Emails From the Boss—Curse or Blessing? Relations Between Communication Channels, Leader Evaluation, and Employees’ Attitudes

Abstract

The present research investigates if and how a more digitally centered communication between supervisors and employees satisfies employees' needs regarding the communication with their supervisors and influences employees' attitudes toward the supervisor and the job. In a cross-sectional online study, 261 employees rated their supervisors' actual and ideal use of different communication channels (i.e., telephone, face-to-face, email) regarding quality and quantity. Employees' job satisfaction and their perceptions of their supervisors' effectiveness and team identification were measured as dependent variables. Employees perceived face-to-face communication to be of higher quality than telephone and email communication, and they indicated a preference for more face-to-face communication with their supervisors than they actually had. Moreover, the perceived quality of communication, especially via faceto-face, was strongly and positively related to the dependent variables. These results provide insights into potential problems of increasing e-leadership in organizations. We conclude with recommendations to reduce these problems.

Revisiting media richness theory for today and future

“…The results indeed reported that many employees expected the use of richer channels, such as face‐to‐face, communication and expected less use of lean channels, such as telephone/email, by their managers. Supporting media richness theory, Braun et al () also found an association between the use of richer channels by leaders and positive perceptions towards the leader's effectiveness and personability.…”

“…Yet, studies in this context have also shown inconsistent results. For example, Braun, Hernandez Bark, Kirchner, Stegmann, and van Dick () examined ideal managerial communication of employees. They compared it to the actual communication practices in the workplace.…”

How to lead with digital media effectively? A literature-based analysis of media in a E-leadership context

“…Although face-to-face communication is still the most popular way of communicating in a business environment, studies have shown that more than 75% of communication at work (other than face-to face) is now being conducted through email or telephone, depending on the type of assignment. Moreover, the use of proper communication tools is connected to managerial effectiveness (Braun et. al., 2019).…”

“…The effects of this development have created new opportunities to create flexible, agile and responsive structures that ensure the sustainable existence of the company in a competitive environment. However, the increasing implementation of digital elements in companies means that employees and leaders have to deal with digital media to be able to adapt to the circumstances and shape this digital change (Braun et. al., 2019).…”

The impact of verbal communication on satisfying employees' social needs and the role of organizational identification

“…U aspektu povratnih informacija, nalazi u ovom radu su u skladu s nalazima Nakre (Nakra, 2006) koji navodi da je veza između povratnih informacija i identifikacije na nivou organizacije jača od veze drugih oblika komunikacije i identifikacije. Takođe, nalazi u ovom radu su u skladu s nalazima drugih autora prema kojima postoji pozitivna veza između dostupnosti povratnih informacija i organizacione identifikacije (Kassing, 2000), između kvaliteta komunikacije licem u lice s nadređenim i identifikacije s timom (Braun et al, 2019), kao i između formalne komunikacije i organizacione identifikacije (Omilion-Hodges & Baker, 2014). U svetlu navedenog, adekvatnost pojedinih oblika verbalne komunikacije u procesu prenosa informacija o organizaciji i o ulozi zaposlenih u njoj utiče da se kod zaposlenih podigne nivo svesti o članstvu i pripadnosti organizaciji.…”