Engaging Employees During a Pandemic Crisis - A Study of Internal Crisis Communication in Organizations
Bako, Evelin (2020)
Bako, Evelin
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020100520975
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020100520975
Tiivistelmä
On the 11th of March, 2020 the World Health Organization announced the new coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic. The spread of the disease has caused one of the toughest lockdowns ever seen around the world and pushed leaders and organizations of all sizes into a communication challenge. Managers did not only have to inform their teams about the changes the new situation brought to work life but also, they had to find new ways to engage their employees and team members virtually.
This study focuses on examining organization’s internal communication effectiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores how managers and team leaders engaged their employees during the crisis. For this purpose, communication concepts are defined, and existing theory related to crisis management, crisis communication and employee engagement are explored. To support the relevance of this research, quantitative surveys with employees of various public and private sector organizations are conducted and analyzed.
The research findings indicate that the workload of managers has rather increased during the pandemic. In contrast, employees in non-managerial positions indicated a decrease in their workload. Findings indicate that employees were satisfied with where, and how their organization communicated with them during the pandemic, but they were unsatisfied with the frequency of information delivery. Employees wished that their organization would have informed them faster and more frequently about the changes the pandemic brought to the work life.
The results of the survey show that most employees didn’t receive clear directions from their supervisors during the pandemic. The most common communication challenges employees faced with their supervisors were the obscurity of goals and priorities, loss of information and decrease in team spirit.
Organizations are recommended to encourage their managers to allow flexibility even more during crisis times. Team leaders and supervisors are recommended to put more effort into keeping up the team spirit during a crisis as it is highly contributing to employees’ engagement. Virtual coffee and lunch breaks, online birthday celebrations, or Friday quizzes are some ideas for online activities team leaders can implement within their groups. For some teams, a co-created playlist can help to stay connected with colleagues through music. Team leaders of all companies are recommended to be consistent with rewards and recognition even during a crisis. Similarly, managers are recommended to schedule informal check-ins with their team members to collect and give feedback.
This study focuses on examining organization’s internal communication effectiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores how managers and team leaders engaged their employees during the crisis. For this purpose, communication concepts are defined, and existing theory related to crisis management, crisis communication and employee engagement are explored. To support the relevance of this research, quantitative surveys with employees of various public and private sector organizations are conducted and analyzed.
The research findings indicate that the workload of managers has rather increased during the pandemic. In contrast, employees in non-managerial positions indicated a decrease in their workload. Findings indicate that employees were satisfied with where, and how their organization communicated with them during the pandemic, but they were unsatisfied with the frequency of information delivery. Employees wished that their organization would have informed them faster and more frequently about the changes the pandemic brought to the work life.
The results of the survey show that most employees didn’t receive clear directions from their supervisors during the pandemic. The most common communication challenges employees faced with their supervisors were the obscurity of goals and priorities, loss of information and decrease in team spirit.
Organizations are recommended to encourage their managers to allow flexibility even more during crisis times. Team leaders and supervisors are recommended to put more effort into keeping up the team spirit during a crisis as it is highly contributing to employees’ engagement. Virtual coffee and lunch breaks, online birthday celebrations, or Friday quizzes are some ideas for online activities team leaders can implement within their groups. For some teams, a co-created playlist can help to stay connected with colleagues through music. Team leaders of all companies are recommended to be consistent with rewards and recognition even during a crisis. Similarly, managers are recommended to schedule informal check-ins with their team members to collect and give feedback.
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