication plan that
includes regular listening activities as outlined in the Employee Listening
Spectrum that are led by senior managers and which make the best use of
a wide range of methods. The emphasis on embedding organisation-wide
listening into planning does not require a significant budget. Instead, it
will often require a redistribution of the time devoted to ‘sending-out-
stuff’ so that more time is devoted to listening.
Finally, listening to employees is also an essential component of
good practice. Listening to employees is ‘good’ in the sense that it
has numerous benefits for organisations and it is also associated with
employee wellbeing (CIPD, 2019). There is also a social justice perspec-
tive to listening to employees. As organisations increasingly understand
the requirement for good governance, integrated reporting (Wang et al.,
2019) and responsible leadership (Muff et al., 2020) so the recognition
of listening and dialogue in the workplace will increase. Not to listen
106 K. RUCK
to employees in a systemic way or in active, sensitive and deep ways

potentially leads to employee cynicism with what might be perceived as
persistent one-way management-oriented propaganda.
Professional Interview with Martin Flegg

Kevin Ruck is the co-founder of PR Academy and the editor and
co-author of Exploring Internal Communication: Towards Informed
Employee Voice published by Routledge.
Martin Flegg, Chart.PR has been an internal communication prac-
titioner for over 20 years working in-house and as a consultant in
government, financial services, legal services and higher education. He
is the 2021 Committee Chair for CIPR Inside and the founder of The
IC Citizen.
---------------------------------------------------------------
What is your perception of the way organisations listen to employees ?
I think it’s quite mechanistic. There are events during the year where
listening is done through surveys, particularly an annual employee
engagement, which might be bolstered with periodic pulse surveys. Then
there are change programmes where project managers want to get feed-
back from employees on what they’re proposing to do, whether that’s
structural, terms and conditions, IT implementations, or process changes
and they run co-creation workshops and focus groups for this.
Where do you think you get the best insights from listening to employees ?
I’m a big believer in gathering feedback that’s actionable. Just asking
the open question, ‘What do you think at the moment?’ means that
you get a lot of unstructured feedback which is difficult to analyse and
feed in to governance processes that determine the decision-making in
the organisation at the top table.
What about listening to employees on internal digital platforms?
Internal social media platforms are a great source of how people are
feeling, what they’re talking about, what the issues of the day are, what
they’re interested in, gossip in the organisation, the office politics, all that
sort of stuff. I don’t think internal comms people have got to grips with
how to harness the power of that information—to brigade it in a way that
makes it actionable.
How does listening affect the role of the internal communication

manager?
Listening is allied to measurement and evaluation quite a lot. Internal
comms people are told to measure everything. But I don’t feel that there
is a lot of continuous listening outside of those events that I’ve talked
about where you might have some kind of consultation going on. I do
think there’s a gap between what employers and recruiters look for and
what professional bodies and professional frameworks say that we should
know and be able to do and one of those gaps is definitely listening.
What do organisations need to do to get the most from listening ?
Listening should feed into a governance process. It falls between the
cracks at the moment. There should be a collaboration between market
insight, process and governance—if that exists in the organisation—with
internal comms and HR there in a consultative and advisory capacity. The
other component that’s really important for internal comms is they can
inform the other part of the loop which is the ‘we did’ bit and then the
cycle goes round again. So, ‘you gave us this feedback, we did this, we
told you this, did that work’, and so on.
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CHAPTER 7
Employee Activism and Internal

Communication
Arunima Krishna
On September 23, 2020, Sam Anderson, a senior training specialist at

the social media management platform Hootsuite wrote a series of tweets
drawing attention to the company’s deal with the controversial United
States federal agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE here-
after; Moreno, 2020). Anderson claimed that the three-year deal between
Hootsuite and ICE had been signed over the objections and protests of
over a hundred employees, including some in Mexico City who reported
having been harassed by ICE officials (Sandler, 2020). The internal
concerns about the deal quickly spilled over to Hootsuite’s external envi-
ronment, with several social media managers, Hootsuite’s client base,
announcing that they would be reconsidering their use of the platform
(Moreno, 2020). What followed was a swift and public policy reversal
from Hootsuite. Within 24 hours of Anderson’s tweets Hootsuite’s CEO
issued a public statement, acknowledging that the deal has “sparked a
A. Krishna (B)
Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
e-mail: arunimak@bu.edu

Switzerland AG 2021
114 A. KRISHNA
great deal of internal conversation” and that the company would no

longer be going ahead with the deal with ICE (Moreno, 2020).
Hootsuite’s capitulation to employee pressure is only one of many
recent examples of heightened employee activism. The last few years, in
particular, have seen the rise of employees giving voice to their opposi-
tion to organizational policies, particularly related to controversial social
issues, and mobilizing to form social movement organizations within their
employer organizations to sue for change (Scully & Segal, 2002). From
the Wayfair walkout to protest the company’s dealings with ICE (Hames,
2019), the multiple employee walkouts, and organized protests at Google
against their handling of sexual harassment cases in 2018 (Wakabayashi
et al., 2018) and then to protest what was viewed as retaliation against
two employees who were activist organizers (Ghaffrey, 2019), to Amazon
(Wingard, 2020) and Walmart (Gurchiek, 2019), recent instances of
employee activism abound. Indeed, a 2019 report by public relations
agency, Weber Shandwick found that 4 in 10 employees (38%) say they
have “spoken up to support or criticize their employers’ actions over
a controversial issue that affects society” (Gaines Ross, 2019). Weber
Shandwick’s executive chairman, Andy Polanksy, attributed this finding
to the increasing number of Millennials in the workforce who believe it
their right to criticize their employers on controversial issues (Wingard,
2020).
Such activism stemming from within an organization presents an
internal and external communication challenge, as organizations’ leaders
try to balance mindfully addressing employee activists’ demands before
and after they become public with the organization’s own values and
interests. Public relations nightmares resulting from poorly handled
employee activism, as was the case with Google and Wayfair’s employee
walkouts, remind us of the important role played by public relations func-
tions in communicating and negotiating between organizational leaders
and internal activists (McCown, 2007). The present chapter presents a
review of the literature on activism and employee activism within public
relations scholarship and beyond, followed by industry perspectives on
employee activism. A theoretically driven and practically sound defini-
tion of employee activism is advanced, followed by recommendations for
future research on employee activism and internal communication.
7 EMPLOYEE ACTIVISM AND INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 115
Activism in Public Relations Scholarship

The study of activism enjoys a long history in public relations schol-
arship. Defined by L. A. Grunig et al. (2002) as “a group of two or
more individuals who organize in order to influence another public or
publics through action that may include education, compromise, persua-
sion, pressure tactics, or force” (p. 446), activist groups are important
constituencies for public relations practitioners to consider when formu-
lating their communication strategy (Grunig & Grunig, 1997). However,
too often in public relations scholarship activists and activism have been
cast in a negative light, as efforts that inhibit public relations practice
(Dozier & Lauzen, 2000) and therefore need to be limited and controlled
(Dougall, 2005). Dozier and Lauzen (2000) criticized the “intellectual
myopia” associated with public relations scholarship which is dominated
by former practitioners at large organizations, who see activists as the
“other” and thus a force to be thwarted (p. 7).
Since then, scholars have embraced Dozier and Lauzen’s (2000) call
to understand activism, helping build a robust body of literature under-
standing organized activist groups and their communicative strategies
(e.g., Anderson, 1992; Reber & Kim, 2006; Taylor et al., 2001; Werder,
2006), as well as individual-level activism (e.g., Krishna, 2017). However,
much of the public relations scholarship on activism tends to focus on
external activists, particularly organized activist groups and their relation-
ship building efforts to advance their agenda (e.g., Taylor et al., 2001).
Few studies have focused on the role of internal activists (e.g., Curtin,
2016; McCown, 2007) in bringing about organizational change and
even forcing changes in organizational policy. With employee activism on
the rise (Gurchiek, 2019) and becoming a crucial piece of corporations’
employee engagement efforts (“Employees Rising: Seizing the Opportu-
nity in Employee Activism,” n.d.), it behooves public relations scholarship
to examine employee activism and its impact on internal communication
and corporate strategy. The next section presents a review of the litera-
ture on internal and employee activism, in public relations and beyond, to
unpack the differences between external, internal, and employee activism.
116 A. KRISHNA
Theoretical Perspectives on Employee Activism

As noted in the previous section, much of the public relations scholar-
ship on activism has focused on external organized activist groups, such
as environmental groups (e.g., Taylor et al., 2001) as well as organic,
issue-specific activism (e.g., Krishna, 2017; Vardeman & Sebesta, 2020).
Relatively understudied, however, are instances of internal activism,
particularly those initiated and carried out by employees. Although
McCown (2007) noted that “…employee activism should inform future
public relations practice” (p. 47), theoretical explications of employee
activism and internal activism in public relations scholarship are few and
far between and tend to be primarily qualitative explorations of specific
instances of internal activism in the form of case studies. For example,
Luo and Jiang (2014) interviewed employee activists at a large multina-
tional food company in China to understand the various empowerment
strategies they adopted to force the reversal of an unpopular policy. Simi-
larly, Curtin (2016) adopted a case study approach to understand the
discourses adopted by internal activists, in this case, Girl Scout members,
to pressure the manufacturer of Girl Scout cookies, the Kellogg Company
to use only palm oil from responsible sources.
In organizational studies and management literature, however, internal
activism has received more attention. Briscoe and Gupta (2016), for
example, articulated the different types of social activism experienced
within and around organizations and differentiated between “insider”
and “outsider” activists (p. 671). Whereas “outsider” activists or external
activists exist outside the organization as non-members, such as social
movement organizations like Greenpeace, “insider” activists are members
of an organization. Briscoe and Gupta (2016) further differentiated
between types of insider activists by envisioning a continuum of activist
types, i.e., an insider–outsider continuum, with non-members or external
activists at one end and employees as full members of the organiza-
tion at the other. Such envisioning of activist types on a spectrum
helps account for partial members of organizations, including students,
as internal members of their schools and institutions, and shareholders,
who although have an interest in the organization do not enjoy the level
of access that employees do. Two key factors, i.e., resource dependence
and target organization knowledge, characterize groups’ classification into
activist types (Briscoe & Gupta, 2016). For example, employee activists
experience a high level of resource dependence with their organization,
particularly as they risk retaliation and career damage (Taylor & Raeburn,
1995). At the same time, they also enjoy knowledge not only about
informal social structures in the organization that may facilitate orga-
nizing and the strategic deployment of activism efforts but also of internal
culture (Baron & Diermeier, 2007). Shareholders, as partial members,
are highly resource-dependent on the organization but lack the requisite
knowledge of internal culture and social structures to effectively organize
and drive change from within. The insider–outsider continuum, a func-
tion of resource dependency and target organization knowledge, thus,
helps distinguish between employee activists and other types of internal
and external activists.
Early theorizing on employee activists described these individuals as
“tempered radicals” (Meyerson, 2001; Meyerson & Scully, 1995, p. 585),
who must balance their commitment to their chosen social cause, and thus
critique their organization’s policies and practices, with their commit-
ment to the organization and the rewards and benefits that ensue when
the organization succeeds. Historically, labor unions tended to be cast
as protagonists in the fight for workplace equality and equity (Western
& Rosenfeld, 2011), fighting for fairer wages and income equity within
their organizations as well as lobbying legislative bodies. However, with
union membership on a steady decline (Maiorescu, 2017) an alter-
nate form of employee activism has recently gained traction. Specifically,
scholars have noted the emergence of issue-specific employee groups
that have been able to successfully lobby their organizations to take
concrete action on issues ranging from LBGT policy and activism (e.g.,
Githens & Aragon, 2009; Maks-Solomon & Drewry, 2020) to envi-
ronmental issues (e.g., Skoglund & Böhm, 2020). Recent upheavals in
the tech industry, including employee protests and walkouts at Google,
Amazon, and Wayfair (Gautam & Carberry, 2020) in response to what the
employees considered inappropriate corporate policies regarding contro-
versial social issues point to a more organic form of employee organizing
and activism in response to perceived corporate missteps on crucial socio-
political issues. Such employee activism is even more evident in instances
when employees perceive there to be a disconnect between organizational
values and organizational action (Stuart, 2020).
Scully and Segal (2002) posit three reasons for the manifestation of
employee activism in the workplace. First, given that many of the issues
that form the target of social activism can be directly attributed to corpo-
rate (in)action, such as inequality, injustice, and discrimination (Baron,
118 A. KRISHNA
1984), employees experience the effects of these inequalities firsthand,

and thus are more motivated to address them. Second, as noted earlier,
having an intimate knowledge of the internal culture of the organiza-
tion and the informal (power) structures that characterize it facilitate the
mobilization and distribution of information and attitudes. Third, the
proximity afforded by a workplace as well as the shared experience of
inequity may also facilitate the mobilization and organizing of groups, as
well as the recruitment of new members to help address the issues faced
by the collective.
Industry Perspectives on Employee Activism

As is evidenced by extant theorizing on employee activism reviewed so far,
such efforts are conceptualized to be inwardly directed. That is, employee
activism is considered to be efforts organized and negotiated by individual
employees and/or groups of employees directed toward organizational
leadership to change organizational policy or direction. However, outside
of the academy in the practice, employee activism is defined more broadly
than just inwardly directed. For example, Rouse (2020) defined employee
activism as “actions taken by workers to speak out for or against their
employers on controversial issues that impact society” and noted that it
is characterized by “actions performed intentionally to generate social
change” (para. 1). However, such activism is not necessarily inwardly
directed. Instead, “employee activists use various social activism methods,
including social media campaigns, staged walkouts, and protests, to make
their actions visible and generate social change” (Nataros, 2020, para.
4). In other words, unlike extant theorizing, industry understanding of
employee activism involves not only lobbying for change within the orga-
nization to top leadership but also the use of public relations strategies to
garner external attention and support for the employees’ agenda. Indeed,
Peachey (n.d.) attributed the recent increase in high-profile instances of
employee activism to the advancements in technology that allow individ-
uals and employee groups to reach large audiences easily, thus adding
external social pressure on organizations in addition to the internal
pressure.
Additionally, whereas theoretical accounts of employee activism tend
to focus on employees campaigning against organization action (e.g., Luo
& Jiang, 2014; McCown, 2007), or to urge the organization to imple-
ment changes in existing policy and action (e.g., Curtin, 2016) in practice
employee activism may also involve employees speaking out for or in

support of their organizations. For example, in the wake of Nike’s contro-
versial ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, the equally controversial
activist quarterback, Nike’s employees reported having “more respect for
our company than we have in the past” and feeling “a big swell of pride
that we stood up for something meaningful” despite fielding a volley
of abuse from upset customers (Saincome, 2018, para. 6). Indeed, an
industry study found that over 87% of employees want their organiza-
tions to take a stand on social issues that are relevant to its business
(Bryan, 2019), and such corporate advocacy shown to foster employee
engagement.
Advancing a Theoretically and Practically

Sound Definition of Employee Activism
Taken together, the academic and industry perspectives on employee
activism offer insights into elements that characterize the concept.
Combining these perspectives, a definition of employee activism is
advanced in this chapter. Employee activism is defined as goal-oriented
efforts organized and negotiated by individual and/or groups of employees
to internally and/or externally advocate for or against organizational
policy and/or decision making to generate social change. This definition
captures the various features of employee activism as discussed earlier.
First, it acknowledges that employee activism encompasses organized and
negotiated efforts (Gautam & Carberry, 2020), undertaken by formal,
organized groups such as unions (Western & Rosenfeld, 2011) or by indi-
viduals motivated about an issue (Krishna, 2017). Second, per industry
perspectives on employee activism is conceptualized as being internally
directed as well as externally focused, such that employee activism may
involve making use of social activism tactics to garner external support
for their agenda, thereby exerting both internal and external pressure on
the organization. Third, this definition positions employee activism as an
act of advocacy, such that it may manifest in the form of support for
or opposition to organizational policy or action. Whereas most academic
discussions on employee activism center on it being an oppositional force
against the employer, this definition refocuses the potential of employee
activism as also being a positive force for the employer, where employee
activism may manifest in the form of employee advocacy and external
promotion of organizational action for positive social change.
120 A. KRISHNA
Employee activism, then, may be divided into two sub-concepts

depending on the valence of employees’ actions and attitudes vis-à-vis the
organization’s policy. When employee activists’ efforts are aimed against
or criticize organizational action or decision that the employees believe to
be against social good, they may be considered adversary activists. On the
other hand, when their efforts seek to support or praise an organization’s
stance or position that does generate positive social change, employee
activists may be termed advocate activists. This typology of employee
activists follows and complements discussions of employees’ communica-
tive behaviors during crises as discussed by public relations scholars (e.g.,
Lee, 2019; Mazzei et al., 2019). Just as employees may act as external
advocates or adversaries for their organizations in times of crises, so too
may they engage in advocacy or adversarial activism, and act as advocate
activists or adversarial activists when trying to encourage the organiza-
tion to behave in certain ways regarding controversial social issues. It is
important to note, however, that whether employee activists are advocates
or adversaries may be situational, rather than static.
This last aspect of employee activism discussed in the previous para-
graph bears some similarity to the concept of megaphoning in public
relations literature (see Kim & Rhee, 2011). Megaphoning refers to
employees’ external communicative behaviors about their employers.
Similar to employee activism, these behaviors may manifest in the form of
positive megaphoning or negative megaphoning. In other words, mega-
phoning refers to employees’ sharing of positive or negative opinions
about their organization to those outside the organization. Such opinion
sharing about an organization by its own members has been shown
to impact individuals’ attitudes about the organization (Vibber & Kim,
2019). A similar concept to megaphoning is that of employee advocacy.
Defined as “the voluntary promotion or defense of a company, its prod-
ucts, or its brands by an employee externally” (Men, 2014, p. 262),
employee advocacy captures employees’ actions to support and defend
their employers against criticisms, not just promote or criticize them.
Thelen (2020) clarified the concept of employee advocacy, defining it
as “Verbal (written and spoken) or nonverbal voluntary manifestation
of support, recommendation, or defense of an organization or its prod-
ucts by an employee to either internal or external publics” (p. 9). Much
like megaphoning, employee advocacy is generally considered beyond the
scope of an employee’s job responsibilities and is not tied explicitly to
rewards and job performance (Walden & Kingsley Westerman, 2018).
However, the key difference between employee megaphoning,

employee advocacy, and the communicative dimension of employee
activism lies in their respective goals of the two activities. Although
both employee megaphoning and the communicative aspect of employee
activism may involve speaking for or against the employees’ organiza-
tion, the goal of employee activism is to generate social change by either
changing or reinforcing organizational policy. No such social change-
based goal is conceptualized to underpin megaphoning or employee advo-
cacy efforts. Indeed, megaphoning is conceptualized merely as employees’
show of support for or against their employer with no other motive
than to vent (Kim & Rhee, 2011), whereas employee advocacy serves to
support or defend the organization against criticism regardless of context,
and includes nonverbal actions (Thelen, 2020). Importantly, whereas the
subject of employee advocacy and megaphoning is the organization, the
subject of advocacy activism and adversarial activism is the organization’s
stance on a controversial social issue and the issue itself.
Employee Activism and Internal Communication

Several opportunities for theory development and future research related
to employee activism and internal communication emerge from this
review of the literature. Indeed, industry experts have acknowledged the
crucial role played by internal communication in helping engage with
employee activists to ensure mutually beneficial outcomes (Comcowich,
2019). This section offers scholars questions for future research to
further explicate employee and workplace activism and to advance theory
building on the concept. For example, scholars may want to explore the
concepts of advocate activism and adversary activism, presenting empir-
ical, theoretically driven explanations of the conditions under which orga-
nizations may encourage advocacy activism, and even adversary activism in
certain cases. Would symmetrical communication and relationship cultiva-
tion encourage more advocacy activism and perhaps discourage adversary
activism, as it does with positive and negative megaphoning, respectively,
in times of crisis (Lee, 2020)? What other internal communication strate-
gies and organizational factors encourage or inhibit employees’ orga-
nizing and activism behaviors? Furthermore, what kinds of individual-
and group-level activism may be expected when organizations engage in
or attempt to take a stand on controversial social issues?
122 A. KRISHNA
Additionally, a key question for public relations and organizational

studies scholars to consider is this: is adversary activism inherently bad? Or
perhaps is the answer more nuanced? Indeed, how adversary activism can
help improve organizational decision-making and policies, and, eventually,
contribute to the betterment of society, is also a worthy area of research.
The strategies, discourses, and tactics used by adversary activism that have
found success would help shed light on how other employee groups may
also successfully organize for change in their own organizations, as well
as build knowledge on activism and organizing. Such scholarship would
contribute to and complement extant literature on employee organizing
related to unionizing (e.g., Badigannavar & Kelly, 2005), change manage-
ment (e.g., Goodall, 1992), and organizational systems and management
(e.g., Hoogervorst, 2017).
Furthermore, for scholars interested in the intersection of internal
communication, digital media, and social networks, employee activism
as discussed in this chapter presents opportunities for research. How do
employee groups and activists leverage their internal and external social
networks to facilitate organizing and mounting external pressure on orga-
nizations? What role do digital media and social networks play in enabling
the amplification and employee activists’ agendas, thus facilitating the
spillover of internal issues into external environments? Are there certain
issues that garner more social amplification than others? These and other
questions may be valuable areas for scholarship.
To answer these questions and more, scholars may consider adopting
extant theoretical frameworks that have been successfully applied to
understand activism and activists, writ large, and integrate these frame-
works with internal communication scholarship. For example, the situ-
ational theory of problem solving has found application in explaining
activists’ communicative behaviors (e.g., Chen et al., 2017; Krishna,
2017) as well as supportive behaviors in times of crises (e.g., Krishna
& Kim, 2020). The anger activism model, which proposes that “anger
facilitates attitude and behavior change when (a) the target audience
is pro-attitudinal, (b) the anger is intense, and (c) the audience has
strong perceptions of efficacy” (Turner et al., 2006, p. 3) has found use
predicting rage-fueled donation behaviors (Austin et al., 2020).
Critical-cultural perspectives too have been advanced to further the
scholarship on activism, as scholars have called for a shift in how activist
public relations is considered in ways that “acknowledges alternative artic-
ulations and power as fluid” and not “rigidly hierarchical” (Ciszek, 2015,
p. 451). Curtin and Gaither’s (2005) cultural-economic model provides

one such model which provides a critical-cultural alternative to conceptu-
alizing activism and public relations. Dialogic approaches to activism too
have found use in identifying how best activists can harness information
technology tools to advance their causes (e.g., Sommerfeldt et al., 2012).
These and other theoretical frameworks on activism and conflict resolu-
tion may be useful in furthering our understanding of employee activism
and internal communication.
Conclusion
Although research on employee activism is in its infancy, especially in
public relations, extant theoretical and industry perspectives offer several
avenues for future scholarship, as discussed in the previous section. The
present chapter offered a theoretically and practically driven definition
of employee activism and proposed two sub-concepts to describe both
pro-organization and anti-organization efforts, i.e., advocate activism and
adversary activism respectively. This chapter serves as a call to scholars
across disciplines to further examine employee activism. The research
questions as well as the definition of employee activism posited in this
chapter serve as a starting for future scholarship, within public relations
and beyond.
Employee Activism and Internal Communication

Practitioner’s Perspective (Interview)
Raymond L. Kotcher
Professor of the Practice
Boston University College of Communication
Q: What is employee activism? What is the role of the modern-day
communicator in addressing employee activism?
A: Today, employees are central to corporate strategy. They are a powerful
force. As advocates, they can help companies gain strategic and compet-
itive advantage. They can support and accelerate transformation, even
enable companies to become disruptors themselves. Keeping employees
engaged and building community and culture are a crucial part of
the modern-day communicator’s job. However, rapidly shifting social,
economic, technological, and generational changes have complicated the
124 A. KRISHNA
employee–employer dynamic, making the job of communicators complex.

One key factor contributing to this complexity is employees’ expectations
of their employers. Gone are the days when an employee’s relationship
with their employer was limited to a transaction with an employee simply
providing services in exchange for a salary. Instead, employees want their
employers to behave in ways that match their own values and expecta-
tions—organizations that don’t fulfill these expectations can end up facing
employees as activists, even strong adversaries.
Q: What are some factors that have contributed to the recent rise of
employee activism?
A: One factor that has spurred on employee expectations is the gener-
ational shift in the workforce. Millennials, who now constitute half the
American workforce and grew up during the Great Recession of 2008, are
witness to the income and social inequalities that persist around the world.
They are acutely aware of the impending climate crisis and, as we all are,
of the dreadful pandemic and its economic impact. They want more than
just a job. They want to be part of organizations that stand for some-
thing larger. They want jobs that contribute to the greater good on issues
such as health, social justice, diversity and inclusion, the environment,
education, and labor practices, among others. And they are not afraid of
speaking out when they are unhappy with their employers’ actions. Their
voices are fast becoming a force for social change, one company at a time.
Q: Are these developments and expectations new? How can employee
expectations and employee activism manifest, particularly against the
backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic?
A: This change had been coming to the workplace for quite some time.
In the not-so-distant past, what happened inside a company stayed inside
a company. Not anymore. Communication technologies have lowered
the boundaries separating the internal and the external. Employees and
their expectations and demands now resonate, often simultaneously, on
the inside and the outside. Employees ask their companies to stand tall
and lead, as have activist employee groups at Google and Facebook; they
ask their companies to be moral leaders, and are unafraid to express
their displeasure when they believe their employers have violated moral
expectations, as Wayfair and Hootsuite found out. Today’s workforce
expects purpose with action and will engage actively if expectations are
not met. The Covid-19 health crisis and the social justice movement have
only intensified employees’ expectations and demands of their employers’
behaviors on both the inside and the outside.
Ray Kotcher is a professor of the practice, public relations , at Boston

University’s College of Communication, and the former CEO and
chairman of Ketchum, one of the world’s largest and most awarded public
relations agencies.
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CHAPTER 8
Beyond Internal Corporate Social

Responsibility Communication (ICSRC):
Creating a Purposeful Organization
Ganga S. Dhanesh
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is broadly defined as businesses

meeting their social responsibilities toward diverse stakeholders. From a
functionalist perspective, it is critical to communicate an organization’s
socially, environmentally, legally, ethically, and economically responsible
policies and actions to stakeholders to garner desirable organizational
outcomes while from a constitutive, constructivist perspective, it is critical
to engage in CSR communication to co-create meanings and under-
standings of CSR among organizations and their stakeholders (Crane
& Glozer, 2016; Schoeneborn et al., 2020). Even though employees
have been highlighted as a critical stakeholder in CSR communication,
G. S. Dhanesh (B)
College of Communication and Media Sciences, Zayed University,
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
e-mail: Ganga.Dhanesh@zu.ac.ae

Switzerland AG 2021
132 G. S. DHANESH
research on internal stakeholders lags behind that on external stake-

holders and scholars continue to call for more research on internal CSR
communication (ICSRC) from constitutive and functionalist perspectives
to reflexively interrogate and co-create meanings of CSR, and generate
significant returns such as ethical employer brand identity, employer
attractiveness, employee engagement, and employee identification, ulti-
mately leading to employees becoming CSR advocates and ambassadors
(Duthler & Dhanesh, 2018; Edinger-Schons et al., 2019; Jiang & Luo,
2020; Schaefer et al., 2019, 2020; Verčič & Ćorić, 2018; Wang & Pala,
2020).
In addition to engendering these outcomes, ICSRC has been called
upon to inspire employees to contribute to building a purpose-driven
organization. Although organizational purpose has become a buzzword
in practice, and practitioners across management, marketing, and commu-
nication have begun to link the concepts of CSR and purpose, there is
hardly any academic literature that theorizes connections between ICSRC
and purpose. Accordingly, this chapter reviews the literature on ICSRC;
defines organizational purpose, connects it to extant understandings of
CSR; and offers a theoretical framework that leverages ICSRC to engage
employees in building a purposeful organization.
Internal CSR Communication (ICSRC)

Definitions
Prior to defining ICSRC, it is important to define related concepts
such as CSR, internal CSR, internal communication, and integrated CSR
communication.
CSR and Internal CSR

According to one of the most widely cited definitions, CSR refers to
“the simultaneous fulfillment of the firm’s economic, legal, ethical, and
philanthropic responsibilities” (Carroll, 1991, p. 42). Most discussions
of internal CSR mirror these dimensions. For instance, to Maignan
et al. (1999) internal CSR includes monitoring employee produc-
tivity, honoring employees’ contractual obligations, encouraging work-
force diversity, and policies that support work-life balance. In addition,
to Weder et al. (2019) internal CSR includes employee volunteering
programs. This chapter adopts the view that while the concept of internal
8 BEYOND INTERNAL CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY … 133
CSR provides a tidy label to CSR activities that are related to employees,
this conceptualization is problematic because as organizational members,
employees have a ringside view of their organization’s CSR efforts
related to multiple stakeholders. They are also exposed to external CSR
communication and articulations of corporate ethical identities, which can
contribute to a holistic assessment of their organization’s CSR philoso-
phies and activities, and not just one based on internal aspects (Carlini
et al., 2019).
Internal communication includes intra-organizational communication
that encompasses informal watercooler chats as well as formal, managed
communication (Vercic et al., 2012; Welch & Jackson, 2007). According
to Welch and Jackson (2007) formal, internal communication manage-
ment is “the strategic management of interactions and relationships
between stakeholders at all levels within organisations” (p. 183). Internal
communication has four dimensions of which internal corporate commu-
nication, mostly based on one-way communication between managers
and employees, is employed to communicate organization-wide goals,
objectives, and achievements, making it an ideal vehicle to communicate
CSR (Duthler & Dhanesh, 2018). However, since social media platforms
have amplified employee word-of-mouth communication, particularly
with regard to CSR, in addition to strategically managing formal internal
corporate communication, organizations will need to consider employees’
informal word-of-mouth CSR communication as well (Lee & Tao, 2020).
Integrated CSR Communication

Scholars have challenged the siloed notion of internal communica-
tion directed at one set of stakeholders with the concept of auto-
communication, which argues that as organizational boundaries blur,
communication directed externally could influence internal stakeholders
too, and have supported the notion of integrated communication
(Cornelissen, 2020). Building on the theory of auto-communication
and organizational identification, Morsing (2006) proposed that CSR
communication is a vital process of auto-communication for member
identification. Arguing that the trends of mediatization, digitalization,
media convergence, and demographic developments behooves breaking
down silos among public relations, advertising, branding etc., Diehl et al.
(2017) defined integrated CSR communication as “the harmonization
134 G. S. DHANESH
of all CSR-related communication strategies and activities, whereby CSR

is understood as the company’s attitudes and behaviors with regard to
its perceived obligations and responsibility toward its stakeholders and
society” (p. v).
Internal CSR Communication (ICSRC)

Since employees are exposed to diverse aspects of CSR, internal,
external, and auto CSR communication, articulations of their employ-
er’s ethical organizational and corporate identities, and because they
engage in informal word-of-mouth CSR communication, employees
become producers and consumers of CSR communication. Hence, this
chapter defines internal CSR communication (ICSRC) as holistic intra-
organizational and auto-communication related to diverse dimensions
of CSR, disseminated by organizations and constructively constituted by
employees .
While CSR communication faces issues such as audience skepticism,
ICSRC faces specific obstacles due to the relatively intimate nature of
employer–employee relationships. Employees have an insider view of the
organization; they receive internal and external CSR communication;
they have deep knowledge of the company’s CSR practices; can better
assess CSR action-communication gaps; and as a result, could fall on
a continuum that ranges from being highly skeptical to being advo-
cates and ambassadors of CSR (Carlini et al., 2019; Edinger-Schons
et al., 2019). The following section will review theoretical frameworks
of ICSRC created to address some of these issues.
Theoretical Frameworks to Examine ICSRC

A thorough review of literature on ICSRC across public relations,
marketing, advertising, management, accounting, and organizational
communication revealed only a handful of theoretical frameworks for
ICSRC. These include Maignan and Ferrell (2001) who considered CSR
as an internal marketing strategy; Carlini et al. (2019) who offered a
theoretical model for the CSR employer brand process; and Du et al.
(2010), Crane and Glozer (2016), and Morsing and Schultz (2006) who
offered CSR communication frameworks and strategies that are relevant
for internal and external stakeholders.
According to Maignan and Ferrell’s (2001) conceptualization of
corporate citizenship as internal marketing, three aspects of internal and
external corporate citizenship communication (intensity, accuracy, and

value congruence) influence (a) the relationship between corporate citi-
zenship practices and employee evaluations of corporate citizenship, and
(b) the relationship between employee evaluation of corporate citizen-
ship and outcomes such as organizational commitment and esprit de corps.
Further, individual characteristics such as personal values, stage of cogni-
tive moral development, and socio-demographics can also moderate these
relationships.
More recently, Carlini et al. (2019) synthesized literatures from CSR
and employer branding to create a conceptual model that addressed the
CSR employer branding process from the perspectives of potential and
existing employees. According to the model based on signaling theory,
external CSR signals (CSR conduct, which in turns affects uncontrolled
communication) are antecedents for potential employees’ CSR journey,
while CSR employer brand identity is an antecedent for the CSR journey
of potential and current employees. For potential employees, external
CSR signals can affect the perceived sincerity of CSR signaling, which
can moderate the relationship between CSR employer brand identity and
potential employee perception, which can influence intention to apply.
For current employees, CSR employer brand identity can affect employee
perception of CSR experience (such as CSR socialization, workplace
benefits, corporate ethical empowerment, and equitable human resource
practices, considered as internal CSR signals), which can lead to posi-
tive and negative employee outcomes. Further, the relationship between
employee perception of CSR experience and outcomes will be moderated
by the perceived gap between employees’ CSR expectations and experi-
ences. The authors proposed that firms need to achieve CSR consistency
in terms of embeddedness of CSR values (embedded vs peripheral), and
levels of internal CSR (high vs. low) and offered a typology of organi-
zations that includes CSR employer brand, Underperformers, Internal
focused, and Greenwashers that can enable managers to create a CSR
employer brand identity, which can create a high-quality talent pool, and
generate positive affective, cognitive and behavioral employee outcomes.
However, one of the greatest obstacles of CSR communication has
been stakeholder skepticism, to address which Du et al. (2010) proposed
a framework that dealt with the influence of message content (issue
importance; commitment, impact, motives and fit of the CSR initiatives),
and message channel (corporate, independent) on internal outcomes
(awareness, attributions, attitudes, identification, and trust) and external
136 G. S. DHANESH
outcomes from the perspective of customers (purchase, loyalty, and advo-

cacy), employees (productivity, loyalty, citizenship behavior, advocacy)
and investors (amount of invested capital, loyalty). This relationship
can be moderated by stakeholder characteristics (stakeholder types, issue
support, social value orientation) and company characteristics (reputation,
industry, marketing strategies).
More recently, Crane and Glozer (2016) conducted a review of
CSR communication literature, proposed a framework that distinguished
research across two dimensions—internal/external stakeholders, and
functionalist/constitutive paradigms, and identified four sets of CSR
communication research. These included research on employees within
the functionalist paradigm called CSR Integration, while research within
the constitutive paradigm was called CSR Interpretation. After noting the
limited research on CSR Integration, the authors suggested that function-
alist research could adopt theoretical perspectives such as social identity
theory and organizational justice to connect diverse disciplinary perspec-
tives. Scholarship on CSR Interpretation could examine the role of CSR
communication in new forms of organization such as social enterprises,
and multi-stakeholder initiatives. Rupturing silos of work on ICSRC,
the authors suggested research that spans internal and external stake-
holders. For instance, research on externally focused CSR identity can
be extended to internal audiences; or theories of sensemaking used to
explore internal CSR meaning-making can be extended to understand
how internal meaning-making can influence external sense-giving.
Finally, Morsing and Schultz (2006) offered three CSR communica-
tion strategies to engage with stakeholders—the stakeholder information
strategy built on the public information model; the stakeholder response
strategy based on the two-way asymmetrical communication model; and
the stakeholder involvement strategy built on the two-way symmet-
rical model of communication. Although companies could adopt all
three models for CSR communication, it is important to develop CSR
communication strategies based on two-way symmetrical communication
processes.
To summarize, while Maignan and Ferrell’s (2001) early model
conceptualized ICSRC only as a moderator between CSR practices
and employee CSR evaluations; and between employee CSR evalua-
tions and outcomes, later models (Carlini et al., 2019; Du et al.,
2010) considered the effects of ICSRC on diverse employee outcomes.
Overall, theoretical frameworks have offered various antecedents such as
CSR conduct/practices, moderators such as stakeholder and company

characteristics, CSR expectation–experience gap; perceived sincerity of
CSR signaling; and outcomes such as intention to apply, organizational
commitment, esprit de corps, loyalty, citizenship behavior, and advo-
cacy. Finally, Crane and Glozer’s (2016) work acknowledged typologies
of research on ICSRC across stakeholder types and research paradigms,
while Morsing and Schultz (2006) offered a typology of CSR commu-
nication strategies that can be applied to both internal and external
stakeholders.
Empirical Research on ICSRC

Scholars have conducted more work within the functionalist than the
constitutive perspective. Functionalist scholarship includes examining
antecedents of ICSRC such as CSR communication strategies (Duthler &
Dhanesh, 2018; Jiang & Luo, 2020), message valence of employee word-
of-mouth related to CSR (Lee & Tao, 2020), and potential employees’
perceptions of CSR and employer brand (Verčič & Ćorić, 2018).
Limited research has identified moderators such as frequency and
transparency of CSR communication over social media (Wang & Pala,
2020), and employee involvement in CSR (Schaefer et al., 2019) and
mediators such as the evaluation of perceived organizational CSR engage-
ment (Schaefer et al., 2020), CSR social media and job engagement,
and employee perceptions of CSR motives (Jiang & Luo, 2020), and
authenticity (Lee & Tao, 2020).
Finally, scholarship has examined multiple outcomes such as job satis-
faction due to CSR, organizational pride, and word-of-mouth about
CSR (Schaefer et al., 2020), consumers’ corporate attitudes and purchase
intentions (Lee & Tao, 2020), employee engagement (Duthler &
Dhanesh, 2018; Jiang & Luo, 2020), employee identification (Wang
& Pala, 2020), perceived authenticity of CSR engagement (Schaefer
et al., 2019) and corporate reputation from the perspective of potential
employees (Verčič & Ćorić, 2018).
In addition, a handful of studies has examined ICSRC from a consti-
tutive perspective. For instance, Girschik (2020) examined how CSR
managers fulfil an internal activist role by framing CSR activities to
influence understandings of CSR, while Wagner (2019) demonstrated
how employees might withdraw from CSR processes when organizations
follow strong sense-giving, informational, and persuasive approaches.
138 G. S. DHANESH
To summarize, empirical research on ICSRC within the function-

alist paradigm has been scattered, examining a multitude of antecedents,
moderators, mediators, and outcomes, indicative of an emergent and
productive area of research, while research within the constitutive
paradigm is limited. While research on these streams needs to be
strengthened, a new direction of research across functionalist and consti-
tutive approaches is to examine articulations of interconnections between
ICSRC and organizational purpose.
ICSRC to Build a Purposeful Organization

Defining Purpose and Connecting It to CSR
Kantar Consulting (2018) defined purpose as “why you exist: and the
positive impact in people’s lives and the world they live in” (p. 12) in
their report, Purpose 2020. The report distinguishes purpose from vision,
mission, and CSR. While purpose refers to the organization’s positive
impact in the world; vision refers to where the organization is headed;
mission refers to how the organization is going to get there; and CSR
refers to what the organization does to help protect the world. Most
business/trade journals also distinguish between cause and purpose. While
cause refers to an issue a company might address, purpose lies at the heart
of the business model and is the reason for being. Vila and Bharadwaj
(2017) argued that some brands, whom they called social purpose natives,
have built social purpose into their business models, such as TOMS and
Patagonia. The societal benefits they offer are so deeply intertwined with
their products and services that one cannot separate the two. However,
for those they called social purpose immigrants, established brands that
are committed to social and environmental causes, but may not have
a consciously articulated social purpose, they proposed exploring social
purpose through the brand’s heritage, customer tensions, and product
externalities. Exploring a brand’s heritage and the core reason for its
existence can offer clues to the social needs the brand is positioned to
address. Similarly, examining issues that are pertinent to the organiza-
tion’s customers, especially those related to the brand’s heritage, and
identifying externalities caused by the brand or the industry can also help
to identify social purpose.
Academic scholarship on purpose also seems to concur with these

ideas. Basu (1999) argued that corporate purpose represents the ulti-
mate priority of the organization. The needs of the organization’s
key stakeholders, the macro environment of the organization, and the
cultural beliefs and values of the organization influence corporate purpose.
White et al. (2017), reporting an interview with Antony Jenkins, ex-
CEO/chairman at Barclays, wrote that a number of CEOs use the word
purpose to refer to the “underlying issues and practices of rethinking how
corporations work, and also rethinking the basic relationship between
corporations and society” (p. 101).
To Hollensbe et al. (2014), purpose refers to the reason for which
business is created or exists, its meaning and direction. They argued
that a focus on organizational purpose highlights the interdependence
of business and society, a notion that is also reflected in the literature
on CSR. They proposed that the values of dignity (that considers the
whole person), solidarity (recognizing that other people matter), plurality
(valuing diversity), subsidiarity (promoting accountability at all levels by
proper delegation of decision-making), reciprocity (building mutual trust
and trusted relationships), and sustainability (being stewards of people,
values, and resources) are potential mechanisms to help organizations
build trust and better businesses.
Similarly, Karns (2011) argued that the purpose of business is to
contribute to human flourishing, which is about individual and communal
well-being with economic, psycho-social, spiritual, and physical dimen-
sions as reflected in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
Karns (2011) suggested the stewardship model where the purpose
of business is to serve society by contributing to the flourishing of
humankind. Indeed, Cone/Porter Novelli’s Purpose study (2018) found
that to 89% of Americans, implementing CSR programs was one of the
major ways companies could demonstrate their purpose.
The discussions reviewed above establish purpose as the reason for
existence of organizations, and meeting organizations’ social and environ-
mental responsibilities (CSR) as a way of delivering purpose, thus making
a clear connection between organizational purpose and responsibilities.
Organizations have been paying attention to the conceptualization,
enactment, and communication of their purpose and responsibilities for
multiple reasons such as the generation of relational, reputational, and
legitimacy capitals and because people increasingly want to work for
companies that create positive value. According to Cone/Porter Novelli’s
140 G. S. DHANESH
Purpose study (2018), 68% said they would work for a company leading
with purpose. Despite these encouraging statistics, research findings on
whether stakeholders, particularly current and prospective employees, care
about organizational purpose and CSR have been mixed. Consequently,
scholars have highlighted the need to acknowledge the role of employee
characteristics in the conceptualization and enactment of CSR commu-
nication, particularly the emergence of a socially and environmentally
conscious generation of employees (Dhanesh, 2020; Diehl et al., 2017;
Weder et al., 2019).
Changes in Employee Characteristics and Organizational Responses

Scholars have examined the CSR attitude–behavior gap or the claim by
stakeholders that they harbor positive attitudes toward socially respon-
sible companies, but do not translate those positive attitudes to behavior
(Johnstone & Tan, 2015). However, scholars have also found that
stakeholders care for socially responsible companies, especially millen-
nials, who represent the largest generation in the labour force since
2016 (White et al., 2017). Beyond this demographic categorization of
stakeholders who care about organizational purpose and CSR, Dhanesh
(2020) proposed that the concept of hypermodernity might offer a new
segmentation of publics that care for purpose and CSR.
Adapting Lipovetsky’s (2005) ideas of hypermodernity, Dhanesh
(2020) argued that characteristics of hyper-individualism such as (a) a
paradoxical focus on self and others, (b) the need to actively construct
exemplary individual identities (c) a penchant for emotional and experi-
ential consumption (d) a love of hyperspectacles and (e) a paradoxical
obsession with enjoying the present while being racked with anxiety
about the future, might drive hypermodern individuals’ deep interest
in engaging with purpose-led, socially and environmentally responsible
companies.
Hypermodern organizations, or organizations based on excessive levels
of speed, characterized by hyper-flexibility to meet market conditions;
and focus on the short term exert undue pressures on employees, and
create a climate of risk and uncertainty. Further, widespread adoption of
communication technologies has ensured constant connectivity between
employees and their organizations, placing excessive stress and an expec-
tation of never being completely disconnected from work (Roberts &
Armitage, 2006).
Dhanesh (2020) suggested that to address such issues and to adapt

purpose and CSR for hypermodern employees, organizations should
create employee well-being programs that rearticulate core work hours
and increase organizational awareness of the negative consequences of
an always-on mentality. Organizations can also create emotive, experien-
tial CSR programs aligned with organizational purpose that hypermodern
employees can engage with as volunteers. Finally, organizations can create
visual hyperspectacles that can help to create ethical corporate identi-
ties built on the enactment of purpose-aligned CSR programs. Dhanesh
(2020) argued that engaging in experiential CSR programs could help
hypermodern employees to connect multiple dots—their longing for rich,
qualitative experiences; desire to contribute to a humane world; and need
to belong to a community which could help them craft unique personal
identities. Establishing these connections could meet higher-order needs
of employees and enable employee identification.
This approach of creating purpose-aligned CSR initiatives for
employees that could improve employee outcomes augments Karns’
(2011) idea of purpose as contributing to the flourishing of humankind
through individual and communal well-being. Offering initial empirical
support for the interconnections of purpose and CSR from an employee
perspective, Bhattacharya et al. (2019) found that employee awareness
of their company’s higher purpose could positively impact reduction in
justification strategies of their lack of ownership of CSR, which could,
in turn, lead to sustainable behaviors in the workplace. However, schol-
arship is yet to deal with the role of ICSRC in engaging employees to
build a purposeful organization, which the next section addresses with a
proposed theoretical framework.
Framework for Purpose-Aligned ICSRC

This chapter builds on the literature reviewed and proposes a framework
for purpose-aligned ICSRC (see Fig. 8.1). According to this framework,
organizations need to employ communication strategies of engagement
and involvement to create conversations among employees on purpose-
aligned CSR, straddling topics such as issues and causes to focus on,
probable motives and objectives, company-purpose-cause fit, extent and
duration of input, and intended impact. This meaning-making process
could not only help to collaboratively construct meanings of purpose-led
social responsibilities within the organization but could also inform the
142 G. S. DHANESH
MEANINGS & ACTION IDENTITY & IDENTIFICATION OUTCOMES
Strategies of engagement and Co-created/contested Organizational

involvement to create meanings and articulations Pride; Engagement;
employee conversations on of purpose-aligned CSR Ethical Internal Activism;
purpose and CSR on organizational Employee Advocacy behaviors
and and corporate identification that could
-issues and causes identities contribute to
-motives and objectives Collaborative creating a
-company-purpose-cause fit implementation through purposeful
-extent and duration of input employee volunteerism organization
-intended impact
Transparency and frequency of

transmedia purpose-aligned Employee characteristics:
formal and informal CSR skepticism; involvement; need for identity building;
communication (storytelling, self vs others; present vs future; experiential
rhetoric, framing) with heavy use consumption; love of hyperspectacles
of visual spectacles
Fig. 8.1 Framework for purpose-aligned ICSRC
crafting of ethical organizational and corporate identities. Given trends

such as media convergence, and employees enthused by hyperspectacles,
the move from shared articulations and collaborative implementation to
creating ethical organizational and corporate identities could be moder-
ated by the extent of transmedia rhetoric, framing, and storytelling
employing spectacular visuals. These ethical organizational and corporate
identities could meet hypermodern employee needs for identity building,
which could be moderated by employee characteristics such as skepticism,
or the paradoxical hypermodern feature of being both self- and other-
focused simultaneously. Employee identification could generate outcomes
such as organizational pride, engagement, advocacy behavior, or internal
activism, all of which can contribute to creating a reflexive, responsible,
purposeful organization.
Future research can examine each of these variables using both func-
tionalist and constitutive approaches to ICSRC. While organizations tend
to adopt top-down, one-way models of communication, research can
examine how communication strategies of engagement and involvement
can foster both co-created and contested meanings of CSR, and how
the two can coexist as organizational members continue to dynamically
debate and discuss evolving meanings and articulations of what it means
to be a purpose-led, responsible organization. Research can also examine
various forms of transmedia storytelling related to purpose and CSR that
encompasses both formal internal and external corporate communica-

tion, and informal word-of-mouth employee communication and how
processes of auto-communication can moderate the association between
CSR practices and creation of ethical identities. Much more research
needs to be done on examining the processes through which organiza-
tional and corporate ethical identities can meet employee identity needs
and achieve identification. Most importantly, how do changing employee
characteristics such as those of hypermodern employees affect this process
of employee identification, and finally how do these characteristics influ-
ence the generation of outcomes from employee identification.
Interview with Alex Malouf,

Corporate Communications
Director MEA, Schneider Electric
How would you define organizational purpose? Is it a fad or a

meaningful trend? And why?
For me, organizational purpose should be about what people are there to
do in their organizations. Is it making great food? Is it solving problems
using technology? Is it connecting people? It’s the goal that everyone at
that organization is working towards. And it’s always been a part of every
company and it’s the reason companies exist (tell me of a single company
that started out with the aim of paying shareholders). What’s happened is
that this concept has morphed into “positive purpose”. Let me give you an
example—a fast food company’s purpose may have gone from selling great
burgers to selling nutritious meals. Pepsi’s atrocious Black Lives Matter ad
is a great example of this—the company sells tasty drinks and snacks. But
they wanted to be seen in the light of a social movement. And this doesn’t
always work, because that isn’t true organizational purpose.
What are your thoughts on the relationship between CSR and
organizational purpose?
CSR isn’t often long-term—strategies get changed year-in, year-out. And
ideas shift. Without long-term planning and execution, CSR isn’t as effec-
tive as it could be. If CSR is to be truly sustainable, it has to be linked
to organizational purpose. Employees need to feel that CSR is part of the
company, management even more so if we expect them to support CSR
long-term. And stakeholders should see an alignment between CSR and
144 G. S. DHANESH
organizational purpose. The two notions feed off and amplify one another.
They help people to see the other much more clearly.
How can internal CSR communication help to engage employees in
building a purposeful organization? Could you share an example?
We had one wonderful group in a previous company (Procter & Gamble).
They were from the same function, the same team, and they set up a social
group. Part of their activities included one CSR activity every quarter.
They’d discuss within themselves their big ideas which were linked to what
the company did. They’d talk with the communications team about these
ideas, to see if they were feasible and if the comms team could craft stories
around the activities. Because these were their ideas, they were always
engaged, committed, and would do whatever they needed to do to make
the activity happen (be it with funding or getting products). I didn’t see
this level of energy or enthusiasm when ideas were imposed from the top.
And the team was the closest, the friendliest in the organization.
What are some of the factors that help and/or hinder the use of
internal CSR communication to engage employees in contributing to
building a purposeful organization?
Internal CSR can’t be top-down. There must be some employee engage-
ment—employees need to feel they have something to give and do in the
process of coming up with ideas and execution, otherwise it can just feel
like work. Ask your employees, seek out their opinion, preferably in small
groups (up to 20 people). Anything larger and it’ll often be the manage-
ment who will seek to lead (at least in patriarchal, top-down societies).
Bring in external voices, such as customers and community members, who
can speak about societal issues and help educate your internal audience.
Use visuals and video, and ask the beneficiaries to tell their own story,
especially after the event, so you can emphasize the impact of the good
work being done.
Alex Malouf, a marketing communications executive who has spent the

last 17 years in the Middle East has lived across the region, working for
the public and private sectors in a variety of communications roles. He is
the Corporate Communications Director for the Middle East and Africa
at Schneider Electric.
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CHAPTER 9
Enhancing Employee Well-Being Through

Justin A. Walden
Employee well-being has come into sharp focus in industry and academic
realms in recent years as it is associated with a number of organization
and employee-favorable outcomes. Knowing the importance of helping
employees maintain their health, scholars from several disciplines have
examined both the organizational and personal influences on employee
well-being and the outcomes that develop when employees feel that their
various needs are being met in the workplace.
As it will be explored in detail in this chapter, employee well-being
generally consists of workers’ social, physical, and psychological health
(Grant et al., 2007). From the employee’s perspective, psychological
well-being is linked to job satisfaction, employee engagement, affective
commitment to one’s employing organization, and employee turnover
intentions (Brunetto et al., 2012). Research has found that physical
well-being is associated with decreased workers’ compensation costs
J. A. Walden (B)
North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA
e-mail: justin.walden@ndsu.edu

Switzerland AG 2021
150 J. A. WALDEN
for firms (Hodges et al., 2004) and decreased organizational expen-

ditures on employee health in general (Keller et al., 2009). Evidence
further suggests that psychological well-being predicts supervisory perfor-
mance ratings (Wright et al., 2007) and employee retention/withdrawal
decisions (Wright & Bonett, 1992/2007).
Three intersecting areas are relevant to contemporary discussions of
employee well-being in light of the COVID-19 pandemic declaration:
Remote work/telework trends; employees’ responses to pandemic-related
stressors; and managing employees amid the pandemic-caused economic
downturn. The push toward increased worker flexibility through tele-
work and work from home arrangements was remarkable even before the
pandemic declaration. One industry study indicated that the number of
people who engaged in telecommuting in the U.S. jumped 115 percent
from 2005 to 2015 (Global Workplace Analytics and Flexjobs, 2017).
COVID-19 further pushed this trend in a dramatic fashion across the
world. For example, in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, employ-
ment in the United States fell considerably in those occupations in which
telework was not feasible (Dey et al., 2020). Meanwhile, it was estimated
that 40 percent of European Union workers began to telework full-time
because of the pandemic (Milasi et al., 2020).
To the second major change associated with the pandemic, workers
suddenly had to contend with several new or exacerbated mental health
issues in 2020. Concerns were raised about workers’ overall levels of
anxiety associated with forced at-home work arrangements, worries about
job security, and their ability to juggle domestic responsibilities with their
children at home because of school closures (Eurofound, 2020). Pre-
COVID-19, scholars noted that a “practical paradox of technology” was
shaping workplace communication and workers’ interactions with each
other in and out of the workplace (Ter Hoeven et al., 2016). This
paradox suggests that the use of communication technology for work
fosters greater efficiency and accessibility in work communication, while
also contributing to interruptions that can cause burnout and decreases
in work engagement (Ter Hoeven et al., 2016). These tensions were
heightened in our post-COVID landscape through telework.
Potentially compounding employees’ work experiences is that in many
corners of the world, there were sharp rises in 2020 in unemployment,
major disruptions to key local industries, and dramatic market volatility
that put many countries at risk of economic recession (Jones et al., 2020).
It was not just stress from work that employees felt, many employees’
9 ENHANCING EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING … 151
livelihoods were disrupted. In the aftermath of the Coronavirus outbreak,

scholars from management, organizational psychology, and communica-
tion had begun to examine the effects of the sudden and mass transition
to telework.
The impact of the tumultuous events of 2020 will be felt for years.
However, even before the world turned upside down because of the
global pandemic, employee well-being had been a significant concern
for managers and scholars. The question moving forward is not whether
firms should address employee well-being, rather it is imperative to reflect
on how firms can address the multitude of stressors that employees are
contending with and to help bring out the best in employees.
This chapter takes a look at the intersection of internal commu-
nication and employee well-being and some of the emerging oppor-
tunities for research collaboration between scholars and practitioners.
Such an analysis allows for an extension of theory and a better under-
standing of employees’ experiences at work from the vantagepoint of both
strategic/internal communication and organizational management.
What Are We Discussing?

To provide meaningful context to this discussion, to give direction for
future research, and to outline a roadmap for professionals for imple-
menting well-being and wellness programs, I want to first define some
key concepts.
A notable definition of “internal communication” comes from Welch
and Jackson (2007, p. 183), who defined it as “the strategic management
of interactions and relationships between stakeholders at all levels within
organisations.” This involves manager communication, peer communica-
tion on teams and projects, and internal corporate communication (Welch
& Jackson, 2007). The latter element falls under the traditional realm of
public relations and marketing. Worth noting is that among PR profes-
sionals in Brazil, concerns about employee well-being are more likely
to be handled by low-level practitioners than their high-ranking peers
(Molleda & Ferguson, 2004). Although a considerable amount of discus-
sion on internal communication and employee well-being has occurred
among practitioners, there is a need for more scholarly research on how
practitioners view their roles in contributing to employee well-being.
Of the definitions of internal communication that I have encountered,
Welch and Jackson (2007) offer the most accessible, practitioner-oriented,
152 J. A. WALDEN
and comprehensive description of managed communication within firms.

This is important because internal communication provides frontline
employees with crucial information about their organization, jobs, and
peers (Walden et al., 2017). Welch and Jackson’s definition frames the
role that internal communication practitioners have in shaping employee
well-being, along with organizational leaders, peers, and human-resource
teams.
The other focal concept of this chapter, employee well-being, is best
understood as the quality of an employee’s workplace experiences and
their functioning at work (Warr, 1987). Though there is the potential to
conflate employee well-being with job satisfaction, the two are distinct
concepts. Well-being includes job satisfaction and satisfaction with the
tangible and intangible elements of work (Brunetto et al., 2012).
Well-being involves individuals’ work-related psychological, physical,
and social health (Grant et al., 2007). This definition encompasses many
crucial elements of employee health and its subdimensions allow for
focused studies of employees’ experiences. Breaking this down further, the
psychological dimensions of well-being include satisfaction, self-respect,
agency, and capabilities as they relate to work (Grant et al.). The social
dimensions include helping others, becoming involved in the community,
and having public acceptance (Grant et al.). Finally, the physical dimen-
sions of well-being include shelter, healthcare, clothing, mobility, and
nourishment (Grant et al., 2007). It is about feeling good inside, being
physically well, and knowing that we are supported by peers who under-
stand us. Although it is possible to expand upon the specific attributes of
physical, psychological, and economic health, this framework is inclusive
of the broader dimensions of employee well-being.
Scholars have also separated well-being into two classifications, hedonic
and eudaemonic (Ilies et al., 2005). The former involves a subjective
assessment of life as it relates to approaching pleasure and avoiding pain,
the latter reflects personal growth, self-realization and a general fulfillment
of an individual’s true nature (Ilies et al., 2005).
Conditions for Well-Being

A review of the literature on internal communication and employee well-
being reveals two noticeable takeaways. One, scholars from outside of
strategic communication have published work that have direct impli-
cations for employee well-being and professional practice. Yet some of
these articles do not make connections to strategic internal communi-

cation (e.g., Janicke et al., 2018; Zeng & Chen, 2020; Zeng et al.,
2020). A second major idea from the literature is that those strategic
communication scholars who have researched well-being have tended to
consider separate elements of well-being without addressing well-being in
its totality (e.g., Jiang & Shen, 2013; Lee & Li Queenie, 2020; Men &
Robinson, 2018).
To start this review, I turn to the research of Cheng Zeng, who
found through two different international studies (Zeng & Chen, 2020;
Zeng et al., 2020) that employees express more latent dissent (vocal-
izing concerns to one’s coworkers) when they are emotionally fatigued.
Thus, under phycological duress, employees are inclined to complain to
each other. Un-managed or misdirected, this venting can have serious
consequences for employee–organization relationships. Zeng and his
colleagues’ work is not PR-focused. However, this research is relevant to
practitioners given the potential reputation repercussions that can come
when stressed employees voice concerns about work externally and given
practitioners’ promotion of employee wellness programs internally.
An experiment by Janicke et al. (2018) revealed one way to contribute
to employee well-being during the workday. The research team exposed
employees to videos that were either meaningful (feelings of elevation
or gratitude), funny, or neutral in tone (control condition). Among the
study’s key findings, meaningful content increased levels of energy at work
and satisfaction came from watching funny videos that made employees
feel relaxed. Although the Janicke et al. study did not involve internal
communication, their research can be extended to this area of practice. It
reveals the potential for organization-produced content to help employees
feel good at work, while also demonstrating the need for organizations
to not be heavy-handed in policing external media content that their
employees consume during the workday.
Employee wellness and health promotion programs can be ideal
conduits for addressing workers’ physical/cognitive, emotional, and social
health needs (Nöhammer et al., 2011). Yet in starting these programs,
firms must answer a number of important questions. Firms have to deter-
mine which employee health issues to address and how to market those
programs (Keller et al., 2009). Additionally, firms need empirical evidence
and metrics to justify their wellness program costs (Keller et al., 2009).
Both the composition of the workforce and the size of the organiza-
tion predicts the effectiveness and engagement in wellness programs,
154 J. A. WALDEN
according to Keller et al. Moreover, when employees feel a connection

to their employing organization such that they identify with it, they will
be inclined to participate in workplace wellness programs (Zhu & Dailey,
2019).
This research points to the initial investment that is needed to secure
participation in wellness programs. Yes, firms see financial benefits when
employees are healthy and yes, these programs can be instrumental in
contributing to employee health. Yet resources are needed to develop
effective wellness programs, communicate about them, and assess them.
More research is needed to understand the types of well-being messages
that employees respond to and how small group and one-to-one meetings
may complement company-wide wellness messages.
Research on the relationship between internal communication and
employee–organization relationship (EOR) perceptions has implications
for employee well-being. For example, Men and Robinson (2018) inves-
tigated employees’ psychological needs. They found that an organiza-
tion’s emotional culture (as characterized by joy, happiness, excitement
and companionate love, affection, and warmth) can meet employees’
psychological need for mutual respect, connection, and reliance on one
another in an organization. Authentic organizational leaders that truly
care about their employees’ well-being can establish lasting relationships
with followers (Men & Stacks, 2014). Meanwhile, Lee and Li Queenie
(2020) found that employees who have quality relationships with their
organizations are likely to see more benefits and perceive fewer risks
of sharing private health issues in the workplace. This reveals how a
strong EOR that is influenced by internal communication can contribute
to employee well-being. Notably, Ćorić et al. (2020) found a relation-
ship between internal communication satisfaction and life satisfaction.
Though not addressing all dimensions of employee well-being, the study
by Ćorić et al. considered a major aspect of well-being—which is one’s
overall cognitive assessment of their life through life satisfaction. Orga-
nizations should not only pay attention to personal characteristics and
non-work issues with their employees, they should also foster positive
internal communication climates as a means of contributing to employees’
life satisfaction (Ćorić et al., 2020).
Navigating Trouble Spots-

Just as organizations have realized the potential to enhance employee
well-being through internal communication and internal relationship
management, there are risk points that to be addressed. Recall the prac-
tical paradox of technology. This idea holds that employee well-being
can be enhanced through the use of communication technologies that
enhance accessibility to peers and work-related efficiency, while well-being
is also diminished by technologies that increase workplace interruptions
and unpredictability (Ter Hoeven et al., 2016). Similar points have been
raised about PR practitioners’ own work-life boundary experiences and
use of social media for work (Jiang et al., 2017). Technologies that
connect us to work at off-hours or to work in spaces that are gener-
ally work-free (i.e., home), may contribute to burnout. This blurring of
boundaries can harm employees’ psychological health—a point that was
brought to dramatic light in 2020 when the Coronavirus sent millions of
people home to work.
Information has a critical role in shaping well-being. However, internal
communicators face difficulties in fostering positive everyday talk in orga-
nizations when organizational members engage in unjust behaviors that
either mislead members or are outright dishonest (Omilion-Hodges &
Baker, 2014). Furthermore, information exchange in organizations is
limited when leaders claim to have an open-door policy but do not actu-
ally commit to it, and when leaders do not interact with all members of
their organizations (Omilion-Hodges & Baker, 2014).
Additionally, conflict is possible between the various facets of employee
well-being. We might at times feel good about our psychological health
at work (through engagement and productivity), yet spend so much time
at work that we experience physical health problems. There also might
be instances when we are supported in the workplace and yet experience
psychologically-limiting dissatisfaction with general workplace practice or
management. In a study of PR practitioners, Jiang and Shen (2013) found
that work–life conflict was positively linked to practitioners’ salary. The
more conflict between work and home, the more one earned (Jiang &
Shen, 2013). This puts one aspect of psychological health (work–life
balance) at odds with one’s financial standing (which could address a
different element of psychological health).
We should also not assume that organizations will always act in their
employees’ best well-being interests and that mistakes will not be made,
156 J. A. WALDEN
particularly in internal communication. As more wellness programs are

implemented in the workplace, employees will be subject to increasing
levels of surveillance. The same organizational tools that make it easy for
employees to keep track of their wellness goals through work could, in
the wrong hands, be used as tools of control, humiliation, and exploita-
tion. As Zhu and Dailey (2019) noted, employees do not participate in
workplace health promotion programs for a variety of reasons, including
confidentiality concerns, embarrassment, and lack of time. To build on
this, scholars and practitioners should look at the dark side of employee
wellness programs and organizations’ attempts to meet their employees
physical, social, and psychological health needs.
A Framework for Researching

Employee Well-Being
One perspective to help us understand the development and outcomes
of employee well-being is job demands-resources theory and the related
job-demands resources (J-DR) model from the management literature
(Bakker & Demerouti, 2018; Demerouti et al., 2001; Schaufeli &
Bakker, 2004). This model suggests that perceived job demands can harm
employee health and that perceived job resources can, alternately, help
employees cope with work-related stressors (Bakker & Demerouti, 2018).
Job demands are physical organizational, or social elements of one’s job
that require a sustained mental effort (Demerouti et al., 2001). Demands
are associated with psychological and physiological costs such as burnout
(Demerouti et al., 2001). On the flip side, job resources are the orga-
nizational, physical, social, or psychological elements of one’s job that
may help someone achieve their work goals, reduce job demands, or
stimulate personal development and growth (Demerouti et al., 2001).
Demands are hindering job characteristics, while resources are enabling
job characteristics that are often in conflict (Shen & Jiang, 2019).
Critical to this model is job engagement, which is an employee’s
immersion in their work. At the risk of a messy definitional discussion,
employee engagement takes on different forms depending on the scholar
and practitioner. Those who draw on the J-DR model tend to view
engagement as some combination of vigor, dedication, and absorption in
one’s job (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). Job demands can hinder engage-
ment, while job resources contribute to engagement (Schaufeli & Bakker,
2004). When we are supported at work and when those obstacles to
getting work completed are managed, it is natural to assume that we

will throw ourselves into the job through engagement. With engagement
and burnout as focal concepts, this model suggests that two psycholog-
ical processes occur. On one hand, job demands can exhaust employees
and tax them mentally. Yet according to Schaufeli and Bakker (2004), job
resources can also serve a motivational role by either fostering employees’
personal growth (intrinsically motivating) or helping them achieve work
goals (which is extrinsically motivating).
Interestingly, one of the leading contributors to the development of
the J-DR model, Wilmar Schaufeli noted in a case study that the model
itself is communicative. The model can provide common language to
organizational members to discuss work and well-being (Schaufeli, 2017).
Because of its breadth, the J-DR model represents an ideal framework for
understanding how public relations-counseled information-sharing poli-
cies and public relations-related internal messages can act as communica-
tion resources that help employees manage their psychological, physical,
and social health (Walden, 2020). In viewing job resources through the
J-DR framework, supervisor support, communication, and work environ-
ment are thus critical for helping employees deal with job demands and
stress and for helping foster employee growth and engagement (Jiang &
Men, 2017).
There are untapped areas for research about communication-related
phenomena (i.e., leader-membership exchanges, supervisor support,
office gossip) in the form of job demands and job resources as predictors
of burnout and engagement. As my co-authors and I note in one article
that drew on this model, PR practitioners are responsible for helping
ensure the adequate and quality flow of information through organiza-
tions. Thus, information can serve as a valuable currency (or job resource)
that drives engagement (Walden et al., 2017). Conversely, there are new
areas to explore employees’ communication behaviors as outcomes of
burnout and engagement. The work by Zeng et al. (2020) and Zeng
and Chen (2020) could be a helpful point for scholars to look at the
voice-related reputational issues that can stem from unhappy and burned
out employees.
Additionally, a notable contribution that has been influenced by
the JD-R model comes from Shen and Jiang (2019), who focused
on the engagement strategies that organizations take with employees.
These strategies include sharing enough information with employees
and encouraging them to disclose their thoughts about organizations;
158 J. A. WALDEN
demonstrating efforts to build partnerships and employees’ professional

networks; and organizations expressing care for employee concerns. This
research showed that organizations’ engagement strategies predicted
employee engagement, which in turn predicted employee performance
and employees’ voice behaviors (Shen & Jiang, 2019). My takeaway from
Shen and Jiang—and they point to this as a future direction for research
in their study—is that engagement has the potential to contribute to
employee well-being.
When we feel engaged at work, we feel good about work and therefore
our psychological well-being is addressed. Extending this, if we are doing
absorbed, dedicated, and vigorous work with others, we should connect
and communicate with our peers in ways that meet our social needs.
Concluding Thoughts
Regardless of how one defines it, it is important to acknowledge that
employee well-being is not a unidimensional construct and nor is it static.
There are a host of elements that comprise well-being and it can be chal-
lenging for organizations to meet all of these needs through internal
communication. Likewise, these elements are subject to influence from
organizational and peer communication and these elements can, in turn,
have implications for employee communication behaviors.
Providing ample amounts of information, having managers support
employees, and creating a positive internal communication climate can
represent job resources that may contribute to well-being. Yet employee
well-being can also be threatened, either intentionally or unintentionally,
by organizations. The key is to have privacy-respecting wellness programs
and well-being assessment plans in place and to realize that workers are
facing considerable stressors. This is where research should take priority.
Professional organizations such as Public Relations Society of America,
PR Academy, the Institute for Public Relations, and International Asso-
ciation of Business Communicators serve as helpful interfaces between
industry and the academy. Meaningful discussion on practice is happening
in these groups. Given what is at stake (employee well-being) and
given the drastic changes that have occurred because of the COVID-19
pandemic, there needs to be more collaboration between practitioners
and scholars on research. The pandemic thrust employee well-being to
the forefront of managers’ concerns—yet employee well-being needs to
remain a priority for organizations even post-COVID. Research to date is
definitive in revealing that internal communication can support employees

in their personal and professional lives. Moving forward, we need to take a
harder look at how communication practitioners interact with HR teams
and leadership on issues involving well-being and at how research can
more directly inform practice.
Practitioner Profile
With 9 hospitals, 27,000 employees, an affiliated health plan, and a
medical school, Geisinger Health System is one of the largest integrated
healthcare providers in the United States. Headquartered in the central
Pennsylvania town of Danville, Geisinger provides service across most of
that state and into parts of New Jersey.
Their clinical, support, and administrative staff were put on high-alert
with the COVID-19 pandemic declaration in March, 2020. Geisinger
has cared for thousands of sick patients and been on the front lines of
researching the Coronavirus, its spread, and treatment.
Geisinger’s marketing and communications department (with more
than 100 employees) has also been tested early in the pandemic. Having
worked in public relations for Geisinger from 2006 to 2009, I was well
aware of the department’s expertise.
To shed light on internal communication and employee well-being
during a crisis, I interviewed Geisinger Chief Marketing and Communica-
tions Officer Don Stanziano, APR. The following is an abridged version
of our conversation from Sept. 2020.
WALDEN: What internal communication plans were in place to help you

deal with the expected crisis?
STANZIANO: It came on like a tidal wave for all of us. When you work
in healthcare delivery, there are some things that are very specific to
our world. We were working throughout and had to show up. And a
lot of our workforce is directly taking care of these people who have
Covid. That’s a very different dynamic than in other types of organi-
zations. Employees are high risk because of their risk of exposure. In
the early days, we didn’t know a lot about the disease. Communica-
tions with employees, a major consideration was protecting them and
getting [personal protective equipment]. Also, communication was on
handwashing, social distancing, masking. We did infographics, we did
videos and then constant reinforcement.
160 J. A. WALDEN
WALDEN: What are the greatest challenges that your team has encoun-
tered?
STANZIANO: The greatest challenge was the massive amount of infor-
mation that needed to be shared in a short amount of time and the fact
that it was so dynamic. We were updating and changing materials some-
times daily. We were meeting three times a day with the Covid taskforce.
It wasn’t just about wellness. It was about operational changes, clinic
closures. We had to figure out a structure for working from home. What
worked well was that we were singularly focused, everything else went
away. From an organizational perspective it gave my team an opportu-
nity to show what they could do. In normal circumstances, we’re doing
a lot of things people don’t really see. But everyone was so focused on
Covid that they saw all of it. They saw the internal communications,
they saw the media relations work, they saw the collateral materials.
WALDEN: What are you most proud of through the early part of the
pandemic?
STANZIANO: That the work was high quality. It was responsive to the
needs of the organization. Our employee engagement on our internal
communications [platforms] is up significantly. That tells me that it’s
valuable to the workforce and we’re putting out quality information.
We learned some things in terms of what people want and how to
communicate. I’m proud that folks showed up and did great work.
Covid created an opportunity to demonstrate the value of employee
communications.
WALDEN: What lessons can you share with other practitioners when it
comes to employee well-being, and especially during a crisis?
STANZIANO: Frequency, transparency, multiple channels, and listening.
We used questions that came [from employees during townhall sessions]
as content ideas for other channels. Just when you think you’ve said it
too many times… it’s probably the right number of times.
Don Stanziano, MHA, APR, is Chief Marketing & Communications
Officer for Geisinger, an integrated health system based in Danville,
Pennsylvania, recognized as a national leader in healthcare innovation.
Don is responsible for all marketing and communications across the
Geisinger enterprise, including brand and growth marketing, internal
and external communications and issues management, and digital
customer and employee engagement across a robust marketing tech-
nology stack.
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CHAPTER 10
Internal Crisis Communication
Alessandra Mazzei and Alfonsa Butera
Introduction
Crisis communication is progressively focusing on internal stakeholders,
although coming from a tradition devoted towards the external ones
(Frandsen & Johansen, 2011; Heide & Simonsson, 2014, 2019; Kim,
2018; Ravazzani, 2016; Strandberg & Vigsø, 2016; Taylor, 2010). The
rising interest in employee communication before, during and after a crisis
occurs is linked to the special relation employees have with their employer
(Frandsen & Johansen, 2011) and their role as both receivers and senders
in the crisis communication arena (Johansen et al., 2012; Mazzei et al.,
2012). Furthermore, a lack or an inefficient internal crisis communica-
tion can lead to a double crisis (Frandsen & Johansen, 2017; Heide &
Simonsson, 2020).
A. Mazzei (B) · A. Butera

Università IULM, Milan, Italy
e-mail: alessandra.mazzei@iulm.it
A. Butera
e-mail: alfonsa.butera@iulm.it

Switzerland AG 2021
166 A. MAZZEI AND A. BUTERA
This chapter starts by clarifying the perspective on internal crisis

communication more suitable in the current competitive context. There-
fore, it analyses the role of employee communication and relationship
management in crisis prevention, management and recovery. Finally, it
concludes with some reflections on future developments.
Definition and Relevance

of Internal Crisis Communication
A contemporary comprehension of internal crisis communication
embraces the social constructionist approach and is based on the broad
vision of crisis as a dynamic process including three phases: pre-crisis, crisis
response and post-crisis, instead of an episodic event (Coombs, 2015;
Frandsen & Johansen, 2011; Heide & Simonsson, 2015; Sturges, 1994).
In this vein, internal crisis communication is “the communicative interac-
tion among managers and employees, in a private or public organization,
before, during and after an organizational or societal crisis” (Johansen
et al., 2012, p. 271). Underlining the employee perspective, it is worth
adding that “internal crisis communication is the continuous commu-
nicative processes that take place between managers and co-workers and
co-workers and co-workers” (Heide & Simonsson, 2019, p. 40).
The relevance of understanding how communication interactions occur
within an organization in connection to a crisis is related to the particular
status of employees. According to Frandsen and Johansen (2011, 2017),
employees have a more complex psychological linkage with their organiza-
tion compared to external stakeholders. First, they have a legal relationship
through an employment contract. Second, their set of stakes includes
salary, job security, working hours and working conditions, degrees of
freedom and autonomy versus control, motivation and engagement. This
set affects the perception of responsibility that employees tribute to their
employer regarding a specific crisis. Third, employee identification to the
organization is part of their personal identity, influencing their emotions
and self-esteem.
Fourth, employees can act both as receivers and senders in crisis commu-
nication processes, acting as negative or positive ambassadors becoming
either potential adversaries or advocates (Kim & Lim, 2020; Mazzei &
Ravazzani, 2015; Mazzei et al., 2012). When acting as positive ambas-
sadors, employees are willing to give their company the benefit of the
doubt when its behaviour is questionable. Consequently, they commit to
10 INTERNAL CRISIS COMMUNICATION 167
communicate their own trust to other people and to act as advocates for
the company, contradicting false criticisms. Moreover, they avoid taking
advantage or behaving opportunistically, they report to the management
about dangers or threats, and they look for occasions to preserve or
improve the reputation of the company (Mazzei et al., 2012).
In this stream, well-informed employees constitute a relevant channel
of communication for reaching other stakeholders during a crisis
(Coombs, 2015). Today a very relevant issue is related to the commu-
nicative role that employees play on social media, and companies should
be cautious with employees who blog, as they can express or expand upon
negative word-of-mouth (Austin & Jin, 2016).
Therefore, internal crisis communication involves all organizational
members as communicators in the role of receivers, senders, and sense-
makers in a dynamic and continuous communication process that takes
place before, during and after a crisis (Coombs, 2015; Diers-Lawson,
2019; Heide & Simonsson, 2014; Johansen et al., 2012; Kim, 2018;
Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015; Mazzei et al., 2012).
Internal communication affect employees’ sense-making and
behaviours in connection to a crisis (Adamu & Mohamad, 2019;
Frandsen & Johansen, 2011; Heide & Simonsson, 2014; Mazzei &
Ravazzani, 2015; Mazzei et al., 2012). Another relevant aspect of the
management of internal crisis communication is the link to its external
management (Heide & Simonsson, 2019). The borders between what
is internal and external to an organization are blurred. For example,
employees can communicate through their personal networks and
social media accounts what they know internally. Moreover, often crises
are complex events that involve various organizations that interact to
overcome them.
To sum up, the comprehension on internal crisis communication
requires a dynamic and broad vision on the crisis, meant as a process
instead of an episodic event; the awareness of the role of employees as
both receivers, senders and sense-makers in the communication arena;
the understanding of its interplay with its external management and
communication.
Over the three dynamic stages of a crisis, internal communication plays
different roles. Before a crisis occurs, prevention is key, since it helps to
enhance employee engagement, the quality of internal relationships, the
organizational preparedness and crisis awareness.
During the management of a crisis, the adoption of effective internal

crisis communication strategies is capable to support the exit from the
crisis and the protection of the relational capital based on relationship
quality and employee engagement. Particular attention should be devoted
to the multicultural context and to the crises highlighted by news media.
After a crisis, internal communication is required to sustain the
recovery and relaunch of the organization.
The following pages examine each phase and related implications for
communication among and with employees in depth.
Pre-Crisis: Internal communication

for Crisis Prevention
The pre-crisis phase is crucial for an effective reaction of the organization
to the crisis when it occurs, and to limit the damage that the organization
itself can have as a cause of it. Internal communication is key for crisis
prevention together with managerial effort. In fact, it helps to enhance
the quality of internal relationships, thus supporting positive employee
communication behaviours such as advocacy, and lessening negative ones
such as badmouthing (Kim & Lim, 2020; Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015;
Mazzei et al., 2012).
Specifically, internal communication plays a fundamental role in the
pre-crisis phase since it contributes to create the foundations for an effec-
tive reaction to the crisis when it occurs. The following pages analyse how
internal communication influences: (a) the level of employee engagement;
(b) the quality of internal relationships; and (c) the crisis preparedness and
awareness.
(a) Level of employee engagement
Engaged employees are keener to perform communication behaviours

in favour of their company, such as employee advocacy and informa-
tion protection and therefore nurturing employee engagement is key
before a crisis (Heide & Simonsson, 2019). In order to nurture employee
engagement, managers have in their hands some levers to shape an
engaging workplace context (Mazzei, Butera et al., 2019). These levers
help to build an inclusive employee relations approach, which encourages
employee voice through the means of planned internal communication
and managerial practices; a developmental human resources manage-

ment approach, which focuses on valuing people going beyond the
mere accommodative management of human resources; a fair orga-
nizational justice approach, which is related to the perceived fairness
and consistency of procedures related to evaluating employee perfor-
mance, disciplining and terminating employees and giving promotions
and pay raises. Empirical studies confirm that engaged employees are
more inclined to highlight possible weak signals of a potential crisis,
i.e. problems that can be solved in time, and to contribute to effective
organizational decision-making.
(b) Quality of internal relationships
A positive relational history with stakeholders operates as a shield,

protecting a company from the attribution of responsibility in a crisis situ-
ation, with the so-called halo effect (Coombs & Holladay, 2006). Specifi-
cally, in the case of a crisis, developing good relationships with employees
can lead them to engage in megaphoning behaviours, acting as volunteer
organizational advocates, with strategic advantages for organizations in
both peaceful and turbulent times (Kim & Rhee, 2011).
Similar evidence is supported by the case of a manufacturing company
dealing with a severe accident at a plant that caused the death of a worker
(Mazzei et al., 2012). When the fatal accident occurred, employees
actively defended their company in media interviews, diminishing the
company’s responsibility in the accident. At the origin of this advocating
behaviour, the study showed the effort made by the company before the
accident occurred: the company had invested a lot to enhance factory
safety and made a continuous effort of internal communication to inform
employees about these investments and concrete actions undertaken.
Also, perceived organization’s authentic behaviour and employee
empowerment, mediated by perceived relationship quality between an
organization and its employees, increase the likelihood of positive mega-
phoning and reduce intentions of negative megaphoning regarding a
corporate crisis (Mazzei, Kim et al., 2019).
(c) Crisis preparedness and awareness

Formal preparedness includes having constituted a crisis management

team and developed a crisis management plan with a focus on crisis
communication before a crisis becomes severe. Internal stakeholders
should be considered key publics in this plan: this is related to the need of
addressing the paradox of external-internal communication that seems to
be crucial during crises (Heide & Simonsson, 2015; Strandberg & Vigsø,
2016).
Crisis awareness is part of organizational crisis preparedness (Frandsen
& Johansen, 2011; Johansen et al., 2012). Each and every organiza-
tion should in fact prepare itself to manage possible crises, adopting a
strategic approach to crisis management. This approach begins with signal
detection, issue management and risk assessment (Coombs, 2015).
Considering employees as receivers, internal crisis communication
should be focused on risks, issues and stakes, and aimed at strength-
ening psychological crisis preparedness and at making employees aware
about the crisis management plan in terms of policies and guidelines
(Frandsen & Johansen, 2011). In organizations that have established
a crisis management team or a crisis manager, employees seem to be
less frustrated, insecure and afraid in a crisis situation, with a lower
loss of motivation and engagement, compared to employees working in
organizations not so well prepared (Johansen et al., 2012).
In terms of organizational crisis preparedness, specific internal commu-
nication actions and training initiatives could be undertaken in order to
increase employees’ awareness about the role that they can play in the
first person to prevent and address crises. Alike, internal communication
can be useful to increase employees’ awareness about the possible crises
generated by their improper behaviour.
Considering employees as senders, internal crisis communication in the
pre-crisis stage involves them in a flow of upward communication in which
they can play the role of whistleblowers, dissenters or detectors of weak
signals of an impending problem that come from the bottom (Frandsen &
Johansen, 2011; Heide & Simonsson, 2015, 2019; Mazzei & Ravazzani,
2020).
Regarding whistleblowing, it can be formal, through official arrange-
ments implemented by an organization, or informal, through trusted
colleagues and managers; moreover, it can be internal, directed to audi-
ences inside the organization, or external (Frandsen & Johansen, 2017).
An efficient internal whistleblowing arrangement and an organizational
culture promoting a frank and open dialogue with employees, can be
decisive in making employees disclose potential corporate wrongdoing

internally, and consequently decreasing the possibilities that this leads to
a crisis involving external stakeholders (Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2020).
In terms of crisis preparedness, a relevant issue today is also increasing
employees’ awareness of the role they can play to prevent and address
crises on social media. Indeed, employee behaviour on social media is
an opportunity for companies, since stakeholders perceive it as highly
authentic when it supports the organization. However, employee online
behaviours can also be very risky for companies. Therefore, social media
policies (SMP) addressed to employees, and related internal communica-
tion and training initiatives, can be a key move for both brand building
and crisis prevention (Mazzei & Butera, 2016).
SMP are issued to prevent the risks related to breaking laws, such
as on property rights; violating ethical norms, such as transparency and
honesty; or damaging the company’s reputation by spreading negative
messages. However, an internal SMP could also boost online commu-
nication behaviours of employees that strengthen reputation and positive
dialogue with stakeholders. Used as an internal communication tool, SMP
can help employees to avoid the above-described risks and encourage
them to actively contribute to reputation building and advocacy efforts
in crisis situations. SMP should be exploited as part of crisis prevention
and integrated in the internal communication strategy to be effective in
enhancing consistent and authentic voluntary employee communication
behaviours on social media.
Enabling employees to be effective communicators on social media
during a crisis, can boost organizational efforts to face the reputational
challenges generated by the crisis itself. Crisis preparedness efforts under-
taken by an organization should therefore take these aspects into account,
not just focusing on preventing the risks that employees can generate
through their online behaviours, but also on making them aware that
they can actively support their company during a crisis.
During a Crisis: Internal

Communication for Crisis Management
The acute phase of a crisis generates a series of communicational chal-
lenges for an organization, both with internal and external stakeholders.
Managing internal communication during a crisis implies a series of
aspects that managers should be aware of. The following pages are dedi-
cated to: (a) possible internal communication strategies, as a paramount
framework; (b) the management of internal crisis communication in
multicultural organizations and (c) the management of employees’ reac-
tion to negative news coverage.
(a) Internal communication strategies
Having in mind the need of sustaining employees’ sense-making with the

ultimate aim of activating employee behaviours that support the organi-
zation to overcome the crisis, a relevant topic is related to the response
strategies that can be more effective to target these objectives.
Regarding responding strategies, Kim and Lim (2020) indicated that
positive employee communication behaviours are directly affected by
stealing thunder strategies, that is proactive self-disclosure communica-
tion strategies about the crisis towards employees. They also showed
that accommodative response strategies positively affect employee voice
behaviours.
In managing a crisis, a company should show towards employees a very
high level of concern and closeness to sustain their special psychological
contract, their need for protection, their identification, and their attitude
to communicate in favour of their company. In other words, accom-
modative communication strategies are in principle the most desirable for
internal crisis communication (Coombs, 2015; Pang et al., 2009).
Those kinds of internal communication strategies can be grouped into
three main categories (Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015; Mazzei et al., 2020):
creating a sense of security, sustaining a sense of belonging, activating
employees as allies of the organization.
The first strategy is creating a sense of security. The rising of a crisis
causes the perception of a lack of information about the current situ-
ation and the future of the organization and its employees (Mazzei &
Ravazzani, 2015).
Once a crisis has occurred, employees should actually be advised early
in the notification process and included in the initial response (Coombs,
2015; Fearn-Banks, 2010). In the acute phase of a crisis providing instruc-
tions to employees is a priority, in order to reduce the potential harm to
people and objects (Heide & Simonsson, 2019). Instructing information
is key to ensure public safety, which should be the primary concern in
a crisis, before reputation and financial issues (Coombs, 2015). To be

useful, instructing information should be quick and accurate. However,
organizations should be careful that speed could be counterproductive
if the information is inaccurate, increasing rather than decreasing the
threat to public safety. Managing the balance between information accu-
racy and quickness is even more relevant considering that employees
resort to informal communication with peers and colleagues when the
corporate internal information flow is not quick enough, and informal
communication is often inaccurate (Shaia & Gonzenbach, 2007).
The second strategy is sustaining a sense of belonging. Internal stake-
holders during a crisis may feel anger and fear related to the individual
impact of the crisis (Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015; Pang et al., 2009), which
affect their morale and loyalty. In this context, an organization needs to
take corrective actions and communicate them also to sustain employees’
sense of belonging.
The third strategy is activating employees as allies of the organiza-
tion. A crisis may produce behavioural reactions such as immobility to
action (Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015) or negative reactions as argued
before. Therefore, internal communication during a crisis should acti-
vate employee behaviors that support the organization to overcome the crisis
(Frandsen & Johansen, 2011; Heide & Simonsson, 2014; Kim, 2018;
Kim & Lim, 2020; Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015).
(b) Internal crisis communication in multicultural organizations
The cultural background of employees affects message framing and

sense-making, and this aspect can become salient during crisis situa-
tions intensifying communication problems: actually, stakeholders with
culturally different and conflicting stakes perceive, react to and make
sense of critical situations in different ways (Ravazzani, 2016). This issue
becomes even more relevant when it comes to multinational compa-
nies, whose employees are located in different countries. Communicators
should be attentive to the adaptation of verbal and non-verbal commu-
nicative dimensions with reference to the cultural features of employees.
To adapt communication in multinational organizations, local commu-
nicators and leaders who act as cultural interpreters can play a key role,
adapting messages and channels of communication.
(c) Employees’ reaction to negative news coverage
To sustain employees’ sense-making during a crisis, an organization

should take into consideration also the information that employees receive
from external sources and use to gain understanding. Einwiller and Korn
(2020) suggest that negative media coverage about an organization can
cause strong cognitive and emotional reactions to employees. Reactions
can be particularly negative when employees receive first knowledge about
the crisis affecting their organization from external media. Employees
address to colleagues and line managers to make sense of the infor-
mation they found through media, but the role of internal corporate
communication plays a crucial role too in these situations. If employees
evaluate internal corporate communication positively, they enact positive
communication behaviours when they interact with outsiders addressing
negative news topics. Conversely, employees try to evade interactions with
outsiders when they do not consider internal communication positively.
Post-Crisis: Internal Communication

for Recovery and Renewal
Crises force organizations to change and some of these changes can
also have direct and harmful consequences on employees’ lives: down-
sizing, changes in roles, re-organizations of functions and departments
and benefit cuts (Seeger et al., 2005). After a critical event, the future
development and the possibilities of success of a company rely on the
engagement and the well-being of employees that remain with the orga-
nization. But a critical event usually causes stress and fatigue for these
employees, as well as dissatisfaction with internal communication and
measures undertaken by the company, a lower propensity to take risks,
absenteeism, a higher sense of uncertainty, lower performances and loss
of talents.
Following a period of crisis, communication can contribute to process
the crisis itself on the employees’ psychological level, in order to reduce
their stress, and is crucial for organizational learning and resilience (Heide
& Simonsson, 2019). In fact, it can help build a perspective vision shared
by all the stakeholders involved, with the aim of activating a process of
renewal (Seeger et al., 2005).
From a communicational point of view, a critical event induces the loss

of all or part of the shared meanings in an organization. For example,
following a crisis, disorientation may occur regarding the distinctive
organizational identity, key competences, reference values and desirable
behaviours. Exiting from a critical situation, the established interpreta-
tive schemes in an organization could be broken. Communication can
play a decisive role in rebuilding a positive shared background and in
activating a new vision of the organization, allowing to overcome the
unstable condition generated by the crisis (Seeger & Ulmer, 2002).
This is why according to Heide and Simonsson (2019), the main objec-
tive of internal communication in the post-crisis phase is contributing to
processing the crisis, thus reducing uncertainty.
The necessary premise of a process of recovery and renewal of positive
perspectives is that the company explicitly and rapidly implement actions
that can remedy the problems that have arisen due to the crisis. This
can be useful to divert conversations about the causes of the problems
and responsibilities and to make people concentrate on overcoming the
situation.
The first characteristic of a communication aimed at renewal (Seeger
et al., 2005; Ulmer et al., 2007) is the perspective orientation. This means
that it is desirable that the organizational discourse avoids returning to
retrospective discourses centred on the explanation and interpretation of
what happened. On the contrary, it should be focused on the descrip-
tion of the actions aimed at achieving the next objectives. This kind of
discourse builds the foundations for a new organizational reality.
The second characteristic of a communication aiming at renewing the
organization is the focus on representing its potential to seize the opportuni-
ties that arise from the crisis. Actually, employees are inspired by optimism
and a positive vision.
The third characteristic of a communication that can effectively sustain
a renewal is giving an honest and frank speech based on the values
expressed by management, rather than strategically aimed at preventing
recriminations by stakeholders, including internal ones. Of course, the
two needs should however be balanced.
Finally, the fourth characteristic of a communication aimed at renewing
the organization is the contribution of top management , which interprets
and rebuilds the overall picture. In fact, top managers express the vision
about the future of the organization and elaborate the agenda to reach
this vision.
Communication aimed at activating a renewed shared reality depends

on some context conditions. Firstly, the type of crisis: natural disas-
ters open up more space for a discourse of renewal than other types
of crises. Secondly, companies that own a positive relational capital can
more easily reconstruct their future building on this foundation. A well-
managed communication and relationship management system available
is also useful. Thirdly, the construction of a new shared reality based
on renewal is facilitated by the implementation of corrective actions and
operational changes.
Conclusions and Future Directions

Any crisis generates a loss of tangible and intangible assets of the victim
organization. One of the most valuable resources at stake in case of a
crisis is the human capital: employees. Their engaged behaviour is crucial
in order to protect the reputation of the company from false criticism, to
spread correct information, to sustain the corrective actions the organiza-
tion is implementing to face the crisis and to relaunch the organization
when the crisis is over. In order to reach these vital aims, an organiza-
tion should invest in normal times to nurture employee engagement and
relationship quality, showing concern during the crisis, and focusing on
renewal after the crisis.
Internal crisis communication is in rapid development and there are
several areas that will need further attention: the role of leaders in internal
crisis communication, how to sustain engagement when the crisis is
prolonged over time, the impact of social media on employees’ percep-
tions and communication behaviour, the multicultural context for crisis
management, the issue of diversity and inclusion in crisis situations. A
great number of avenues for future studies in a field increasingly at stake
in our era.
The Main Approaches to the Recovery Phase
Interview to Andrea Notarnicola, partner of the consultancy company
Newton and author of the book L’impresa spezzata (The broken enter-
prise, 2019).
How should managers approach a recovery phase?
Traditional management approaches often prove to be useless or

harmful after a serious event. Any emergency produces a period of
dysfunctionality, upsetting the organizational routines and balances.
Without a recovery programme able to overcome organizational ortho-
doxies, the company risks falling into a persistent dysfunctionality, that is
a permanent vulnerable state in terms of culture and mental attitudes.
In the reconstruction and renewal phase, employee engagement will
be the essential goal. The sense of belonging to the company and orga-
nizational citizenship behaviours will make the difference. The sense of
community implies the capability of mutual commitment around shared
values, an experience of connection and sharing, a spirit of service and
respect: all priorities to be cultivated. For a community, dying and being
reborn means elaborating the meaning of an organizational culture:
attitudes, actions, situations and ways of thinking.
Which are the main areas of intervention for management during a
renewal phase?
In the managerial practice, the common areas of intervention after
an external and internal emergency are the creation of a recovery team
and an extraordinary employee communication plan, management’s acti-
vation, organizational listening to read the new context, restructuring of
the internal history, stakeholders’ engagement, redefinition of the daily
experience of employees, improvement of the customer experience and
innovation processes for sustainability.
Renewal after a crisis implies changing perspectives. How can managers
approach this change of perspectives?
Contradicting the historical need of a dictator in times of crisis,
research and experience demonstrate the vital role of diversity of opinions
to manage the most acute phases of an emergency as well as moments of
recovery. Only inclusiveness and the overcoming of a single mindset allow
an organization to find the energy and ideas necessary to restart. In many
scenarios, management will have to ask employees to do different jobs
because the disaster forced some of the population to leave. Restruc-
turing means first of all opening up to the diversity of perspectives and
sensibilities.
Specifically in extreme situations, a company’s management can grasp
the capabilities and potential of employees which were not evident in
routine conditions. During a crisis, people can be seen in a different
light and thus it can be discovered that some employees and some
groups, who expressed a natural leadership in the heart of the event,
are able to generate innovative solutions. This is why talent management

programmes are so vital in a phase of corporate recovery.
The whole construction of an organization after a crisis rests on
the transformation of traditional professional families into open learning
communities. The best projects imply the overcoming of a hierarchical
and self-referential organizational model in favour of a reticular system of
interconnected communities. A new company emerges from the recovery
and the renewal after a serious crisis. It may be better than the previous
one.
Professional’s bio
Andrea Notarnicola is partner of Newton, where he works as a cultural
change management consultant for primary global businesses. He has
been lecturer at various universities and schools, including Università
IULM. He recently (2019) authored the book L’impresa spezzata (The
broken enterprise), focused on the recovery phase after an emergency.
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11.015.
CHAPTER 11
Strategic Change Communication
Aniisu K. Verghese
Globally, organizations face a changed competitive landscape that expects

organizational designs and processes to continually renew. Enabling and
implementing change with communications has received scholarly atten-
tion over the years (Barrett, 2002; Bersin, 2020; Graamans et al., 2020;
Klein, 1996; Lewis, 2007; Lewis et al., 2013; Strebel, 1996). However,
the gap between the scale of change and the ability of organizations to
manage it continues to widen. According to Gallup’s State of the Global
Workforce Report (2017), a staggering 85% of employees worldwide are
not engaged or are actively disengaged in their job. One key underlying
reason is the resistance to change—the inability to adapt to the ascent of
information technology, globalization of markets for products and labor,
the rise of the gig economy, stagnant management practices, and evolving
expectations of the younger workforce.
Managing change is considered an integral part of a manager’s job. In
a study among HR professionals, 82% of organizations were involved in a
change management initiative. These included introducing or renewing
performance management processes and facilities and organizational
A. K. Verghese (B)
Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India

Switzerland AG 2021
184 A. K. VERGHESE
culture changes (Austin, 2015). It is estimated that considering the pace

and scale of change and that 9.9% of every dollar is wasted due to poor
project performance, there is a need for more attention to lead change
within organizations (Project Management Institute, 2018). In addition,
agility to sense and adapt to change can result in organizations achieving
increased productivity and efficiency and helping them stay competitive
(Project Management Institute, 2018).
Keeping employees informed, helping them appreciate messages and
take appropriate action on key initiatives are crucial for successful change.
However, change can create stress and uncertainty among staff. According
to the 2019 Gartner Change Fatigue Survey, an average employee experi-
enced 12 changes in a year. Furthermore, change is creating stress which
impacts an organization’s topline. Stressed employees underperform than
those who aren’t by 5%, reducing the topline by USD 32.5 million at an
average company (Bryan, 2019). Therefore, the value of managing and
communicating organizational change is considered more important than
ever (Bersin, 2020).
Understanding Change
Change is considered as an organizational phenomenon within the
context of human social interactions with communication serving as a
medium. Organizational change relates to disordered and modified states,
often complicated and unsettling for stakeholders (Lewis & Sahay, 2019).
Change is classified as first order and second-order changes (van Vuuren
& Elving, 2008). First-order changes are minor, state van Vuuren and
Elving (2008), incremental in nature and needed to avoid second-order
changes. On the other hand, second-order changes are adjustments within
the organization where the end state is unknown. Examples of change
include scenarios such as downsizing, introducing an internal process,
or implementing important technology. Actively managing change can
increase the success rate of such initiatives. Organizations that have highly
effective change and communication practices are known to out beat
competition by 3.5X. On the other hand, low effectiveness organiza-
tions aren’t adept in managing change (Towers Watson, 2013). High
performing organizations are known to address change as a manage-
able opportunity, stay resilient, believe that their change capabilities are
ahead of competition, communicate their purpose and invest in training
employees to be change-ready (Austin, 2015).
11 STRATEGIC CHANGE COMMUNICATION 185
There is a difference between information and communication in rela-

tion to change management. The former relates to steps taken on change
actions while communication is about establishing mutual understanding
and improving the quality of interactions (van Vuuren & Elving, 2008).
The process of change is understood as a successive series of steps which
requires interventions with resources, communications, and culture inputs
(Kotter, 1995).
Despite organizations spending millions of dollars on change manage-
ment and systems, there is limited evidence of the impact because
employees are often in the dark and people aren’t clear on how to use
the infrastructure organizations possess (Bersin, 2020). Also, the success
of change management has been less than optimal with accountability
and operational efficiencies inappropriately managed. Only less than half
indicated they achieved desired operational goals from change initiatives.
Likewise, 44% were able to stay on schedule, and just 47% hold team
members accountable for deadlines. Just 48% of those surveyed indi-
cated they stayed on or under budget (Towers Watson, 2011). Kotter
(1995) explains that strategic change needs to go through a series of
phases, and it takes a considerable amount of time. Skipping stages to
speed up change doesn’t work and can cause unrepairable damage. There-
fore, paying attention to embedding change is essential for organizational
success.
Embedding Change
Strategic change is a “difference in the form, quality, or state over time in
an organization’s alignment with its external environment” (Rajagopalan
& Spreitzer, 1996, p. 50). Change management is defined “as a struc-
tured approach to transitioning individuals, teams and organizations from
a current state to a desired future state” (Austin, 2015, p. iii). Strategic
change management involves a series of successive steps each having
definite objectives, activities, and communication needs (Klein, 1996).
Making change work expects organizations and individuals to shift their
mindsets and behaviors. According to the IBM’s Change Study (2014),
there are five maturity stages of managing change—informal (without
a standard plan for driving change), emerging (change capabilities are
emerging yet do not use a formal approach to change management),
formalizing (specific projects have consistent change management prac-
tices), scaling (mature standards are applied companywide and leaders as
186 A. K. VERGHESE
well as managers are held accountable for change) and embedded (the
highest stage of change maturity with all parts of the organization enabled
with skills and capacity); each stage builds on the other in a continuous
process of growth and development.
Among the models of change management, the Kurt Lewin’s three-
stage approach of unfreezing, changing, and refreezing serves as a useful
framework for understanding the process (Schein, 1996). During the
unfreezing stage, the organization prepares for change, challenges the
current situation, and provides the rationale for change. Activities prac-
ticed include planning, investing in resources, training and preparing the
structure. The communication needs during this phase include identi-
fying the audiences, explaining the change, and reassuring stakeholders.
In the changing stage, the goals include starting the progress, creating
momentum, and testing progress in some areas of the business. The activ-
ities include implementing, evaluating, and modifying the change needs.
Communication focuses on taking feedback, challenging and reassuring
staff. In the refreezing stage, the goals are to reinforce change, supporting
the process and correcting any gaps. The activities include broadening the
extent of change, recognizing successes, and monitoring impact. On the
communication needs, the focus is to showcase the impact and cascade
the message widely (Klein, 1996).
Extending this direction, the Change and Communication ROI Study
Report (Towers Watson, 2011) identifies three stages of change: (a) to
understand and segment (gauging the environment, appreciating what’s
evolving, what matters to stakeholders and which audiences get impact),
(b) to design and build (create customized strategies and approaches
which includes tools and resources to create awareness and drive behav-
ioral change), and (c) to implement and improve (deliver on change goals,
measure impact and recognize progress and improvements).
Only when organizations align activities with the appropriate phases
will change outcomes be most acceptable.
Austin (2015) suggests that change is facilitated in three phases—
designing, enacting and sustaining with key moments where ideas
are translated into action. Six activities influence overall change
success—leading, communicating, learning, measurement, involving
and sustaining. Those organizations who have been able to sustain
change over time focused on leadership, communication, involvement,
training/learning and measurement (Towers Watson, 2011). Three actors
in the change management process from the viewpoint of senior leaders
are change strategists—who create the framework of change; the change

implementers—those who help influence and land change and change
recipients—those who are the beneficiaries of change.
The first has the power to make decisions while the other two groups
have no decision-making authority (Stoyanova, 2011). Lewis (2007)
believes expanding the change stakeholder group beyond employees can
benefit change implementation while considering key components such
as alignment, consistency and genuineness in change communication.
Understanding the barriers to change and the underlying motivators can
enhance an organization’s ability to drive progressive initiatives.
Change Impact
Among the key barriers to implementing change are uncertainty
(Redmond, 2015), lack of buy-in (Project Management Institute, 2018),
change fatigue (Baker, 2020), rumors (DiFonzo & Bordia, 1998) and
resistance from staff (Strebel, 1996). Uncertainty is defined as having an
inadequate state of knowledge due to multiple explanations and possibil-
ities. As the number of options increases, so does confusion. It ranges
from self, other, and partner uncertainty to cognitive and behavior uncer-
tainty. Organizational and personnel changes lead to uncertainty and
stress among employees (Redmond, 2015).
According to the Uncertainty Reduction Theory, improving our ability
to comprehend the motives of others can help improve predictability and
therefore certainty. Making sense of the situation can take the form of
proactive, explanatory and descriptive approaches (Redmond, 2015). The
inability of organizations to share timely information results in employees
seeking insights from informal channels that cause stress, job dissatisfac-
tion, and erode trust (Schweiger & Denisi, 1991). When employees don’t
receive timely communication from reliable sources, they resort to gath-
ering information from informal channels such as rumors. “Rumors are a
symptom of the uncertainty that often accompanies organizational change
and persist or even flourish when poor communication strategies fail to
adequately assuage this uncertainty” (DiFonzo & Bordia, 1998, p. 297).
Sensemaking is another way in which people infer meaning by inter-
preting themselves and the world around them. It is based on inter-
ruptions, anomalies, and disturbances. Through an ongoing process
that covers location, meaning making and becoming, conversation and
nonverbal behaviors help shape meaning (Weick, 2012). Sensemaking,
188 A. K. VERGHESE
communications, and change hold organizations together as they navigate

ambiguity and pace of progress (van Vuuren & Elving, 2008).
Language plays an influential role in the comprehension of change
(Ford & Ford, 1995). Understanding change from the context of
communication means appreciating conversations. Ford and Ford (1995)
refer to four types of conversations that can allow change to take
shape through communications: initiative (a change starting exercise that
focuses listeners’ attention on what could or should be done), under-
standing (helping gain consensus), performance (interplay of requests and
promises between parties involved), and closure (interactions that bring
an end to the change process). The Speech Act Theory refers to business
conventions within the realm of discourse. Since communication emerges
from three levels within the context of language—the literal meaning,
the intent of the act, and the outcomes, the message, channel, and
timing matter most for effective change communication (Smeltzer, 1991).
The approach in which organizations communicate impacts the success
of change initiatives, especially on individual’s commitment, morale,
and retention. Studying two organizations, Goodman and Truss (2004)
emphasize that both process and content of the communications strategy
were important. The timing, personalization, methodology, and flexibility
led to better change results.
Employee change fatigue is a serious concern with organizations
unsure how to keep them engaged while progressing with change.
Managing change fatigue is considered a critical priority for organizations
(Gartner, 2020). Gaining employees’ trust leads to change acceptance.
Baker (2020) recommends engaging employees at all levels by focusing
on two key aspects—building trust and improving team cohesion. Those
employees who reported higher trust were 2.6 times more adaptable to
change than those with lower trust. Likewise, those teams who felt they
were in it together were more connected and committed, up to 1.8 times
more than those with lower team bonding.
Effective Change Communications Strategies

Internal communication is an essential element of change management.
One of the roles of the internal communication function is as a change
agent (Vercic et al., 2012). The role of internal communication in
employee relations and improving trust especially in times of change and
stress is valuable (Dolphin, 2005). Effective employee communication
is considered as a glue that holds an organization together, and during

major change, it allows the smooth operation of the organization and
links all other processes of the organization, such as the strategic and busi-
ness planning processes (Barrett, 2002). One among the 8-step model
proposed by Kotter (1995) is the crucial role of internal communication.
Change communication is more effective when related to the compa-
ny’s culture and workforce. Trained and informed managers can influence
how change is conducted especially engaging the workforce to direct
discretionary effort and pace (Towers Watson, 2013).
Transformational leadership and transparent communications provide
clarity, reduces uncertainty, and enhances employees’ trust in organiza-
tions (DiFonzo & Bordia, 1998; Yue et al., 2019). In a study among
employees experiencing change, Yue et al. (2019) discovered that trans-
formational leadership and transparent communication influenced how
employees trusted their organizations by increasing their openness to
change. Leaders can influence employees’ organizational identification
during change. Effective communication is one of the key leadership
approaches that help staff cope during business disruptions and create
deep connections with the organization during uncertainty (Aitken & von
Treuer, 2020).
Honest and timely communications are among the top soft factors for
change. When leaders personally demonstrate change behaviors, create a
compelling reason for change and involve change catalysts at all levels,
there is more acceptance for change (IBM, 2014). Employees reacted
negatively when messages were indirect and sounded overtly positive
(Smeltzer, 1991). Change is embedded when it seeps into the organi-
zation’s culture. Communication plays a role in demonstrating the new
approaches, behaviors, and attitudes that impact the organization as well
as providing a line of sight (Kotter, 1995).
Employee alignment is crucial for change success. When an individ-
ual’s psychology and the organizational strategy synchronize there is
improved alignment. During the initial stages of change, training and
communications are important to be established to accelerate knowl-
edge and trust (Gagnon et al., 2008). Another aspect to consider is
employees’ personal compacts with their organizations. The dimensions
of personal compacts are formal, psychological, and social which influ-
ence how employees accept change (Strebel, 1996). Strebel (1996) opines
that formal compact covers the basic tasks and performance expecta-
tions on the job—compensation, performance evaluation among others.
190 A. K. VERGHESE
The psychological dimension covers trust and relationship-based under-

standing which are mostly implicit. This is viewed in relations to their
manager and covers new performance standards and goals—from the
intensity of work needed to recognition and financial rewards. The social
dimension is related to the culture—how the values are lived and if leaders
walk the talk. It considers if the company really works including resource
allocation, decision-making, conflict management and risk taking. Simi-
larly, Barrett (2002) argues that when a culture of communication spreads
to all parts of the company and management accepts it as a role they have
to play, change is easier to implement.
Seeking feedback and including employees in the change communi-
cations process leads to improved results. Highly effective organizations
consider and act on employee suggestions (IBM, 2014). Inviting views
from stakeholders as they go along the change journey values their knowl-
edge and skills and makes change a participatory process (Graamans et al.,
2020; van Vuuren & Elving, 2008). A crucial aspect of change commu-
nication is appreciating the emotions and feelings of participants and
using a mix of channels while engaging audiences. In a study involving
hospital staff related to procuring sutures for surgery resulted in change
rejection as doctors believed their sentiments weren’t considered (Graa-
mans et al., 2020). Similarly, while introducing change in a large public
organization, when communication was poor, employees felt their feel-
ings weren’t considered, leading to a deterioration in senior management
trust (Proctor & Doukakis, 2003). Such challenges can destabilize change
movements and gaining perspectives on potential resistances can help
organizations and change leaders.
Implementing Successful Change Communication

To successfully implement change, Kotter (1995) cites an eight-step
model: creating a sense of urgency, forming a powerful guiding coalition,
creating a vision, communicating the vision, empowering others to act,
planning for and creating short-term wins, consolidating improvements
and creating still more change and institutionalizing new approaches.
Errors while following these steps can lead to a breakdown of trust,
missed expectations and erosion of organizational effectiveness, opines
Kotter (1995). In a longitudinal study among blue-collar workers at
production plants, change communications and training that focused
on sharing strategic knowledge and gaining commitment led to aligned
behaviors (Gagnon et al., 2008). Kotter and Schlesinger (1989) highlight

the importance of communication and education in situations where there
is a lack of information or disinformation and rumors. Once convinced,
employees will participate in implementing change although this approach
can be time-consuming and involves many people. Among the strategies
to progress through change, organizations can consider revisiting and
revising the employer–employee compact. Revision of the compact can
be done in three phases. First, leaders can draw attention to the need to
change and establish connect for revision. Following that, they need to
initiate a process for revising the compact and lastly, confirm commitment
with the revised agreements (Strebel, 1996).
Involving stakeholders in the process of change matters. 74% of orga-
nizations have a top-down approach to change communications with
few channels for employee feedback (IBM, 2014). Effective change takes
place when the process is collaborative (Towers Watson, 2013). Involving
stakeholders in the development process of change is believed to be more
effective than a top-down approach that mandates participation and align-
ment (van Vuuren & Elving, 2008). When considering a deficit-based
approach (review mistakes in change management) versus a construc-
tionist approach (that positively reinforces improvements), having a blend
of these approaches helps because individuals are irrational in their
behavior and are risk-averse (Keller & Aiken, 2009).
Timing of change communication is critical to the success of initiatives.
Providing timely information and even a preview communication helped
alleviate fears and reduced uncertainty. In a study among employees to
gauge the impact of communication during a merger between two plants,
it was found that timely communication prevented informal channel
messages from increasing uncertainty and stress. Employees in one plant
were provided a preview communication while the control plant didn’t
receive the information on time. The preview communication helped
give employees a realistic picture of the changes faced (Schweiger &
Denisi, 1991). In another study that reviewed change communication
in 43 organizations, the timing of messages was the biggest differentiator
between effective and ineffective companies (Smeltzer, 1991). Exploring
the themes that popular press books highlight on the role of commu-
nications in effective change, participation and empowerment, purpose,
and vision, and creating a changed culture emerged as key approaches for
success (Lewis et al., 2006).
192 A. K. VERGHESE
While directly reaching employees with key organizational messages

rather than cascading communication helps in timebound situations
(Proctor & Doukakis, 2003), involving supervisors can enable deeper
appreciation of the change goals (Salem, 2008). Salem (2008) argues that
the valuable role of managers in transformational change is discounted
and that management believes in the wrong assumption that producing
communication with the right words brings about commitment to
changes. Likewise, considering communication skills while hiring is a
good practice because social interactions at the workplace make sense
of change. Investing in training people on interpersonal communications
helps. The use of technologies such as intranet and e-mail work best
for change communication although conventional approaches to change
management do work in influencing employee attitudes and management
behaviors. Tapping into human psychology is an important strategy which
most organizations fail to grasp (Keller & Aiken, 2009).
Studying the role of internal communications in a large-scale change
in a multinational organization, it was found that meetings in small
groups helped to explain and reinforce change. On the other hand, large
meetings resulted in a lack of dialogue and two-way communications.
Written communication was best for delivering data and information,
although they were inappropriate while disseminating knowledge, skills,
and wisdom (Stoyanova, 2011).
Although social media use in organizations is nascent, it is considered
important and has a consequence on organizational change. They influ-
ence socialization, information sharing, and power processes, essential for
communicating, and embedding change (Treem & Leonardi, 2013). By
connecting people and creating a forum of sharing information, commu-
nication serves as an important approach to meet employee demands
and develop a conducive situation through dialogue, feedback and trans-
parency (Stankovic-Rice, 2011). Social media helps to facilitate goodwill
toward the organization leading to change and renewal. A study among
executives across different industries discovered that about half of their
companies had adopted social media initiatives and of these 60% had a
positive impact on the surveyed organizations’ internal communications.
Social media can help influence change among employees by creating
feelings of trust, playfulness, belonging, and pride (Huy & Shipilov,
2012).
Storytelling is another valued approach to help communicate change
effectively. Framing communications helps to diffuse conflicts, diminish
the value of informal channels of communications, and share a unified

narrative, binding stakeholders (Keller & Aiken, 2009). Feedback is
crucial for change acceptance and needs to be included in the process
of framing (van Vuuren & Elving, 2008). By creating a memorable story
and inviting stakeholders to tackle complex problems facing a healthcare
facility in the United States, it turned around the center’s fortunes. Not
only did employee morale and engagement improve, it also rallied the
community and raised funds for future expansion. (Adamson et al., 2006).
Measuring Strategic Change Communication

Measurement of strategic change and communications is less estab-
lished among organizations. While internal communications influence
how change is accepted among employees, there are limited tools and
resources to gauge its effectiveness (Harkness, 2000). Of the six factors
of facilitating change (leading, communicating, learning, measuring,
involving, and sustaining), measurement had one of the biggest impacts
on overall change success. Organizations that are highly effective at
change management are much better at measuring progress against goals
than are lower effectiveness organizations (Towers Watson, 2011).
The traditional measures of change success were scope, time, and cost.
These are no more relevant in a fiercely competitive environment. The
need to demonstrate how businesses matched their goals with tangible
benefits is the need of the hour. Organizations that completed 80% or
more of their projects on time, within budgets, mapped to objectives
and helped realize business benefits were considered successful (Project
Management Institute, 2018). This is corroborated by the IBM Institute
for Business Value study (2014) that discovered that project comple-
tion is considered the top measure of change management (IBM, 2014).
Change is also measured by the readiness of the organization, individual
and group as well as their receptivity.
Ranging from negative to positive, receptivity is a measure of the
openness to change (Armenakis & Harris, 2002; Frahm & Brown, 2007).
Demonstrating positive intent by taking the views of employees on
board can improve how strategic change communication is received.
There is still progress to be made. For example, while 71% of organi-
zations consider and act on employee suggestions, only 8% encourage
dialogue via collaboration tools (IBM, 2014). Another gap is that
practitioners have scarce abilities to conduct thorough communication
194 A. K. VERGHESE
evaluation or the understanding of valuation methods, thereby limiting

measuring organizational change impact (Zerfass et al., 2017).
Finally, measurement can be considered at all stages of the change
management process and include the role of communications. For
example, asking employees about the quality of the change communica-
tion, gauging the effectiveness of the different messages and media used
to inform employees, and understanding the extent to which the knowl-
edge of the objectives of the change was accepted, can help measure
success (Elving, 2005).
Summary
Managing change is a complex process and there is no one-size, fits-
all model. Every change brings unique challenges and expects specific
change design and communication. Organizations who invest and imple-
ment effective communication and change management strategies are
financially successful. Involving change and internal communications
professionals early in the journey can create positive value and outcomes.
Building trust, creating a culture receptive to change and influencing
behaviors can help overcome resistances.
Interview
Mahul Brahma, Ph.D. and DLitt heads Communications, CSR and
Branding at mjunction Services Limited. A former journalist, Mahul is
an award-winning communicator, a renowned luxury commentator and
an author. He is the alumnus of institutes such as Indian Institute of
Management (India) and University of Cambridge (UK).
1. How is strategic change communications and management

understood in your organization?
Any change that influences how an organization progresses on its

strategy across all levels is strategic change management. For example,
a change in management, repurposing the organization or an improved
brand positioning exercise. Strategic change management is a journey and
that’s how the organization approaches the subject.
2. What is the role of communication in change management?
Communication plays a crucial role as strategic change needs buy-in

from all stakeholders including those outside the organization. Commu-
nication helps accelerate how organizations convey the imperative for
change and presents a strong narrative from senior management. Without
communication, strategic change will be ineffective.
3. What signs tell you that communication in change management

works? How do you differentiate between effective or ineffective
communications?
Strategic change is effective when the organization is ready and there

is a sense of alignment among stakeholders. It can fail to fructify if
stakeholders don’t understand the rationale and don’t trust the motive.
Effectiveness of change is an outcome of the degree of stakeholders’
alignment. Ineffective communication can result in poor understanding.
On the other hand, effective communication is inclusive, clear and takes
stakeholders along the journey.
4. Which channels work best while communicating strategic

change?
It is key that stakeholders hear directly from senior management to

establish context and importance. Therefore, channels such as face-to-face
Town Halls and open Q&A forums are essential as platforms for stake-
holders to engage and clarify the change. Co-creating change alongside
stakeholders means staying transparent and involving them early. Internal
communication channels such as discussion forums and mailers help in
conveying change.
5. What are the key obstacles or challenges while going about

strategic change management?
The key challenge is when your stakeholders, internal and external,

aren’t in agreement with the change. Since change creates uncertainty and
stakeholders can feel insecure, communication needs to address relevance
and context. For example, if the change entails automation of roles at the
196 A. K. VERGHESE
workplace using machine learning and artificial intelligence, stakeholders

may fear losing their jobs. By explaining how impacted employees will be
retrained and rebadged for other critical roles in the organization can help
improve change acceptance.
6. How are employees included in change management and

communications?
Senior management needs to convince stakeholders that change is

a win–win for all involved. By explaining how strategic change allows
the organization to be resilient and overcome macroeconomic situations,
leaders can involve employees to voice their thoughts, be change agents
and support change. For example, when a company shuts down stores
it is perceived to be bad news. However, if the organization explains
that reducing loss making units can help keep the business running and
turnaround fortunes in the future, it can alleviate the concerns.
7. Please share a recent example of a strategic change management

practice.
When the pandemic swept across the globe, working from home
became the norm. However, the strategic change of working remotely
created opportunities for the leadership to communicate the benefits of
collaborating virtually, saving time and improving efficiencies. Employees
shared ideas to reduce costs, directed their energies on more fruitful
projects and increased knowledge sharing. That dramatically resulted in
productivity improvement across the organization.
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CHAPTER 12
Measuring and Evaluating Internal

Communication
Julie O’Neil, Michele E. Ewing, Stacey Smith,

and Sean Williams
Why Measure and Evaluate

Internal Communication?
The question of how to measure internal communication had an easy
answer for too many years. We don’t. There were many reasons why,
including the “too busy, too dumb, too hard” argument that the authors
of this chapter heard first-hand in the practice of public relations for many
years. Scholars echoed a more robust sentiment in that spirit; Meng and
J. O’Neil (B)
Bob Schieffer College of Communication, Texas Christian University, Fort
Worth, TX, USA
e-mail: j.oneil@tcu.edu
M. E. Ewing
School of Media and Journalism, College of Communication & Information,
Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA
e-mail: meewing@kent.edu

Switzerland AG 2021
202 J. O’NEIL ET AL.
Berger (2012), for example, identified a lack of money and staff, difficulty
determining a direct link between communication initiatives and business
results, and time constraints.
During the past decade, internal communication measurement became
not only a must-have in a practical sense but a symbol of strategic
thinking. Suppliers of internal communication services responded to client
demands with proprietary measurement strategies and methods (Sanders,
2018; Smarp, 2019; Vaughan, 2017). This shift illustrates the old business
adage that organizations invest in the things they find valuable.
Internal communication has an impact on organizational objectives,
sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly. Measurement and evaluation
approaches can include both financial indicators, such as ROI and finan-
cial outcomes (Dortok, 2006; Ehling et al., 1992; Grossman, 2013;
Harter et al., 2002; Meng & Berger, 2012; Towers Watson, 2013) and
non-financial indicators, such as trust, satisfaction, and advocacy (Meng
& Berger, 2012; Meng & Pan, 2012). Indeed, as both scholars and
practitioners believe, internal communication affects employee attitudes,
beliefs, knowledge, and behavior. Impact on safety, quality and produc-
tivity often relies on the often-cited drive for employee engagement. This
idea indicates that highly engaged employees advocate for the organi-
zation, be more readily retained, exert higher degrees of discretionary
effort, and generally conduct themselves more like owners than workers
(Kahn & Heaphy, 2014). Byrne et al. (2016) discussed the difficulty in
determining effective methods of measuring employee engagement, and
though engagement is just one potential measure, its relationship with
internal communication has been studied frequently (e.g., Mishra et al.,
2014; Ruck et al., 2017; Tkalac Verčič & Polški Vokić, 2017).
Many strategic planning methodologies align communication objec-
tives with organizational objectives and create good opportunities for
S. Smith
Jackson Jackson & Wagner, Rye, NH, USA
e-mail: ssmith@jjwpr.com
S. Williams
School of Media and Communication, Bowling Green State University, Bowling
Green, OH, USA
e-mail: sdwilli@bgsu.edu
12 MEASURING AND EVALUATING INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 203
measurement. Popular planning methodologies include the OGSM

tool–Objectives, Goals, Strategies, Metrics (Lafley & Martin, 2013);
RPIE–Research, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation (Escovedo,
2012); RACE–Research, Action, Communication, Evaluation (Begìn
& Charbanneau, 2012); and AMMO–Audiences, Messages, Methods,
Objectives (Williams, 2015). Each of these models connect internal
communication activities to organizational impact, as long as the orga-
nization in question has articulated goals that can indeed be affected by
internal communication. Measurement, therefore, is more than “proving
value.” It also is a diagnostic tool that reveals opportunities for planning.
Measurement can also be of immense value in assessing and building
an effective organizational culture. Based upon data, communicators can
direct resources to the areas most in need of attention, conserving those
resources and supporting the desired culture. As Williams asks, “Is the
work atmosphere the way that the people within the organization want it
to be, or can it stand to be improved?” (Vaughan, 2017, para. 10).
As an ongoing strategic activity, measurement, and evaluation enable
communicators to join other organizational functions in solid, research-
based, data-driven strategy. Clear, measurable objectives and strong
strategic plans designed to drive toward those objectives, with evalua-
tive processes firmly in place, contribute to the perception of the value of
the function and its leaders. Meanwhile, measurement-based campaigns
provide ongoing data to either validate assumptions or enable corrective
action. This, then, represents the main answer to the question, “Why
measure internal communication?” Measurement acts as an informer to
strategic planning, a cue as to current state and guide to campaign plan-
ning, and as a means of evaluating the value of campaigns and of programs
as a whole. Measurement and evaluation can examine the impact on
employees, the organization, and society at large. This multipart utility
makes measurement an indispensable tool for any internal communicator
and strategic manager.
How to Measure and Evaluate

Internal Communication?
Measurement and evaluation infuse the entire internal communica-
tion process, from conducting formative research to assess the situ-
ation/identify problem or opportunity, setting objectives, identifying
target audiences, formulating strategy and tactics, to evaluating results to

identify feedback and make improvements (Gregory, 2000; Paine, 2011).
The Measurement and Evaluation Process

Step 1: Align Communication Objectives with Organizational
Objectives
As with any communication process, internal communicators must first
align their objectives with the organizational goals. Practitioners should
secure leadership’s buy-in to these objectives early on, as they may
be the most important internal customer and their expectations will
guide how the program’s success is measured. If the buy-in is achieved
upfront, then support through budgeting, advocacy, and silo-busting
(when needed) should be available. When writing communication objec-
tives, practitioners must ensure that they are relevant, achievable, and
measurable. Whereas a goal is aspirational, an objective includes a measure
of impact (AMEC, 2020), so that the practitioner can showcase whether
and how they have met their communication objectives. The acronym
“S.M.A.R.T.” is often used to define the most effective goal and objective
design (AMEC, 2020). Good objectives are:
● Specific: scope is narrow and well-defined.

● Measurable: metric clearly defines achievement.
● Attainable: realistic budget and resources (time) for plan implemen-
tation.
● Relevant: related to the overall goals and stakeholders.
● Time bound: within the period of the plan.
Ultimately, writing clear and relevant communication objectives helps

to focus communication efforts, increase the efficiency of communica-
tion efforts, secure management buy-in and to build an accountability
system, which provides value for the internal communicator (Institute for
Public Relations, 2021). Below are examples of SMART communication
objectives.
● Increase by 20% the frequency of discussions around economic

goals and employee contribution toward revenue by respected and
influential supervisors within six months.
● Raise employee participation in external volunteer opportunities by

5% within five months.
Step 2: Identify Target Stakeholders and Communication strategy

Internal communicators must next determine which stakeholder(s) are
key to achieving their objectives and prioritize them. Due to limited
time and budget, prioritization is key. For example, in the Walmart case
previewed in this chapter, the company spent significant time researching
their target employee audience. After conducting more than two years
of research to identify innovative ways to reach associates around the
world, Walmart identified three key audiences: (a) Entrenched Loyalists,
(b) Opportunity Seekers, and (c) Daily Subscribers. Walmart ultimately
decided to focus on Opportunity Seekers, and they sought to develop
strategy and tactics to reach this prioritized target audience.
Step 3: Measure Communication Activity

Measurement and evaluative activities should be guided by the designated
communication objectives. Common approaches to measuring internal
communication effectiveness include outputs, outtakes, outcomes, or
impacts (AMEC, 2020), which are explained in the next section.
Step 4: Evaluate and Make Improvements

Scholars and communicators recommend implementing ongoing evalua-
tion during a campaign or program to assess effectiveness of communica-
tion strategies and tactics, as well as progress toward achieving objectives
and goals (AMEC, 2020; Lindenmann, 1993; Watson, 2001). According
to the Institute for Public Relations (2021) “the purpose of evaluation
is not celebration but optimization.” For example, do employees view
content as relevant and useful and why? Which channels in the internal
communication program are attracting the highest engagement and why?
How do internal communication data align with data from other orga-
nizational departments? Asking good questions allows the practitioner
to make timely improvements to audience segmentation, messaging,
channels, and other communication elements.
Internal Communication Standards: What to Measure and Evaluate

Academics and communication practitioners have opined that internal
communicators both grapple with knowing how to measure and evaluate
internal communication as well as doing so in different ways (Mendez

et al., 2013; Meng & Pan, 2012; Ruck, 2015; Ruck & Welch, 2012).
The lack of a standardized approach to measuring internal commu-
nication adds to potential inefficiency, because practitioners and their
organizational leaders do not have a shared vocabulary to compare and
contrast results. To address these challenges, the Institute for Public Rela-
tions Measurement Commission created a task force committee in 2015,
comprised of academics and practitioners, to identify industry standards
for internal communication measurement. A standard provides a shared
vocabulary for organizational leaders and communicators to compare
and contrast results (Institute for Public Relations, 2013). Following a
two-year comprehensive research process, the task force identified 22
standards for internal communication (O’Neil et al., 2018), which were
organized into three categories: outtakes, outcomes and organizational
impact (Table 12.1).
Outtakes
Outtakes involve the response and reactions of the target audience to
the communicative activity. These standards, such as awareness, knowl-
edge and retention of information, are designed to evaluate informational
communication objectives. For example, measuring employees’ awareness
and understanding of organization’s business goals, safety protocols and
other topics that employees need to understand to effectively perform
their jobs.
Outcomes
The most meaningful way to measure and evaluate is outcomes, which are
the effects of the communication on the target audience (AMEC, 2020).
Outcomes typically measure changes in attitude, opinion, and behaviors
among target audiences as a result of the communication initiative or
campaign. Motivational communication objectives can be measured using
these standards including advocacy, empowerment, and collaboration.
Some examples of how these standards can be used in evaluating the level
of employees’ discretionary efforts with defending the company’s reputa-
tion, how employees feel empowered take initiative and make decisions to
solve problems, and how are employees sharing ideas and collaborating
across departments and divisions. Other examples of outcomes include
increased job satisfaction, innovation, sales, and likelihood to recommend
other people to work at the organization.
Table 12.1 Internal communication measurement standards and definitions

(O’Neil et al., 2018)
Standard Definition
Outtakes
Awareness Whether employees have heard of an organizational
message, issue, or topic
Knowledge Employees’ level of comprehension about organizational
messages, issues, or topics
Understanding Employees’ ability to relate their knowledge to their
work in a way that helps the organization achieve its
goals
Relevance Degree to which employees communication from the
organization meaningful and useful
Retention of Information Degree to which employees can recall key messages or
topics when asked after an x timeframe
Outcomes
Attitude A way of thinking or feeling about a subject (about an
organization, topic, or issue) ranging from very positive
to very negative
Advocacy Employees’ discretionary effort and time to promote or
defend an organization and its products and services
Authenticity Perception that an organization is transparent, honest,
and fair, especially regarding the pursuit of its
organizational objectives
Empowerment Employees have the information, rewards, and power to
take initiative and make decisions to solve problems and
improve performance
Collaboration The process of employees across different divisions and
or units coming together to solve a problem and/or
create something successfully
Teamwork The process of employees within the same unit coming
together to successfully achieve a common goal or
objective under the leadership of an appointed manager
Discretionary Effort The amount of effort employees give to an
organization, a team, or a project, above and beyond
what is required
Trust A belief in the reliability, truth, and integrity of the
organization’s leadership, decision-making, and
communication
Satisfaction Extent to which employees are happy or content with
their job or work
(continued)
Table 12.1 (continued)
Standard Definition
Transparency The willingness of the organization to share positive and

negative information with employees in a timely fashion
Fairness Employee perception that organizational processes that
allocate resources and resolve disputes are impartial and
just
Organizational impact
Productivity The quality and quantity of work output based on
resources
Innovation Thinking differently and experimenting with new
approaches, ideas, or behaviors related to the
organization
Continuous Improvement The process by which employees offer small or large
improvements to improve efficiency, productivity, and
quality of a product or process in the work environment
Reputation Stakeholders’—both internal and external—evaluation of
an organization based upon personal and observed
experiences with the company and its communication
Employee Retention The number or percentage of employees who remain
employed after X period of time
Safety Employees’ freedom from physical and emotional harm,
injury or loss
The Barcelona Principles 3.0 (AMEC, 2020) recommend that commu-

nicators measure both outputs and outcomes. Outputs, those things that
are visible to the eye, are typically the easiest but least useful way to
measure, at least when measured in isolation. For example, an employee
who clicks on email or newsletter story does not equate to the employee
understanding, retaining, or applying the information shared. While
outputs by themselves may not be meaningful to internal communica-
tors, linking outputs to outcomes can provide a more holistic assessment
of the communication initiative. For example, practitioners could track
an employees’ attendance (output) at a training meeting to learn about
social media in the workplace and then analyze their use of social media
to collaborate, share feedback, or advocate for the company (outcome).
Organizational Impact
The scope of these standards focuses on evaluating if and how commu-
nication initiatives influence organization performance—the ultimate
measurement of communication success. Some examples include produc-

tivity, continuous improvement and employee retention. It is important
to recognize the challenge of aligning internal communication efforts
as the direct influence organization performance; however, using bench-
mark and post-measurement methods can be effective in isolating how
communication influenced organizational performance.
Engagement wasn’t included as an internal communication standard
(O’Neil et al., 2018), because it is a function of several other stan-
dards, including knowledge, understanding, discretionary effort, trust,
and satisfaction. Internal communicators may want to isolate issues related
to engagement and develop more effective strategies to resolve the
challenges. For example, if an organization recognized apathy among
employees and a decline in discretionary effort, an analysis beyond
poor “engagement” is needed. What specific factors influence change in
employees’ perceptions and behaviors? Is it uncertainty about roles in
the organization? Confusion about the relevancy of information shared?
Perceptions about a lack of transparency by organizational leadership? If
communicators can better understand these influencers by independently
measuring them, they can then more effectively address the root cause
of the engagement problem. Further, a more in-depth analysis of specific
attitudes and behaviors impacting engagement aligns with the creation of
specific and relevant communication objectives.
In summary, internal communicators should identify and prioritize the
standards that best align with evaluating communication objectives.
Ways to Measure and Evaluate Internal Communication More

Holistically
In recent years, scholars (e.g., Buhmann et al., 2018; Northhaft &
Stensson, 2019; van Ruler, 2019) have advocated that communicators
adopt novel and more holistic approaches for measuring and evaluating in
organizations. Northhaft and Stensson (2019) encouraged academics to
move away from functional measurement and evaluation to enable richer
and alternative explanations of communication phenomenon. Buhmann
et al. (2018) recommended that practitioners focus on insight, listening,
and learning to better understand the role of communicators in providing
“counsel, education and training, coaching, strategizing and planning”
(p. 117). van Ruler (2019) postulated that communicators should focus
more on formative—not summative—research in order to remain agile
and fluid as organizations adapt to rapid and often unforeseen changes

and events. According to Volk (2016), one of the most pressing chal-
lenges related to measurement and evaluation is the need to develop a
“conclusive, holistic theory of value creation through communication”
(p. 974).
Both quantitative and qualitative approaches should be undertaken
to measure and evaluate internal communication efforts (AMEC, 2020;
Lindenmann, 2003; Macnamara, 1992). Qualitative research, such as
focus groups, in-depth interviews, sentiment analysis, can help internal
communicators to understand and describe how and why employees
are engaging with content and responding. Qualitative approaches are
particularly useful for uncovering intangible contributions of commu-
nication in organizations (van Ruler, 2019; Volk, 2016). Eiro-Gomes
and Duarte (2008) recommended a case study approach to examine
social and cultural change in order to holistically examine work processes
and communication planning. Place (2015) suggested that communica-
tors use case studies and scorecards to holistically measure and evaluate
organizational communication. Place explained that the German Public
Relations Association and the Association of Communications Consultan-
cies use scorecards and audits to indicate how communication engenders
value creation and aids decision-making, considering the organization’s
culture (Huhn et al., 2011). O’Neil and Ewing (2020) qualitatively
examined how communicators working for large global companies iden-
tified intangible contributions of their internal communication efforts.
Using social capital theory (Portes, 1998) as a framework, the researchers
explored how internal communication builds and maintains employee
relationships and creates social capital for the organization, which can be
accrued and later expended for organizational benefit.
Quantitative approaches (e.g., surveys, digital metrics, readership
numbers) can establish statistical baseline numbers or examine the rela-
tionship between variables or predictors of variables. Digital tools and
developments have made it easy to capture real-time data and metrics.
For example, practitioners might use Google Analytics to understand time
and behavior spent on a website or social media analysis tools to examine
usage, engagement, sentiment or conversation topics. Practitioners might
conduct periodic or annual survey data to measure such variables as satis-
faction, reputation, or commitment. Digital data can easily be correlated
with survey data to analyze relationships between variables or predictors
of dependent variables such as trust, satisfaction and commitment (Men

et al., 2020b) or engagement (Men et al., 2020a).
Looking Ahead: New Ways to Measure

and Evaluate Internal Communication
Fueled by the ubiquity of digital tools and developments in artificial
intelligence (AI), internal communication measurement and evaluation
continue to adapt accordingly.
Digital Channels and Analytics

The advancement of technology has expanded digital channels to inform,
connect, collaborate, and motivate employees (Men & Bowen, 2017;
Men et al., 2020b). For example, organizations are increasingly using
internal social media for internal communication strategies (Cardon &
Marshall, 2014; Haddud et al., 2016; Sievert & Scholz, 2017). Commu-
nicators can access and transform data into insights to define SMART
objectives, drive strategy, segment target audiences, pinpoint affinities and
behaviors, and identify influencers who can help amplify messages. For
instance, if an employee team or unit is frequently and effectively using
communication channels to collaborate, that team can serve as influencers
to motivate other employees to access these channels. Further, digital
analytics can help communicators create the right content in the right
channels at the right time (Men & Bowen, 2017; Social Chorus, 2018;
Zerfass et al., 2017).
Ultimately, communicators can use data to establish benchmark metrics
to gauge performance and measure impact on the business. Monitoring
engagement rates (clicks, reactions, and shares) of employees’ behaviors
when viewing digital materials is one example of a digital metric. Evalu-
ating sentiment or the tone of social media posts and online conversations
can also be analyzed. Open and click-through rates (rate of clicks divided
by impressions) for apps, emails, e-newsletters, and other digital chan-
nels can be tracked and analyzed. Conversation rates (the number of
desired behaviors divided by total visitors), like requesting information
or signing up for a project, can be used to evaluate behaviors. Other
metrics include social reach (number of followers), unique impressions
(number of content views from single users), number of downloads, video

views, site loyalty, as well as a range of other digital metrics (Austin,
2020; Chow, 2018; Duncan, 2010; Kaushik, 2020; Walters, 2019). These
metrics can help answer many questions about internal communication
efforts. For example: What channels are employees using? How often and
when? What content is most viewed and generates more positive reac-
tions in terms of likes, shares and comments? How does print compared
to video? Are employees using computers or phones to access informa-
tion? Regardless of the tool or metric, it is critical to view data from many
sources to obtain a comprehensive understanding of actionable insights. If
conducted appropriately, digital analytics provide an effective and robust
way to measure internal communication.
Technological Developments Informing Measurement and Evaluation

Public relations practitioners are starting to use AI to enhance their capa-
bilities. Defined as the “ability of machines to perform tasks that typically
require human-like understanding” (Knowledge@Wharton, 2018, para.
1), AI is being applied to public relations tasks such as responding to
consumer questions, monitoring social media, and conducting outreach
with journalists and influencers (Galloway & Swiatek, 2018).
There are two primary AI-fueled developments relevant to internal
communication: chatbots and gamification. A chatbot is a software appli-
cation that mimics human conversation via text or voice and interacts with
people via a digital interface (Thomaz et al., 2020). Often referred to as
conversational agents or virtual assistants (Thomaz et al., 2020), chat-
bots can facilitate conversations with people via messaging services such
as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Slack, Skype, Viber, and WeChat.
Although chatbots have been used most frequently for external
communication tasks, they also have potential value for internal commu-
nicators (Holtz, 2016; O’Brien, 2019). While some employees don’t have
access to email or computers (e.g., healthcare, retail, industrial), almost
every employee has a smartphone and uses messaging services, which
chatbots use. Chatbots also enable a push/pull internal communication
strategy (McGrath, 2016). Organizations can tailor information to be
disseminated at a designated schedule, and employees can request when
and the type of information they are interested in via a chatbot, thereby
increasing message relevance and the likelihood that they will read the
information (Holtz, 2016). Employees can ask a chatbot a question or
request additional information (McGrath, 2016). Finally, chatbots can be

integrated with an enterprise messenger to facilitate the sharing of big
data to engender workplace collaboration, as has been documented with
software development businesses (Emanuel et al., 2020).
Since chatbots are facilitated by AI, measurement and evaluation
may become easier as organizational data become even more digitally
automated. As communicators measure and evaluate their impact, they
can now also examine how chatbots contribute or correlate to other
outcomes, such as employee productivity or innovation. Organizations
may also need to measure employee satisfaction with the chatbot—what
public relations practitioner Allen (2016) refers to as an experienced
channel (in contrast to the paid, earned, shared and owned channels in
the PESO model)—since internal communicators will assume a key role
in developing and managing the chatbot. Moreover, employees’ expe-
rience with the chatbot will indirectly shape their perceived trust and
reputation with the organization, so internal communicators may also
want to measure how employees’ experience with chatbots contributes to
perceived organizational trust and reputation. Communicators may also
want to qualitatively examine how employees’ interaction and satisfaction
contribute to company culture and the organizational identity.
AI has also fueled the development and usage of gamification in orga-
nizations. Gamification involves using game design elements—badges,
leaderboards, scoring, challenges, and rewards—to engage and motivate
people to achieve future behaviors (Xi & Juho, 2019). Gamification
has many possible applications for internal communication. Gamifica-
tion can be used to motivate and direct employees to share knowledge
across organizational units. For example, Mizuyama et al. (2019) analyzed
a case study in which gamification incentivized comment aggregation
and evaluation to facilitate relevant knowledge sharing. Araújo and
Pestana (2017) suggested organizations use gamification to recognize and
reward seasoned employees for sharing soft and hard skills with younger
employees. Employees’ engagement with gamification apps may facilitate
dialogue and two-way symmetrical communication (Seiffert-Brockmann
et al., 2018).
According to Hall (2017), gamification can be used to make elec-
tronic learning more interactive, to increase productivity and efficiency,
and to fuel sales competitions. Hall explained that companies can virtu-
ally reward an employee who illustrated a company value when making a
business decision. Companies can incorporate a virtual treasure hunt to
motivate employees to learn how to use a new tool or platform. Orga-

nizations can award badges to employees who regularly contribute to
company intranets or who answer a quiz based upon material presented
in the intranet.
Regardless of the tactic, communication practitioners should ensure
that gamification is well integrated into internal communication strategy
to reach goals and objectives. Measurement and evaluation will accord-
ingly align with that strategy, whether to analyze improvements in
knowledge, knowledge sharing, sales, or productivity. Because gamifica-
tion is often used to encourage and motivate employees to do something,
communicators may also want to measure and evaluate motivation, satis-
faction, or perceived sense of collaboration/teamwork that may result
from participation with the game. Finally, similar to chatbots, gamification
may contribute to company culture, so communicators can qualita-
tively examine how gamification elements contribute to the ethos of the
organizational identity.
Conclusion
In summary, communicators have many approaches and tools to use
when measuring and evaluating initiatives. Many exciting options exist
for future research. One such avenue would be to examine the rela-
tionships among the internal standards reviewed in this chapter. Many
of these standards—such as awareness and knowledge, collaboration and
teamwork, and trust and satisfaction—are correlated with one another,
perhaps even causal. Additional testing of the standards would map out
the relationships among the standards (O’Neil et al., 2018). A second
fruitful research avenue would be to qualitatively examine how internal
communication creates value for organizations, both to inform practice
and develop theory (Volk, 2016). Third, researchers could study how
emerging technologies such as AI impact how employees engage and
respond to internal communication as well as how new technology usage
shapes organizational processes and culture.
Case Study: How Walmart Measures

and Evaluates Internal Communication
Started in 1962 with one discount retail store, Walmart had grown into
the world’s largest retailer by 1990. During that time, communication
with associates (employees) was very organic and largely unformalized.
By 2010, a formal internal communication function was developed, and
focused on effectively communicating to associates around the world.
Walmart then initiated a comprehensive, 30-month project to provide
meaningful data and evaluative insights to better connect senior leadership
with what was then approximately two million associates in 27 countries.
According to Jenifer Bice, former senior director of internal communi-
cation and now director of event solutions, the project purpose was to
“gain a more thorough understanding of Walmart’s global associates in
order to communicate in a way that creates dialogue and connection,
developing advocates for the company that will ultimately result in viral
content created by those associates.”
Seeking to gather data to inform strategy, the research process
consisted of four key phases: discovery, research immersion, ideation,
concept development and testing. Upon conclusion of the research
component, communicators identified two communication objectives:
1. Identify and implement innovative methods to connect associates

around the globe based on topics relevant to them.
2. Develop well-developed and tested concepts that would enable
Walmart associates to become:
● more connected to each other and to the Walmart purpose

● more engaged and effective in their current roles
● advocates and ambassadors for Walmart, with key metrics
● inspired to talk about Walmart’s values, products/services and the
associate experience to friends and family in a positive way, thereby
enabling more sales and improved brand perception.
Internal communicators developed messaging, content, videos, events and

programming to meet these objectives and later measured whether they
met the project objectives, as described below.
● Focus on Why: This became a talking point of senior leadership

and disseminated through the organization. Surveys, both quanti-
tative and qualitative, showed notable changes in tone and approach
by leadership, which helped associates feel greater connection and
appreciation, both outcome measures. Moreover, Walmart used
social media engagement metrics—an output measure to measure
awareness and knowledge of messaging.
● Share Walmart Opportunities: A company effort was initiated to
focus on highlighting associate opportunities; for example, the
CEO promoted associates on stage, communication teams featured
job opportunities, stories and videos about associates participating
in community service, among other approaches. Communicators
conducted qualitative and quantitative research to measure asso-
ciates’ level of connection with one another and the Walmart
purpose—both outcome measures.
● Show We Care: Following a reorganization in China, internal
communicators developed and trained human resource associates on
how to share information with associates. Upon completion of the
reorganization, 40% of Walmart China associates remained with the
company, another outcomes measure, versus the less than 1% that
was anticipated.
Walmart continues to measure and evaluate its internal communication

efforts by tracking outputs, outtakes, and outcomes. According to Bice,
“As communicators, it is up to us to continue to understand our audi-
ences, seek insights and apply them in the ways that are most engaging
and inspiring to them.”
“We believed the combination of quantitative and qualitative research, all

conducted in the respective countries, gave us the most rounded data and
insights from which to work. Core team members were on site in the
countries to learn alongside the research being conducted. This provided
an added layer of knowledge and cultural understanding to add to the data
set.” Jenifer Bice, senior director, event solutions, Walmart.
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CHAPTER 13
Internal Communication in a Cross-Cultural

and Global Context
Ana Tkalac Verčič, Dejan Verčič,

and Krishnamurthy Sriramesh
Culture is the bedrock of every society. Yet, this vital concept has not been
given its due in most mass communication scholarship including public
relations (Sriramesh, 2020). Almost three decades ago we had hoped that
culture would be accorded its due importance by public relations prac-
tice and scholarship (Sriramesh & White, 1992). Yet, both parts of the
discipline continue to pay scant attention to this vital concept—much to
A. Tkalac Verčič (B)

University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
e-mail: atkalac@efzg.hr
D. Verčič
University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
e-mail: Dejan.Vercic@fdv.uni-lj.si
K. Sriramesh
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
e-mail: ksriramesh@colorado.edu

Switzerland AG 2021
224 A. TKALAC VERČIČ ET AL.
their detriment. Practitioners are more likely to be forced into accepting

its presence by the ground realities they face on a daily basis. Even so, it is
a reluctant acceptance of the culture’s role in every society. The Excellence
study (Dozier et al., 1995; Grunig, 1992; Grunig et al., 2002; Sriramesh
et al., 2013) gave significant focus to societal culture and its influence on
public relations looking at the concept as an environment in which public
relations is practiced. However, despite the popularity of the study’s many
contributions, culture has not been embraced as much as it deserves.
It is disheartening that after about 50 years of public relations scholar-
ship, there is only one book dedicated to culture and public relations
(Sriramesh & Verčič, 2012) although the three editions of The Global
Public Relations Handbook (Sriramesh & Verčič, 2020) have addressed
culture (broadly defined) as being integral to sound scholarship in the
field.
Why should culture be given primacy by communication scholars?
The reciprocal relationship between culture and communication was
propounded very eloquently by the anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his
book The Silent Language: culture is communication and communication
is culture. His theorizing of polychronic and monochronic cultures is most
helpful to internal communication as are his high context and low context
dimensions. Culture, a concept that is known to every individual, has been
hard to define even in the field of anthropology. Kluckhohn (1953) listed
over 164 accepted definitions and about 300 more variations of these
definitions. The first comprehensive definition can be attributed to Tyler
(1871) who saw culture as “that complex whole which includes knowl-
edge, belief, art, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by man as a member of society” (p. 1). The expansive nature
of the term, and its link to society, was also highlighted by Kroeber and
Kluckhohn who defined culture as a “set of attributes and products of
human societies, and therewith of mankind, which are extrasomatic and
transmissible by mechanisms other than biological heredity” (Kluckhohn,
1953, p. 145).
The culture of a society influences, but can often be different from,
the culture of organizations in that society (Sriramesh & White, 1992;
Sriramesh et al., 1992). Each culture influences, and is influenced by
the other. As social scientists, we strive to empirically study the rela-
tionships between two concepts of interest—in this case the relationship
between societal/organizational culture and organizational communica-
tion activities. Making this link requires us to empirically study both sides
13 INTERNAL COMMUNICATION … 225
of the equation by operationalizing each variable. Hofstede’s (1984) work

stands out as the most frequently used with regard to societal culture
although the author himself admitted that the dimensions he had been
able to empirically identify did not encompass the entirety of culture. His
success may well also be a lacuna of the field. Hofstede’s (1984) studies of
culture in the organizational context lead to the identification of first four
and then a fifth and later a sixth dimensions of culture. Almost 40 years
on from his seminal study, his dimensions of culture continue to be used
by scholars in public relations.
After a review of the studies linking culture with public relations,
Sriramesh (2006) had critiqued the almost singular reliance on Hofstede’s
dimensions of culture in public relations scholarship. Hofstede had over-
looked the distinction between societal culture and organizational culture
in his early work where he sought to assess the cultural idiosyncracies
among managers of a single organization who hailed from 39 countries.
He had not really taken into account the acculturation of these managers
to organizational cultural norms, a serious flaw that may have been caused
by the lack of knowledge of organizational culture when he conceptu-
alized his study. Further, his approach sought to study societal cultural
characteristics common across a number of societies, a limitation in itself
because, Sriramesh (2006) noted, some of the most critical influencers
of communication in a society are cultural traits unique to that society.
This has been confirmed by several studies in public relations (Sriramesh
et al., 1999, Sriramesh & Enxi, 2004; Sriramesh et al., 2005, 2007).
Studies conducted in societies with Chinese populations have posited the
overwhelming influence that Guanxi—a manifestation of personal influ-
ence (Sriramesh, 1988)—plays in communication in organizations (e.g.,
Aw et al., 2002; Huang, 2000; Hung, 2004; Kipnis, 1997; Tan, 2000).
Similarly, Sriramesh and Takasaki (1999) discussed the strong influence of
wa, amae, tatamae, honne—idiosyncrasies unique to Japanese culture with
public relations practice in that country. Anecdotal evidence suggests that
such unique cultural characteristics are evident in every society but are
largely under-reported because of the almost singular focus on Hofstede’s
dimensions.
A practitioner with wide cross-cultural professional experience offered
a different, yet useful, perspective in cross-cultural differences through
his discussion of what he calls “cultural types.” Rather than pigeon-
holing cultures as Hofstede did with his cultural dimensions, Lewis
offered a continuum on which he placed different countries based on
three dimensions: linear-active (cool, factual, decisive planners), multi-

active (warm emotional, loquacious, impulsive), and reactive (courteous,
amiable, accommodating, compromiser, good listener). Although this
model has been popular with practitioners, one does not find any public
relations studies that have used this model to measure societal culture.
One obvious explanation is that the Lewis Model does not offer the
kinds of tools to measure culture quantitatively that Hofstede did making
Hofstede’s dimensions of culture easier to replicate.
The confluence of organizations, international communication, and
culture can be found in scholarship on organizational culture. As previ-
ously stated, there is an innate link between societal culture and orga-
nizational culture. Employees, acculturated in society—at homes and
schools—bring those values into the workplace largely crafting organi-
zational culture (Sriramesh, 2020). Scholars began to take interest in
studying organizational culture especially beginning in the early 1980s,
primarily wanting to learn how Japanese corporations had become so
successful in the 1970s. These early studies added many new dimen-
sions to the discussion examining the interplay of cultures, subcultures,
and countercultures within organizations. Based on the Excellence study,
Sriramesh et al. (1996) offered one of the first empirical links between
organizational culture and public relations based on the conceptual frame-
work offered by Sriramesh et al. (1992). Sriramesh et al. (1996) found
two primary streams of organizational culture: authoritarian and partici-
pative. Based on empirical evidence from the US, Canada, and the UK
they reported that authoritarian organizational cultures had a more top-
down communication pattern whereas more participative cultures had
horizontal communication. As the CEO and dominant coalition often
determine an organization’s culture, authoritarian cultures also prac-
ticed lower levels of symmetrical communication both with internal and
external publics. Scholars have also posited that “strong” organizational
cultures are preferred over “weak” ones. The former are typified by
greater cohesion and harmony among internal publics—often a result
of more participative and symmetrical communication. Strong cultures
also directly correlate with low employee turnover and low stress at the
workplace.
Given the realities of the twenty-first century, typified by a very mobile
workforce owing to globalization, it is evident that internal publics are
more likely to be multicultural and even spread over multiple borders
(multinational) than in the past. As a result, it is imperative that organi-

zational managers be more aware of the interplay between both societal
and organizational culture, which is the primary theme of this chapter.
Global Internal Communication

Culture is evolving from a latent to a manifest variable of organizational
communication competence because of internal and external reasons.
Internally, there is a growing cultural variety of associates/employees.
Externally, there is a growing cultural variety on territories in which orga-
nizations operate. For example, a company may have headquarters in
London which is a highly multicultural center where over three hundred
languages are spoken. Their production may be in South America, Africa,
or Asia, and their markets worldwide. United Nations have headquarters
in New York, and UNESCO in Paris, highly multicultural towns, and
both organizations serve nearly two hundred countries all over the globe.
In Europe, research shows that 8 out of 10 professional communicators
have international communication as a part of their daily business, with
nearly a quarter of those reaching more than 20 countries in their daily
work. This number increases for Chief Communication Officers—more
than 90 percent of CCOs operate internationally on a daily basis (Verčič
et al., 2015; Zerfass, Moreno, et al., 2013). “Global CCOs are aware of
a need to rethink the whole concept of headquarters (core, home). They
see developing a truly intercultural and globalized communication struc-
ture across the corporation as a significant challenge and expect positive
effects both on a local and global level” (Zerfass, Verčič, et al., 2013,
p. 34).
As the world has become a global village (McLuhan, 1962), it is impos-
sible to escape globalization. Scholte (2008) proposes that we analyze
globalization as internationalization, which is characterized by the inten-
sification of cross-border movements of ideas, goods and services, capital,
and people. When restrictions on movements of ideas, goods and services,
capital, and people disappear, we can talk about liberalization. As a result
of the increased movement of ideas, goods and services, capital, and
people we can note convergence, or even homogenization of all these,
and we can talk about universalization. Since the beginning of the indus-
trial revolution in the West, there is a worldwide spread of rationalist
modernization, so we can perceive Westernization. And recent develop-
ments in technology, media and communication is promoting globality,
development of transplanetary connections between people developing

social space in its own right that transcends territorial geography. Using
our Apple or Android mobile devices we can communicate simultaneously
and instantaneously, we can share our experience on social media and do
that in no time.
These developments influence ways in which large organizations struc-
ture their internal communication. Understanding culture and multi-
cultural nature of contemporary organizations drives divergence in
approaches to internal communication. Understanding the universal need
for effectiveness and efficiency, on the other hand, drives convergence
(Stohl, 2001, p. 325). Interviewing communicators with international
responsibilities Zerfass, Verčič, et al. (2013) found that global Chief
Communication Officers have a strong tendency to keep communica-
tion in control in corporate headquarters, “with communication being
responsible for vision, mission, values and other ‘soft’ building blocks of a
corporation. Losing control over them could endanger corporate identity
and consequently reputation” (p. 32). On the other hand, in European
companies, local communication managers and their teams enjoy a great
latitude to implement these standards adjusting them to local cultures and
circumstance. In the words of one of the interviewees:
Aligned Decentralisation: meaning headquarters responsible for the corpo-

rate story (vision, mission, values, global strategy, targets), corporate
standards (global messages, policies such as corporate design and key-
wording), while regional / national communications units should ensure
aligned transformation in regional / national / local statements. However,
online communication remains global due to the ‘flat world’ we live in.
(p. 33)
Enabling Technologies for Global

Technology has had a remarkable impact on internal communication
within organizations. As Holtz (2006) noted, the internet offers tools
to turn anyone into a publisher while connecting everybody to every-
body else. In modern organizations, communication networks allow the
exchange of messages between people across time and space (García-
Morales et al., 2011). It is therefore vital for them to adopt strategies
which allow internal communication to flow quickly (Jablin & Putnam,
2001). This is becoming even more important in a physically discon-

nected new reality.
The influence of technology changes the way organizations are struc-
tured and can reduce organizational complexity. Additionally, emerging
communication technologies are speeding up decision-making and
changing the nature of interactions in organizations (Ganapathy, 2016),
as well as helping to change organizational processes, decision-making
into an organization design (Herschel & Andrews, 1997). New tech-
nologies allow greater access to people and events around the world, as
well as next door. They help overcome human barriers and create more
transparency. Globally, technology increases the possibility of encounters
where different cultures and races meet. On the other hand, it also creates
certain barriers mostly connected with resistance to technological trans-
formation or fear of change (Cowan, 2017). In a study of digital natives
conducted in 2011 (Friedl & Tkalac Verčič) employees reported a pref-
erence to traditional media (emails and meetings) in comparison to social
media, which proved to be the same in a study conducted in 2020 (Tkalac
Verčič & Špoljarić)—“traditional” media were still relevant and affected
satisfaction more than “new” media. Even though this doesn’t imply that
incorporating new technologies into mediating communication should
be slowed down, it does suggest that certain information should still
dominantly be conveyed via traditional media.
Nevertheless, the global pandemic has made the workplace (and
employees) more technology savvy and has gotten almost everyone to
incorporate technology in all their tasks (not only the new generation
that has grown up in the digital era). Adopting technology, such as social
media in an organization often means changing internal communication
habits. The organization has to be culturally ready and employees need
to understand the process. It can pose a challenge to start working and
communicating in a new way and move from one approach to another
(Lombardi, 2015).
Competencies for Intercultural/Multicultural

Communication
Organizations are cultivating their human capital through education
and training for intercultural communication competence (ICC), which
is defined as “the ability to ensure a shared understanding by people
of different social identities, and the ability to interact with people as

complex human beings with multiple identities and their own individ-
uality” (Byram et al., 2002, p. 10). Chen (2014) proposed a trian-
gular model of ICC with an affective dimension labeled “intercultural
sensitivity,” cognitive dimension labeled “intercultural awareness” and
a behavioral dimension labeled “intercultural adroitness.” There is an
identified need to increase intercultural competence or literacy, and orga-
nizations run programs for their employees being assigned to other
countries. First, they are preparing people to “enjoy and benefit from
the experiences with people from other cultures.” Meeting other cultures
enriches a person, but it also increases the complexity of potential social
interactions. To enjoy other cultures, one has to understand that there are
no “better” or “worse” cultures, that meanings can differ and misunder-
standings are frequent. Second, they try to make “these positive feelings
reciprocated by host nationals with whom sojourners work.” Communi-
cation competence is enacted in producing expected outcomes and that is
usually complicated when dealing with other cultures. Third, “sojourners
should be able to manage the stress that is inherent in overseas assign-
ments.” Intercultural competence is not only in an ability to communicate
with people from other cultures, but also to live in places that are
culturally different from home. There are several levels at which inter-
cultural competency can be studied and learned: interpersonal, group,
organizational and societal. One can be faced with “otherness” in one
or in all four variables. And finally, fourth, sojourners should be able
to “accomplish the tasks called for in their work assignments” (Brislin,
2008, pp. 2331–2332). Intercultural competence is a value in itself, but
in an organizational environment it has a function to fulfill and that
is producing desirable results for the focal organization, as well as for
individuals involved.
The internet and social media are making multicultural competency
and the ability to enjoy work with people from other cultures even more
important than before. Studies in the effects of digital communication
for organizational life have identified the rise of employee as a gatekeeper
for sharing information about the organization with the outside world
as one of the most important change organizational leaders face today
(Tench et al., 2017; Verčič & Tkalac Verčič, 2016). When we add that
in the twenty-first century all kinds of organizations are transforming
themselves into media companies through a process of strategic medi-
atization (Tench et al., 2017; Verčič & Tkalac Verčič, 2016), meaning
that they produce more and more media, many of them communicating
directly with larger audiences than traditional media houses, the need for
multicultural competence or literacy becomes even bigger.
Increasing intercultural competence is not an assignment only for orga-
nizations. European Union as a whole is developing programs to increase
intercultural communication competence of its citizens in Erasmus +
program, which stands for European Community Action Scheme for
the Mobility of University Students.”Erasmus + is the EU’s program
to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. Its budget
of e14.7 billion will provide opportunities for over 4 million Euro-
peans to study, train, and gain experience abroad” (https://ec.europa.
eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/about_en). One of its expected impacts is
to increase intercultural communication competence of European youth
(Altuğ et al., 2019).
Future of Global Internal Communication

Contemporary organizations operate in a complex world that includes
globalization, deregulation and economic crises, which all create an
unpredictable environment full of potential opportunities and threats
(Tkalac Verčič, 2020). The impact of globalization on public relations—
practice and scholarship—has been propounded by Sriramesh and Vercic
(2020) who make conceptual links between public relations and different
cultural environments (broadly defining culture) while also rendering the
global communication of key players and issues. Employee trust in orga-
nizational leadership is reducing globally (Jiang & Probst, 2015), while
considerable employee reductions greatly affect how loyal they feel toward
their organizations (Tkalac Verčič, 2016). In this evolving environment, a
global crisis caused by an unprecedented pandemic presents a bigger chal-
lenge for internal communication than ever before. It is therefore difficult
to predict what the future holds when it comes to internal communica-
tion, especially now, in the middle of the crisis. However, some of the
major trends identified prior to the pandemic such as diversification in
the workplace, digitization, downsizing of technology, increased account-
ability, a higher consideration of the work–life balance and globalization
(Men & Bowen, 2017) still remain significant.
As organizations geographically diversify, the need to interact effi-
ciently with wider groups becomes critical (Ashkanasy et al., 2002).
Diversity in the workplace is greater than ever and includes differences
in race, ethnicity, language, nationality, religion, and sexual orientation
(Amadeo, 2013). Understanding and incorporating those differences will

be essential for organizations of the future. Diversity and inclusion bring
challenges such as miscommunication, creation of barriers and dysfunc-
tional adaptation behaviors (Coote Martin, 2014), but on the other hand
contribute to organizations’ adaptability, range of skills, innovation, and
creativity (Men & Bowen, 2017). Today, even more than before, compa-
nies depend on innovation to support growth and long-term success
and this makes diversity in the workforce both necessary and inevitable
(DiTomaso et al., 2007).
Digitization, which involves deep changes taking place in society
through the use of digital technology (Agarwal et al., 2011), has gotten a
new meaning in recent months. Organizations have to find a way to inno-
vate using technology and embrace digital transformation to reach better
performance (Hess et al., 2016). The internal communication landscape
has already been transformed by digital technologies adapted to organi-
zational needs and workplace requirements. The pandemic has propelled
this trend into an even faster gear. New media tools that have been
shaping how content is created and shared, have now taken the central
place in everyday communication for a large portion of the global work-
force. Digitized employees provide new opportunities for organizations
(Men et al., 2020). Public relations scholars and practitioners agree that
internal social media help position employees as corporate ambassadors
(Ewing et al., 2019) and help build internal communities and connec-
tions (Haddud et al., 2016). This new reality leads to huge potential for
innovation and performance, but renders organizations more fragile as
they control fewer element of their environment (Vial, 2019). Some of
the issues of digitizing the workplace, such as lack of equipment, choice
of tools and negative attitudes of employees have been resolved by sheer
necessity. In spite of those issues, interactive digital tools help create a
democratic, transparent environment that encourages sharing (Men &
Bowen, 2017).
Another trend growing in strength globally, points toward an increased
demand for ethical accountability and transparency, by state represen-
tatives, grassroots movements and organized consumers. As the publics
everywhere become progressively sensitive toward organizational miscon-
duct it becomes necessary for organizations to include corporate ethics
in all of their management decisions (Huber et al., 2009; Jones et al.,
2007; Kim & Krishna, 2017). Transnational organizations are increasingly
presenting a vision of social responsibility together with their business
vision. This discourse of accountability is an element of globality and

a component of contemporary world culture (Garsten, 2003). In the
future, organizations will need to demonstrate an even stronger social
conscience and give their employees more power and influence, since
millennials and generation Z value the organization’s social responsibility.
The changing nature of work and work context is having an intense
effect on how employees are managed (Fleetwod, 2007). They are
increasingly becoming interested in flexibility and freedom at work
(Boudreau et al., 2015). As the generational change in the workforce
means there is a shift toward the new generation, Gen Z, the impor-
tance of work–life balance becomes even stronger. Generation Y is the first
generation to set a strong emphasis on achieving work–life balance, while
Gen Z (often called the “me” generation) is even more driven toward
their self (Pulevska et al., 2017). The focus of this new generation is not
so much on the company, but on what the company can offer them. The
possibility of working from home, offered by many employers before the
pandemic, has acquired new meaning and has completely reshaped the
way work and work environment is perceived.
Finally, globalization has reached new meaning. For the successful
management of internal communication in different cultural contexts
it is important to recognize cultural diversity without judgment, as
well avoiding cultural blindness (Adler, 2002). Among existing factors,
openness of economies, migration, market liberalization, technology
advancement, and forced limitation of movement has actually brought us
together, in a way. It is safe to assume that the global pandemic has rede-
fined the element of physical distance in doing business and that once the
crisis is over, nothing will ever be the same. This is why internal communi-
cation departments have an important role in building strong bonds with
all employees across transnational environments (Neil & Jiang, 2017).
The workforce is going to become more globalized, diverse and multi-
cultural than ever, even though the issue of balancing corporate culture
with societal culture remains. For the organizations that manage to solve
this successfully there is a greater opportunity for organizational success,
innovation, and creativity (Men & Bowen, 2017). “The key to effective
cross-cultural internal communication is to develop cross-cultural compe-
tence within the internal communication department, to make the team
aware of the effect of culture on their work and to ultimately develop
knowledge and skills designed specifically for an internal multicultural
communication team” (Apud & Apud-Martinez, 2008).
In a Crisis, Communication is a Game Changer

Internal Communication in the Context of SARS-CoV-2
Katarina Klemenc, Country Head Communications Novartis
Slovenia
In a crisis, it is often difficult to understand what is actually going on
and to predict what the next hour and the next day will bring. The time
at the beginning of the crisis is particularly uncertain, as only limited
information is available, and it is crucial to inform employees about the
evolving situation. Even good measures mean nothing if no one knows
about them. Transparent, clear, and regular communication is an essential
element of a successful organization, especially in times of crisis. Commu-
nication is a link that allows us to make even the most unpredictable
situation more manageable.
We started with crisis communication even before our colleagues
started working from home because things in the countries around us had
already appeared to be critical and we understood that something similar
could happen in our country. We were already looking for solutions on
how to best inform employees about what was going on. We organized
ourselves quickly and efficiently and began to communicate key informa-
tion clearly and transparently. You can imagine what a challenge it is if
almost a third of 5.000 associates start working from home overnight.
How to keep them informed about all the key happenings? The situation
once again showed how important it is that we have Novartis Emergency
Management (NEM) in place. And that we had crisis communication
trainings every year for all key stakeholders in our system. I am convinced
that this was critical in enabling us to start successfully operating in a
crisis, I could say almost in an instant.
When the new way of working was established, we wanted to leverage
on the communication to help us maintain the motivation of employees,
as well as to strengthen the sense of pride that we work in a company
which is both highly responsible in taking care for its employees, and was
also really fast in donating financial aid as well as protective equipment to
organizations that are “on the front lines.” Thus, we shared the stories
of associates from different parts of the company through various internal
communication channels, motivational videos were prepared by members
of the company’s top management, we have invited employees to share
ideas and good practices, and made sure we stayed connected through
virtual meetings at various levels. The key role in this was played by 500
leaders from across the company.
The power of communication was also shown by our survey, in which
employees mentioned communication as one of the key factors in making
them feel safe and motivated to work. They mentioned communication at
all levels: personal communication of top management and more than 500
leaders in the company, as well as all other tools of internal and external
communication. All of this builds confidence that together we can make
it. That is why we all agree that we will emerge from these times of crisis
even stronger.
Fun facts:
In the first two months of the pandemic, we have created:
● 30 e-Newsletters for all associates,

● 7 e-Newsletters for leaders
● more than 15 videos for associates (including a video address by
President Pahor),
● 1 video for the external public
● more than 20 media responses directly related to COVID-19,
● 5 brochures for employees and business partners,
● 23 posters with different content,
● the first virtual Town Hall for all Novartis associates in Slovenia
● intranet site & sharepoint COVID-19,
● internet site COVID-19 at www.lek.si.
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CHAPTER 14
Closing Thoughts and Future Directions
Ana Tkalac Verčič
This book is a result of a growing need for knowledge, models, infor-

mation, and solutions in the area of internal communication, both in
practice and in academia. The chapters were designed to give an overview
of internal communication, an area that is increasingly gaining in impor-
tance. The authors, all experienced academics, provided insight into the
most important current trends and issues. The first chapter of the book
offers a summary of internal communication definitions, discusses recent
developments and emerging trends which are shaping the practice, and
introduces the topics that the book covers. In this final chapter, I will give
my view of the current state of the field, review some of the questions
still left open, and conclude with, as the title states, closing thoughts and
future directions.
A. Tkalac Verčič (B)

University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
e-mail: atkalac@efzg.hr

Switzerland AG 2021
242 A. TKALAC VERČIČ
Scope of Internal Communication

There is no organization without communication. This reflects, to
an extent, the rhetorical/hermeneutical approach to communication
in which organizations are symbolic and communication makes them
possible (Grunig, 1992). As Cheney (1983) concluded years ago, much
of our time is spent communicating with, within, and for organizations.
It is also clear that there is no management without communication
(Carrière & Bourque, 2009). However, for years there was no real interest
in internal communication by academics in fields other than speech
communication, which is why they have been given the “almost exclu-
sive privilege of colonizing the oasis of organizational communication”
(Grunig, 1992, p. 537).
Today, things have changed, and various disciplines focus on internal
communication. It is explored within organizational and managerial
theories (Thompkins, 1987), organizational communication (Goldhaber,
1993; Jablin & Putnam, 2001; Jablin et al., 1987), organizational
psychology (Drenth et al., 1998; Lowenberg & Conrad, 1998) and,
obviously, public relations (Men & Bowen, 2017; Ruck & Welch, 2012;
Tkalac Verčič et al., 2012; Welch, 2012). Even though internal commu-
nication is now increasingly recognized as a crucial topic (Zerfass et al.,
2010) in which research has exponentially grown since 2011 (Lee &
Yue, 2020), I believe the field of public relations has yet to take
charge of internal communication completely. In practice, both human
resources management and marketing claim internal communication as
being within their remit/jurisdiction, but it is the public relations and
corporate communication functions that have the best understanding of
internal audiences (Tkalac Verčič, 2016).
In 1992, Grunig wrote a chapter on symmetrical systems of internal
communication and reviewed the theories developed in the field of orga-
nizational communication—“the name used for internal communication
in academic departments of speech communication” (p. 531). He uses the
terms “organizational communication” and “internal communication”
interchangeably, as do some others (Quirke, 2008; Tourish & Hargie,
2009; Zwijze-Koning & de Jong, 2007), even though there is still an
“unhelpful continuous loop” in referring to organizational communi-
cation when talking about internal communication (Welch & Jackson,
2007).
14 CLOSING THOUGHTS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS 243
Defining internal communication from a public relations point of view

is important as it reflects the approach of authors in their studies of the
field. Throughout the book, we have described internal communications
and its elements. We started from basic definitions, where communica-
tion in organizations includes an exchange of information, ideas, attitudes
and emotions from one person to another, commonly with the inten-
tion of changing behavior (Bahtijarević-Šiber & Sikavica, 2001). As Kalla
established, “Internal communication is defined as integrated internal
communication, i.e., all formal and informal communication taking place
internally at all levels of an organization” (2005, p. 304). Internal
communication creates and maintains communication systems between
employers and employees (Tkalac Verčič, 2019), and is a requirement for
organizational success, which is why it needs to be carefully assessed and
managed (Ruck & Welch, 2012). Internal communication systems are a
part of organizational culture and structure and at the same time create
organizational culture and structure (Grunig, 1992). If it is carefully
managed, internal communication can mean a higher awareness of oppor-
tunities and threats, or it can pose a risk when communication is poor
(Tkalac Verčič, 2019). Good communication can add to an organization’s
productivity, performance, and external customer orientation (Downs &
Adrian, 2004). However, it has to create clearer links to business objec-
tives, and focus on strategies more than tools in order to “establish a clear
raison d’etre” (Helsby, 2002, p. 3).
Considering the importance of internal communication, it is clear
why organizations invest substantial financial and human resources
in developing efficient internal communication systems, in order to
achieve appropriate communication within the organization (Carrière &
Bourque, 2009). Today, there is a growing body of evidence that links
internal communication to various outcomes including the degree to
which employees are informed, employee engagement, job satisfaction
and performance (Gray & Laidlaw, 2004; Tkalac Verčič & Pološki Vokić,
2017; Zucker, 2002). Adding weight to this, the advantage of managing
internal communication strategically is more than just employee satisfac-
tion and productivity; it means employees are well informed which adds
to various positive contributions (White et al., 2010). It is clear from
research that there is a significant link between internal communication
and organizational climate and productivity (Joshi & Sharma, 1997), as
well as employees’ ability, motivation, and commitment (Nakara, 2006).
Internal communication can help improve corporate reputation and cred-

ibility since employees represent a highly credible source for all external
publics (Dawkins, 2005; Hannegan, 2004; White et al., 2010) and can
add significant insight into leadership communication (Men, 2015; Men
& Jiang, 2016; Men & Stacks, 2014).
It is important to investigate the scope and practice of internal commu-
nication so that theoretical definitions reflect the reality of practice. In
this book, the starting definition of internal communication is managing
relationships with internal publics. This involves all types of formal and
informal communication happening internally (within the organization
and on all its levels) including hierarchical communication, media and
informal networks. However, one of the main goals of the book was
to widen the scope and adjust the starting definition so that it reflects
internal communication precisely and realistically within its organizational
context.
Positioning Internal Communication

Where does internal communication belong in the organization? The
principle of the informed employee voice works only if there are struc-
tures that facilitate it (Ruck, 2015). In organizational practice, there
are many different versions of internal communication within an orga-
nizational setting. The position of internal communication is deter-
mined by the size of the organization, its culture, management style,
financial resources, employee characteristics, organizational expectations,
and changes in the organizational environment. Internal communica-
tion managers can report to the human resource manager, corporate
communications manager or directly to the CEO. This sometimes means
there can be potential overlaps and tensions (Ruck, 2015). Human
resources and marketing both have a claim on internal communication
(Yeomans & Carthew, 2014). Positioning internal communication within
the human resources function often means focusing solely on employees,
which in turn separates internal from external communication. This can
break the coordination between internal and external messages and can
leave the internal communication function without the external context.
Marketing, on the other hand, can use internal communication to focus
on the brand, customer service, and achieving sales (Quirke, 2008).
As Quirke (p. 293) concludes, “corporate communications is often the
natural home for internal communication”. Internal communication is,

however, still rarely an independent department (Tkalac Verčič, 2016).
While various activities within internal communication can be handled
through the human resources department, communication strategies
should originate within corporate communication. In a study we
conducted in 2012 (Tkalac Verčič et al.), we found that European internal
communication experts believe in the importance of strong connections
between internal communication departments with human resources
management, marketing and change management. According to the
study, internal communication should be a part of corporate commu-
nication departments (positioned high enough in the organizational
structure) for best organizational results.
In academic research, too, there are numerous disciplines that
claim internal communication, such as human resources management,
change management, organizational development, marketing, manage-
ment, corporate strategy, public relations, and corporate communications.
Internal communication, as an area of research, is closely intercon-
nected to all of those academic areas, especially communication and
human resources management. Grunig (1992) reported that organiza-
tional psychologists show an interest in communication (mostly because
of its relationship to constructs that interest them, such as job satis-
faction), while organizational sociologists often show no interest in the
area of internal communication (with major textbooks having no chap-
ters or references to communication). According to marketing academics,
internal communication is a part of a wider, internal marketing concept,
since internal marketing covers all contacts with internal stakeholders.
Internal communication stemming from marketing should be the key
to creating strong psychological contracts between employees and their
organizations and should be responsible for promoting the brand to
internal publics. However, in practice, this is rarely true (Sinčić Ćorić &
Pološki Vokić, 2009).
Researchers and theorists in public relations have analyzed internal
communication as a part of public relations for decades (Grunig, 1992;
Grunig & Hunt, 1984; Pincus, 1986). The quality and volume of
research and theory are constantly improving, and through this, it is
becoming clear that public relations is the best academic host for internal
communication research. In a study we conducted in 2012 (Tkalac
Verčič et al.), internal communication experts agreed that management
and psychological theories were most useful in internal communication,
with some naming language studies, media studies, and marketing. Most
experts stated that internal communication belongs in communication
studies but under great influence by management and human resources
theories. The methodology of internal communication measurement
therefore stems primarily from these areas.
Channels of Internal Communication

In internal communication, as in all forms of communication, the success
of communication depends, among other things, on choosing the right
channel. The choice of a specific channel is a result of a communicator’s
attempt to achieve a message goal (Westmyer et al., 1998). In various
situations, certain channels are more appropriate than others. Organiza-
tions’ choice of channels for internal communication can vary depending
on factors such as organizational profile, size, culture, employees’ qualifi-
cations, or the level of technical development (Dévényi, 2016). Commu-
nication channels can range from traditional (print publications such as
newsletters), phone calls and face-to-face communication, all the way to
interactive web tools, such as internal social networking sites (Crescenzo,
2011). They have different levels of complexity, formality, cost, and
capacity. It is key that the organization and its management consider the
needs and preferences, resources, speed of data transfer, sender goals, and
message and receiver characteristics in choosing the best channels to reach
internal publics.
In choosing internal communication channels, communicators should
consider employee preferences, and this depends on many things. These
preferences are not simple and are contingent on more than just the
type of media. Satisfaction is a result of a complex combination of
content, media, situational, and personality factors. It can be managed
and improved, primarily by asking employees what they think and how
they feel about internal communication practices (Tkalac Verčič & Špol-
jarić, 2020). Even though positive attitudes towards media are a required
precondition of successful internal communication (Welch, 2012), organi-
zations often have a one-way approach to both communication in general
as well as the choice and shape of internal communication media. I believe
satisfied employees are a precondition of prosperous companies of the
future. The expectation that it is employees’ responsibility to adjust to
organizations (or their choice of communication media) will have to
become a thing of the past.
There is not nearly enough research on internal communication

channels. Especially in the current climate where new technologies are
completely reshaping our world. Even though there is a huge shift
towards using digital technologies in daily communication, studies show
that adoption of new technologies is neither easy nor straightforward
(Tkalac Verčič & Špoljarić, 2020).
Different social media platforms, which can range from blogs to social
networks, bring interactivity, the possibility of two-way communication
and employee engagement (Crescenzo, 2011). Social media can create
dialogue and through that have an indirect influence on traditional media
(Berger, 2008; Lee, 2018). These “new” media channels could prove to
be helpful in promoting listening skills and superior face-to-face commu-
nication (Rhee, 2004). Even though face-to-face communication usually
represents the preferred channel, employees’ choice can differ depending
on the task (Reder & Conklin, 1988). It is important to explore whether
the trend towards computer-mediated communication meets employees’
own needs (Braun et al., 2019).
Reasons for Evaluating Internal Communication

Internal communication is comprised of different strategies and tactics
which all have a main goal of improving communication within an orga-
nization. Evaluation and measurement have the most important role
in showcasing the success of internal communication (Men & Bowen,
2017). As the field of internal communication has matured, different
authors have underlined different approaches and methods of measure-
ment. Grunig and Hunt (1984) included retention of key organizational
messages, through conducting communication audits, through coorien-
tational analyses, through internal communication satisfaction measure-
ment, and through communication network analyses. Men and Bowen
(2017) summarized internal communication measurement as outputs,
outtakes, and outcomes, following a distinction made between these
three communication methodologies by Lindenmann (1993) and Broom
and Dozier (1990). However, equating internal communication research
with measuring internal communication satisfaction is still very common
(Ruck, 2015).
In exploring the approaches to communication measurement (and
establishing what to measure), it is useful to examine why it is impor-
tant to measure any aspect of internal communication at all. As Tourish
and Hargie (2009, p. xv) nicely put it—“high quality communica-

tion inside organizations, and between them and their external publics
produces many tangible benefits which include a sane internal atmo-
sphere, where teamwork is the norm, more satisfied employees and
customers, greater levels of productivity and innovation, and sustained
competitive advantage.”
There is abundant proof that links the different aspects of internal
communication to positive outcomes. For example, Robson and Tourish
(2005) concluded there is significant evidence that connects internal
communication with a higher chance of organizational success. Hargie
and Tourish (2002) stated that an increase in internal communica-
tion quality brings a series of useful organizational outcomes. Quinn
and Hargie (2004) agreed that the key values of good organizational
communication are organizational relationships that contribute to orga-
nizational efficiency. Dickson et al. (2003) stated there are numerous
studies connecting an improvement in communication practices with
various positive outcomes.
In their analysis, Clampitt and Downs (1993) concluded that good
internal communication leads to increased productivity, reduced absen-
teeism, higher quality of services and products, increased levels of innova-
tion, lesser strikes, and a reduction in total cost. Internal communication
has been linked to employee trust (Men et al., 2020), employee advocacy
(Men, 2014); organizational reputation (Men, 2014), organizational citi-
zenship behavior (Men & Yue, 2019), and work–life enrichment (Jiang
& Men, 2017). Snyder and Morris (1984) proved that two communi-
cation variables (quality of communication with superiors and exchange
of information with peers) positively correlate with some measures of
total organizational success. On the flipside, poor internal communica-
tion can lead to a number of negative consequences. For example, when
people work in isolation or share only a minimum of information, posi-
tive change is slowed down (Hargie & Tourish, 2002). The same authors
found that a lower quality of interdepartmental communication creates
feelings of isolation and dissatisfaction and this correlates with lower
levels of involvement in decision-making processes. Similarly, insufficient
information exchanges can lead to insecurity and increased alienation for
employees.
Research in and of internal communication should be rooted in
communication and management theories but should also build its own
body of knowledge. Incorporating research around engagement, reputa-

tion and employer branding into internal communication will help further
develop the area and establish it more effectively both in academia and
practice.
In contemporary organizations, engaged employees represent a
competitive advantage (Macey & Schneider, 2008). According to Welch
(2011), employee engagement falls into the internal communication
domain, while Bakker et al. (2011) stated that internal communication
is key in promoting employee engagement. Despite this, the relationship
between internal communication and employee engagement is underex-
plored (Men et al., 2020; Tkalac Verčič et al., 2012; Tkalac Verčič &
Pološki Vokić, 2017). It is internal communication that has the biggest
potential in transferring organizational values to each employee, and
through this, engaging them into organizational goals (Bindl & Parker,
2010; Pugh & Dietz, 2008; Wiley et al., 2010). Ruck and Welch (2012)
have shown how employee engagement depends on internal communica-
tion and how organizations that have better internal communication have
a four times higher chance of having engaged employees. In a recent study
in which we explored this relationship further (Tkalac Verčič & Pološki
Vokić, 2017), internal communication proved to be a precondition for
effective employee engagement.
With regard to reputation, most authors would agree to define it
as a combination of internal and external perceptions of an organiza-
tion (Cheney & Christensen, 2001; Gummesson, 2000; Tkalac Verčič
& Verčič, 2007). Some authors believe that reputation is an aggre-
gation of identity and image (Fombrun, 1996; Fombrun & van Riel,
1997). From this perspective, communication directed toward internal
publics is vital in reputation management (Ahmed & Rafiq, 2002; Tkalac
Verčič & Verčič, 2007). The concept of employer brand is also closely
connected to reputation (Ruiz et al., 2016), occasionally as a protector
of it (Burke et al., 2011). Academic research aimed at exploring repu-
tation and employer brands shows a certain overlap on the conceptual,
methodological, and empirical levels (Hendriks, 2016). As a result, both
reputation and employer brand should be important elements in the
research of internal communication and should be placed within the remit
of the internal communicator’s responsibilities. This is particularly impor-
tant since profitability and the future success of modern organizations
depend on their readiness to put employees first and recognize them as
the most important resource of organizational success (Aggerholm et al.,

2011).
In practice, however, the use of research in internal communication is
still rather uncommon. A study by Nelli (2018) showed that practitioners
generally pay little attention to monitoring internal communication prac-
tices. His study shows that companies rarely measure costs, both financial
and in terms of personnel, of internal communication projects. Most
of the research is focused on intranet usage and on the satisfaction
or engagement of employees, followed by measures of the quality of
internal workflows and the effectiveness of communication channels.
Measures that reveal the impact of communication at the outcome level
are rarely conducted, while methods to evaluate the impact of internal
communication on strategic and/or financial objectives are ranked last.
The Future of Internal Communication

The increasing complexity of modern organizations and significant
changes in which they operate, as well as the major advances in infor-
mation technologies, all lead to an increased interest in internal commu-
nication (Bélanger & Watson-Manheim, 2006). This fast-changing and
connected modern society has made employees one of the most impor-
tant publics for every organization (Kim & Rhee, 2011). A satisfying
employee–employer relationship aids productivity, external relations and
organizational reputation (Berger, 2008). In the past, internal commu-
nication has been viewed, quite basically, as the function of providing
employees with information (McKenzie, 2007). This one-way approach
was mainly concerned with regulating employee behavior and guar-
anteeing agreement. Today, organizations are moving toward creative
involvement and participation. This contemporary approach should high-
light organizations as an “…interconnected whole which needs to be
focused on agreed objectives in order to go through organizational trans-
formation without collapsing into internal strife” (Tourish & Hargie,
2009, p. 24).
As we stated in Chapter 13, there are certain trends which shape the
future of internal communication. Globalization, deregulation, economic
crises, and now a global pandemic, all create an unpredictable environ-
ment full of potential opportunities and threats (Tkalac Verčič, 2020).
There is an overall decrease of trust in organizational leadership (Jiang
& Probst, 2015) and loyalty toward organizations (Tkalac Verčič, 2016).
The future is not easy to predict, but some major trends seem clear (Men
& Bowen, 2017).
Successful organizations depend on innovation for growth, and so
incorporating differences that ensure diversity is becoming necessary
(DiTomaso, 2007). Diversification in the workplace now includes differ-
ences in language, nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orienta-
tion (Amadeo, 2013). Also, changes in society that are a result of digital
technology are reshaping our world. Only innovating and embracing
digital technologies in internal communication can lead to better perfor-
mance (Hess et al., 2016) and a democratic, transparent environment
that encourages sharing (Men & Bowen, 2017). Coupled with this, there
is a bigger demand for ethical accountability and transparency, as the
publics everywhere become increasingly sensitive toward organizational
misconduct. As new generations become the majority of the workforce,
companies will have to show an even stronger social conscience and
give their employees more power and influence. New generations are
also showing an increasing interest in flexibility and freedom at work
(Boudreau et al., 2015), as the importance of work–life balance becomes
even stronger. The focus of younger employees is not so much on the
organization, but on what the organization can offer them. Finally, to
ensure the successful management of internal communication, it is impor-
tant to recognize cultural diversity without judgment, as well as to avoid
cultural blindness (Adler, 2002). The workforce is becoming more glob-
alized, diverse and multicultural than ever, which means there is a greater
opportunity for organizational success, innovation, and creativity (Men &
Bowen, 2017).
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Index
A 173, 187, 188, 190, 191, 193,

activism, 10, 28, 51, 114–123, 142 195, 205, 211–213, 234, 246,
adversary activism, 121–123 247, 250
advocacy activism, 121 communication, 1–5, 7–10, 12,
Artificial intelligence (AI), 12, 67, 13, 19–30, 32, 40–46, 49–53,
211–214 57–70, 75, 80–82, 84–86, 94,
95, 98–101, 103–105, 114, 115,
121, 123–125, 132–136, 139–
B
144, 150–153, 155, 157–159,
best practices, 7, 8, 13, 30
166–168, 170–176, 183–196,
burnout, 150, 155–157
202–216, 223–232, 234, 235,
242–250
C communication management, 1, 80,
CEOs, 9, 12, 21, 22, 24, 27–30, 33, 104, 133
34, 59, 69, 70, 85, 103, 113, communication styles, 20, 22–24
125, 139, 216, 226, 244 corporate culture, 233
change communication, 10, 13,
crisis communication, 9, 13, 42, 65,
187–194
165–168, 170, 172, 173, 176,
change management, 9, 29, 62, 122,
234
183, 185, 186, 188, 191–196,
245 crisis management, 7, 9, 45, 52, 53,
channels, 4, 8–10, 12, 26–28, 32, 52, 170, 171, 176
63–65, 67, 84, 105, 135, 167, cross-culture, 9, 10, 13, 225, 233
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive 259
license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Communication, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78213-9
260 INDEX
CSR communication, 13, 131–137, employees, 2–13, 20, 22–30, 33, 34,
140, 144 40–43, 45–52, 58–70, 75–86,
culture, 4–6, 9, 11, 13, 20–26, 28, 93–106, 113–124, 131–137,
33, 52, 61, 64–66, 69, 70, 79, 140–144, 149–159, 165–177,
80, 83, 117, 118, 123, 154, 170, 183–185, 187–194, 196,
177, 184, 185, 189–191, 194, 202–215, 226, 227, 229–235,
203, 210, 213, 214, 223–231, 243–251
233, 243, 244, 246 employee trust, 6, 8, 231, 248
current state, 185, 203, 241 employee voice, 5, 8, 12, 61, 93–95,
97, 99–101, 103, 106, 168, 172,
244
D employee wellness, 153, 156
definitions, 2, 3, 5, 20, 40, 76, 77, employer-employee relationships, 5,
84, 95–99, 114, 119, 123, 132, 134, 191
151, 152, 166, 207, 208, 224, empowerment, 23, 83, 116, 135, 169,
241, 243, 244 191, 206, 207
dialogue, 5, 10, 12, 26, 62, 63, 93, engagement, 6, 9, 20, 22, 23, 25, 28,
95–102, 104, 105, 170, 171, 43, 51, 52, 60, 78, 82, 94, 98,
192, 193, 213, 215, 247 99, 102, 103, 137, 141, 142,
digital analytics, 211, 212 150, 153, 155–158, 166, 170,
174, 176, 177, 193, 202, 205,
209–211, 213, 216, 249, 250
enterprise social media, 57
E
evaluate, 31, 174, 201, 203, 205,
emerging technologies, 11, 12, 58,
206, 209–211, 213–216, 250
67, 214
employee activism, 11, 12, 114–124
employee advocacy, 8, 12, 75–86, F
119–121, 168, 248 future directions, 158, 176, 241
employee commitment, 6, 79, 80, 243
employee communication, 1, 31, 39,
60, 61, 64, 66, 82, 85, 143, 165, G
166, 168, 171, 172, 177, 188 global internal communication, 13,
employee communication behavior, 8, 227, 228, 231
81, 158
employee engagement, 6, 8, 11, 68,
83, 93, 94, 101, 106, 115, 119, I
132, 137, 144, 149, 156, 158, identification, 8, 23, 25, 79–81, 99,
167, 168, 176, 177, 202, 243, 100, 102, 103, 132, 133, 135,
247, 249 137, 141–143, 166, 172, 189,
employee-organization relationships, 225
10, 22, 153 internal, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9–13, 21, 22,
employee relations, 168, 188 28, 32, 40, 49–53, 67, 69,
INDEX 261
70, 77, 80, 81, 83–85, 98, L

106, 107, 113–120, 122, 124, leader-member exchanges, 157
132–137, 142, 143, 151, 155, leaders, 4–6, 10–13, 19–33, 50, 79,
157, 165–177, 184, 195, 203– 80, 95, 96, 102, 105, 114, 124,
205, 208–210, 212–216, 226, 152, 154, 155, 173, 176, 185,
227, 232, 233, 235, 244–246, 186, 189–191, 196, 203, 206,
248–250 230, 235
internal audience, 4, 11, 77, 136, leadership, 4, 6, 9, 12, 19–21, 23–26,
144, 242 28–32, 61, 66, 80, 95, 103, 105,
internal communication, 1–13, 22, 118, 159, 177, 186, 189, 196,
23, 26–28, 33, 39, 45, 50–53, 204, 207, 209, 215, 216, 231,
58–60, 64, 67–69, 76, 80–85, 250
93, 98, 99, 101–107, 114, 115, leadership communication, 4, 6, 9,
121–123, 132, 133, 151–156, 21–24, 26–33, 244
158, 159, 167–175, 188, listening, 5, 12, 20, 25–27, 30, 32,
189, 192–195, 201–203, 205, 51, 52, 68, 83, 86, 93–101,
206, 209–216, 224, 228, 229, 103–107, 177, 209, 247
231–234, 241–251
internal crisis management, 167, 168,
171, 176 M
management, 3–5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13,
internal CSR, 13, 132–136, 144
20–22, 25, 27, 40, 42, 46, 50,
internal issue management, 12, 49, 51
61, 66, 69, 70, 80, 81, 83, 86,
internal listening, 12, 93, 94
93–96, 98, 101, 103, 105, 106,
internal public, 1, 11, 12, 39–43, 45, 113, 116, 122, 132–134, 143,
46, 48–51, 53, 226, 244–246, 144, 151, 155, 156, 166–170,
249 172, 175–178, 183, 184, 187,
internal relations, 1, 3 190, 192–196, 204, 232–235,
internal social media, 9, 12, 57, 68, 242, 244–246, 248, 249, 251
101, 106, 211, 232 measure, 8, 13, 21, 28, 48, 50,
issues, 2, 9–12, 22, 28, 39–53, 59, 61, 52, 107, 174, 186, 193, 194,
65, 66, 68, 69, 78, 86, 97, 98, 201–206, 208–216, 226, 234,
101, 105, 106, 114, 116–122, 247, 248, 250
124, 134–136, 138, 139, 141, metrics, 153, 203, 204, 210–212,
144, 150, 153, 154, 157, 159, 215, 216
167, 170, 171, 173, 176, 207, multi-cultural, 10, 226
209, 231–233, 241 multicultural communication, 13,
229, 233
J O
job-demands, 156 organizational citizenship behavior, 8,
job resources, 156–158 25, 43, 248
262 INDEX
organizational purpose, 24, 30, 132, Situation theory of problem-solving

138–141, 143, 144 (STOPS), 43, 45, 46, 49, 51
social intranet, 57, 69
standard, 48, 185, 190, 205–209,
P 214, 228
participation, 52, 58, 93, 94, 104, strategic change, 13, 185, 193–196
154, 191, 205, 214, 250 strategies, 4–6, 9, 10, 21, 22, 26, 28,
practice, 2–4, 6–13, 31, 40, 45, 46, 41, 45, 52, 53, 59, 64, 65, 69,
48, 49, 53, 58, 60–62, 68, 93, 76, 81, 83, 85, 86, 101, 103,
99, 101, 104, 105, 115–118, 115, 116, 118, 121–123, 134,
123–125, 132, 134–137, 139, 136, 137, 141–143, 157, 158,
143, 152, 153, 155, 158, 159, 168, 171–173, 186–189, 191,
169, 177, 183–185, 192, 196, 192, 194, 202–205, 209, 211,
201, 214, 223, 225, 231, 234, 212, 214, 215, 228, 243, 245,
241, 242, 244–246, 248–250 247
public relations, 1–5, 7–12, 26, 22, supervisors, 22–25, 27, 47, 80, 157,
26, 28, 31, 39–43, 45, 50, 192, 204
51, 76, 77, 81, 96, 98, 104, supervisor-subordinate relationships,
114–116, 118, 120, 122, 123, 23
125, 133, 134, 151, 157, 158,
201, 204–206, 210, 212, 213,
223–226, 231, 232, 242, 243, T
245 tactics, 4, 65, 115, 119, 122, 204,
public segmentation, 39, 41, 43, 44, 205, 214, 247
46, 47, 51–53 theoretical development, 10, 121
purpose, 5, 6, 11, 13, 24, 26, 62, 79, theory, 3, 10–13, 24, 27, 32, 40,
124, 132, 138–143, 184, 191, 43–45, 49, 69, 80, 93, 98, 99,
205, 215, 216 121, 122, 133, 135, 136, 151,
purpose-driven organization, 132 156, 187, 188, 210, 214, 242,
245, 246, 248
trends, 2, 10–13, 105, 133, 142, 143,
150, 231, 232, 241, 247, 250,
R
251
recovery, 13, 33, 166, 168, 174–178
relaunch, 168, 176
U
uncertainty, 24, 28–30, 33, 42, 140,
S 174, 175, 184, 187, 189, 191,
satisfaction, 6, 8, 23, 25, 27, 79, 81, 195, 209
83, 93, 137, 149, 152–154, 202,
206, 207, 209–211, 213, 214,
229, 243, 245–247, 250 W
Self-reflection (SR), 20, 31–33 wellbeing, 13, 30, 79, 105, 141, 174
INDEX 263
wellness, 85, 151, 153, 154, 156, 158 117, 118, 121, 124, 135, 141,
work-life balance, 43, 132, 155, 251 149, 150, 152, 154–156, 168,
work-life conflicts, 155 192, 196, 208, 226, 229, 231,
workplace, 11, 12, 20, 22, 27, 42, 46, 232, 251
59, 83, 84, 93, 96–98, 104, 105, workplace communication, 150

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NEW PERSPECTIVES IN ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

More information about this series at

ISSN 2730-5333 ISSN 2730-5341 (electronic)

Nearly a century ago (1924–1932) the Hawthorne Studies of employees

professionals; and (4) punctuated by dozens of insightful best practices

Bruce K. Berger, Ph.D.

1 Evolving Research and Practices in Internal

8 Beyond Internal Corporate Social Responsibility

Bruce K. Berger is a professor emeritus, University of Alabama. He was

Alfonsa Butera is an adjunct professor of Corporate Communication

Ganga S. Dhanesh (Ph.D., National University of Singapore), is an

Michele E. Ewing, APR, Fellow PRSA has more than 30 years of

University. Her research focuses on digital communication, fake news

Jarim Kim (Ph.D., University of Maryland, 2014) is an assistant

Arunima Krishna, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at Boston University’s

Yeunjae Lee (Ph.D., Purdue University, 2018) is an assistant professor

Vibeke Thøis Madsen is a senior associate professor in organizational

Alessandra Mazzei is the director of Centre for Employee Relations

Linjuan Rita Men, Ph.D., APR is an associate professor in the Depart-

communications. She is the lead author of the book, Excellence in Internal

Julie O’Neil, Ph.D., APR teaches and researches in public relations,

Stacey Smith, APR, Fellow PRSA is a senior counsel and partner at

Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, Ph.D. is a professor of Public Relations and

Patrick D. Thelen is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism

Ana Tkalac Verčič, Ph.D. is a professor of Marketing and Public Rela-

Dejan Verčič, Ph.D. is a professor, Head of Department of Commu-

Aniisu K. Verghese, Ph.D. is an award-winning internal communica-

Justin A. Walden, Ph.D. is an associate professor of organizational

Sean Williams is an assistant teaching professor at Bowling Green State

Cen April Yue, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of

for Public Relations. Her research interest focuses on internal public

Mahul Brahma, Ph.D., D.Litt. heads Communications, CSR, and

the public and private sectors in a variety of communications roles. He is

Fig. 4.1 Different factors influencing employee communication

Table 3.1 Communicative behaviors of segmented employees

Evolving Research and Practices in Internal

Linjuan Rita Men

Internal communication, sometimes referred to as employee communica-

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1

communication published in nine communication journals from 1970 to

What Is Internal Communication?

by nature, internal communication can be positioned between public rela-

distinct from a similar but easily confused term, organizational communi-

Evolving Roles and Functions

employees. Culture is intertwined with internal communication (Grunig

State of Research in Internal Communication

1. Defining internal communication and describing the practice

(1) Defining and describing internal communication. Pioneer

start of the new millennium. Public relations and corporate commu-

research has explored internal communication strategies, channels, and

employee relational and behavioral outcomes (Kim, 2018; Mazzei &

Current Trends and Issues

addressing current trends and emerging issues. Specifically, this edited

● What are organizational leaders’ internal communication roles?

matter? How to develop purpose-aligned internal CSR communi-

This book is grounded in solid scientific research and informed by

Kalla, H. K. (2005). Integrated internal communications: A multidisciplinary

Leaders as Communication Agents

Cen April Yue, Linjuan Rita Men, and Bruce K. Berger