The influence of Internal Communication on Employee Engagement in South Africa

Abstract

The advent of digitisation, regulatory uncertainty, and increased financial pressure on businesses has enlarged the global competitor landscape forcing organisations to turn to their employees as a key strategic source of competitive advantage. These factors, and more, have placed employee engagement at the forefront of the business agenda as it has become a key performance indicator for many organisations. This research study investigated the influence of internal communication, particularly communication from the line manager on employee engagement constructs of organisational commitment, job satisfaction and employee trust. This study draws from the integrated marketing communications framework and on Freeman’s stakeholder theory that encourages organisations to take into account the different internal groups with a varying stake in the organisation. Furthermore, Freeman’s stakeholder theory recognises employees as key influential stakeholders in the work place. The methodology entailed a cross-sectional survey design featuring a self-administered online questionnaire adapted from past research studies. The findings revealed the critical role that a line manager plays in building an engaged workforce through the practice of efficient internal communication. All hypotheses were supported and the results indicated a positive and significant relationship between all constructs of internal communication and employee engagement. This study makes a contribution to the areas of internal marketing communication, and the role of line management in creating an engaged labour force within the identified context of the study. In addition, this study broadens the existing knowledge in the field of internal marketing communication and employee engagement and also gives theoretical and practical recommendations to leaders within the organisation. Managerial implications reveal the importance that organisations ought to place on up-skilling line managers as a way to create employees who will serve as a source of strategic competence. Keywords: employee engagement, internal communication, internal stakeholder, organisational commitment, job satisfaction, employee trust, internal line manager communication.