Can public relations improve the workplace? Measuring the impact of stewardship on the employer-employee relationship

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to use relationship management theory to measure the impact of relationship cultivation on the employer-employee relationship. Specifically, the paper examines how well Kelly's (2001) conceptualization of stewardship can impact internal stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach -Through intercept surveys of 421 adults, the paper used existing scales to measure dimensions of the employer-employee relationship and the participants' perceptions of stewardship in the workplace. Findings -This study found that the four dimensions of stewardship significantly impact feelings of trust, commitment, satisfaction, and balanced power between the employer and the employee. Additionally, increased use of stewardship resulted in increased involvement by employees. Practical implications -The results of the paper offer several specific suggestions employers can do to communicate more effectively with their employees so that they are not only more informed but also feel more positively about the relationship they have with the employer. Originality/value -Original stewardship scales were developed for the paper so that they can be tested in domains outside the nonprofit sector, where they have been routinely tested with donors and volunteers.

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“…Prior literature demonstrated that low LMXSC can physiologically damaging for the focal employee resulting in low commitment and low satisfaction (Eisenberger, Stinglhamber, Vandenberghe, Sucharski, and Rhoades, 2002;Rousseau, 1989), more critical behavior (Waters, Bortree, & Tindall, 2013), greater separation from the leader, low positive effects, reduced performance and commitment, reduced trust towards the supervisor and the organization (Rowold & Rohmann, 2009), and ultimately looks for solutions outside the organization. Similarly, individuals with low LMXSC develop low trust of the organization and become apprehensive that the leaders may underestimate their valuable suggestions (Detert & Burris, 2007), as such, they may resort to silent behavior in the organization due to apprehension.…”

Prioritising employee-organisation relationships in non-profit organisations in Kenya: Antecedents, queries and contradictions

“…An EOR is, "…a connection or association between an organisation and individual employees that necessitates repeated communication" (Rhee, 2007, p. 11). Waters, Bortree & Tindall (2013) assessed the impact of stewardship on EORs and observed that greater involvement from employees and stewardship from employers had a positive impact on EOR assessment.…”

Internal communications as a factor of company's efficiency

“…In addition to the meaningful exchange of business and process tasks, communication processes also contain another interpersonal side, and successful communication has to achieve yet another goal, which is to develop mutual trust among the participants in the communication process, increase the degree of acceptance and friendship (Waters et al, 2013).…”