CC BY
24
A STUDY ON THE VARIOUS CHANNELS OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AND ITS IMPACT ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
1DR. SAIKUMARI.V, 2SARAH BERNADINE JOSEPH, 3SWETHA.V, 4VINITHA SHREE U, 5B. PRASSANA
VENKATESH
1HOD- MBA, Easwari Engineering College. 22nd year MBA, Easwari Engineering College 32nd year MBA, Easwari Engineering College, 42nd year MBA, Easwari Engineering College, 52nd year MBA, Easwari Engineering College
Abstract:
Internal conversation increases organisational trust, which is normally related to profitability. Internal communications exhibit control's involvement in staff communique. As a end result, control ought to devise a approach for business enterprise-extensive conversation.
This studies is important due to the fact internal verbal exchange boundaries and threats in an business enterprise reduce worker engagement and efficiency.
Business leaders may be not able to talk successfully with their workforce, which can have a terrible effect on an employer's capability to establish and maintain a aggressive benefit. The channels of conversation utilized by organizational management might have a extraordinary impact depending on the situation, state of affairs, and channel used, the record's hints will surely pass a long manner to help public members of the family specialists recognise when and the way to get the most out of the company's personnel and thereby increase the organisation's overall performance typical. Keywords: Internal Communication, Employee engagement, Communication channels. Corporate Communications.
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY: The business environment is changing rapidly; it has evolved as an important component of the managerial process and management analysis. When all of these factors are considered, good communication is critical to the success of any industry or corporation. Communication consumes 7080% of working time. We're writing, reading, and listening to our coworkers while having monotonous conversations with our managers.
The two broad categories of organizational communication strategies are external and internal communication strategies. An organization's members working together to gather data and information and increase employee engagement is what is meant to be meant by the term "internal communication.". Internal communication increases organisational trust, which is typically associated with commercial success. Management's participation in worker communication is demonstrated by internal communications. As a result, management must devise a strategy for company-wide communication. Communication is at the heart of any organisation. This research is necessary because internal communication obstacles and threats in an organisation reduce employee engagement and efficiency.
There are five main sources of internal communication:
r -y Management • Dispense information such as strategies, company results, internal and external information, and other important general information.
Team k- * • Between colleagues who work together to achieve the same end goal.
r -y Face-to-face • Briefing individuals on tasks and situations.
r -y Peer • Informal chats between colleagues to share information.
Resources
The intranet, email, social media, messaging, video calls, telephone.
Importance of Internal Communication:
Objectives of the study:
The role of communication plays a vital part in enhancing the overall performance of an organization. Organizations need to communicate internally with their employees to engage, educate and motivate them. Effective internal communication improves the overall relationship between the management and employees. This thesis focuses primarily on understanding the impact of internal communication on employee engagement, it also aims to identify the various communication channels opted by organizations to reach their employees in order to keep them engaged and informed. Primary Objective:
The primary objective relates to the final and specific aim and outcome of the research. It states the main objective of conducting this research. The primary objective of this study are as follows:
• To understand the impact of internal communication on employee engagement. Secondary objectives:
The secondary objectives of this study are as follows:
• To assess how employees perceive internal communication.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the various channels of internal communication
Need and scope of the study:
This research will be required for senior management professionals in an active organisation who are involved in decision-making. It will assist them in deciphering and determining which communication strategy or policy will boost staff efficiency and overall organisational effectiveness. Internal communication is critical in developing an organisational culture that employees recognise. The organisation can interpret the values it wants its employees to retain through internal communication, such as what values stand inside the organisation and why missions are vital. As a result, internal communication can aid in learning while conversing with others, developing support for leaders, and elevating those involved.
LITERATURE REVIEW:
Internal communication is defined as "the flow of communication among people within an organization's boundaries" (Mazzei, 2010). Internal communication is a critical enabler of employee support and one of the most essential aspects of maintaining employees. According to Adonis (2006), communication should be regular, open, and verbal in order to increase trust between employees and management, make employees feel important, and reduce the chances of employees not knowing what is going on in the organisation.
Internal communication is defined as "communication transactions between individuals and/or groups at various levels and specialisations that are intended to design and redesign organisations, implement designs, and coordinate day-to-day activities." Internal communication, on the other hand, can be characterised as "the planned role of communication actions to systematically influence the existing employees' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours."
Some studies describe the relationship between internal marketing practices and the behaviours of engaged employees, stating that internal marketing is a critical instrument for building great employee engagement. Internal marketing, however, is a neglected topic in firms due to a lack of an agreed-upon definition, measurement of its practises, and clarity regarding functional responsibility for its execution in an organisational setting (Ahmed & Rafiq, 2000). Furthermore, the lack of measurement tools makes examining the relationship between internal marketing practises and engaged employee behaviour challenging. As a result, the internal marketing idea will be examined first, and the most prominent practises will be established in order to assess the relationship between internal marketing practises and the behaviours of engaged employees on a measurable scale.
Changing roles of internal communication and its channels
Internal communication is a critical activity in organisations (Harris & Nelson, 2008). connections are formed primarily through communication, and the existence and operation of organisations is heavily reliant on effective connections between groups and individuals. It aids in the coordination of activities, socialisation, problem solving, and decision-making. Jones and colleagues (2004) It functions as an enabler of trust, motivation, shared trust, and engagement, catering to the hopes, emotions, accomplishments, and ambitions of the organization's employees, allowing them to make meaning of their respective organisations and what they stand for. The approach to internal communication is changing as a result of numerous changes in the workplace. Communication drives relationships and frames behaviours of people in the workplace and is a significant factor in the effectiveness of organisations Internal Communication and Channels and Effectiveness
Several teachers, in line with Welch and Jackson (2007), accept as true with that two-manner symmetrical conversation is an excellent satisfactory in companies since it "attempts to balance the hobbies of the agency and its public." according to Grunig, inner communique is simplest powerful if "content material meets personnel' need to recognise rather than managements' want to tell" (Welch and Jackson, 2007).
While many corporations see and respect the need of precise internal communique, they maintain to battle to discover a middle floor among "what gets stated and what gets carried out" (Horn, 1999).
Powerful internal communication is strongly depending on the relevance and applicability of communications to personnel (Welch, 2012).
RESEARCH MODEL
According to the proposed model, there are four factors that influence the impact of internal communication on employee engagement. These four variables play a major role in evaluating the impact and effectiveness of the internal communication within the organization. The four variables are: Frequency, Channel, Content, and Quality.
RESEARCH APPROACH:
This research follows a qualitative approach. It is a qualitative study to understand the impact of internal communication on employee engagement. Data Source:
Information series is in lots of methods more of an artwork than a science. Now and again the statistics are to be had readily in one form or the alternative and once in a while they are to be collected afresh. The two important outside sources of facts collection techniques for research are, Questionnaire and Journals Target Population:
The target population for this research was Working professionals who belonged to the IT and Corporate sector in and around Chennai. Sampling method and sample size:
The sample size of the respondents was 50 The sampling method used was simple random sampling. But due to unresponsive bias the responses collected were 45.
Questionnaire Structure: Section A: Demographic Information
Section B: Communication Channels Available for Employee-Management
Interrelationship
Section C: Extent of Use of Available Communication Channels
Section D: Employee's Perception on Available Communication Channels
Section E: Influence of Internal Communication on Employee engagement
Findings and observations:
The results of the survey conducted are as follows:
A percentage of 49% of male and 51% of female respondents participated in the survey. The designations were classified into three categories with 4% from top-level management, 36% from middle-level management, and 60% from lower-level management.
The age groups were categorized into Below 25 - 69%, 25-30 years -22%, 31-40 years- 7%, Above 40 years - 2%
Gender % of respondents
Male 49%
Female 51%
Age % of respondents
Below 25 69°%
25-30 22%
31-40 7%
Above 40 2%
Designation % of respondents
Top level management 4%
Middle level management 36%
Lower-level management 60%
Experience % of respondents
Below 5 years 84%
5-10 years 11%
11 -20 years 2%
Above 20 years 2%
Yes No Sometimes
Do you see the internal communication you receive? 71% 2% 27%
Does the internal communication keep you engaged? 62% 11% 27%
It is inferred that there is a relationship between seeing internal communication to be engaged by it. It is concluded that 71% of respondents see the internal communications regularly and 27% respond to it sometimes. 62% of respondents claimed that the internal communication at their organization keeps them engaged and 27% feel engaged sometimes.
With prior research on the various communication channels used by organizations, it has been narrowed down to five major channels that are majorly incorporated in organizations. The respondents were also asked about the least used channel in their organization and to state the reason why. Magazines were voted for 44%, Campaigns- 22%, Email- 18%, Events - 11%, and intranet - 4%.
The majorly stated reason for utilizing magazines the least is because magazines bombard too much information and it's time consuming and much costly to adapt to that form of communication. The respondents also concluded that emails seem much efficient and effective than publishing an entire magazine.
Campaigns were then voted second least used channel because campaigns happen once in a while and they do not have an engaging effect on employees all the time.
The respondents were asked about the employee communication they receive often and Email was rated highest by 82%, and then intranet by 18%.
The four variables that impact employee engagement- Frequency, content, quality and channel were rated on the basis of satisfaction by the respondents:
Communication Channel Frequency Content Quality Mode
Email 80% 82% 80% 80%
Magazines 11% 40% 35% 28%
Intranet 44°% 42% 48% 44%
Events & Programs 53°% 51% 55% 57%
Campaigns 35% 35% 31% 37%
The engagement level of each channel was also measured and the results are as follows:
The engagement level of Internal Channels Good Neutral Bad
Emails 76% 24% -
Magazines 22.2% 64.4% 13.3%
Intranet 44.4% 44.4% 11.1%
Events & Programs 48.9% 44.4% 6.7%
Campaigns 44.4% 42.2% 13.3%
The barriers to effective employee communication were voted as follows:
Barriers
%
Information overload 14%
Lack of credibility 9%
Choice of communication channel 12%
Language Barrier 9%
Other 1%
According to the respondents, 8% of the respondents feel that internal communication impacts overall efficiency, 4% chose motivation, 3% chose transparency, 4% chose enhanced performance, 2% chose increased engagement and 25% of the respondents claimed it impacts all of the above. Chi Square Test:
Null Hypothesis (HO): There is no significant relationship between the channels of internal communication and its impact on employee engagement.
Alternate Hypothesis (HA): There is a significant relationship between the channels of internal communication and employee engagement.
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 54.056 6 .000
Likelihood Ratio 62.130 6 .000
Linear-by-Linear 4.884 1 .027
Association
N of Valid Cases 45
Inference:
A Pearson Chi-square take a look at become performed to take a look at the connection between inner verbal exchange and employee engagement. The result discovered that there was a extensive courting among the 2 variables (Chi-square value = fifty four.05, df = 6, p = .000). Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and trade hypothesis is commonplace. Accordingly, the channels of internal conversation inside the decided on agency influences worker engagement
CONCLUSION:
• According to the model proposed in this research, the four key factors that are frequency, content, quality, and channel have a huge impact on employee engagement.
• The more frequent and efficient choice of the channel with required content will keep the employees engaged according to the survey results.
• It is also inferred that too much information and communication overload do not keep the employees engaged and instead created an aversion towards that particular communication channel. (i.e., Magazine)
• Overall, among the various communication channels used in organizations, it can be inferred that email is the most effective and efficient mode of communication channel that keeps employees engaged. The frequency and accessibility of email communication keep employees engaged and communicate the needed.
• Based on the results, the role and function of internal communication are as follows:
REFERENCES:
[1] The Impact of Internal Communications on Employee Engagement in Iran's Petrochemical Industry- Hadi Davardoost, Seyed Mohammad Javadi (2019)
[2] 12-19-2012 The Role of Internal Communication and the Effect on Employee Engagement Cherie Gaither Bellarmine University
[3] Attridge, M. (2009). Measuring and managing employee work engagement: a review of the research and business literature. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 24(4), 383-98.
[4] Employee Engagement and Internal Communication: A United Arab Emirates Study Kate O'Neill Sasha Hodgson Mariam Al Mazrouei Zayed University United Arab Emirates
