Guest editorial: Internal communication during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

IntroductionThis special issue on internal communication during the COVID-19 pandemic invited contributions from scholars of internal communication management, public relations, strategic communication, crisis communication and employee engagement, as well as from digital workplace and leadership studies, and other related fields and disciplines. Despite its importance to organisations, considerable gaps in internal communication theory remain and scholars have, in the past, called for wider research on its mandates, scope and focus (Welch and Jackson, 2007). In response, knowledge has evolved significantly in the past decade with a focus on leadership communication (

The function of internal communication during the COVID-19 health crisis: Transformation or transubstantiation?

“…(Informant 4,Dircom,Commerce and Distribution) This model, based on dialogue and linkages, facilitates the transparent and smooth circulation of information, and makes the habits of sharing, coordinating, collaborating, engaging, integrating and involving all employees in the same business project viable. This view correlates with the most current literature research on IC (Berceruelo, 2020;Cuenca and Verazzi, 2020;Qin and Men, 2022;Ruck and Men, 2021;Tkalac, 2021;Theaker, 2022;Lee, 2022).…”

“…Now, however, IC is becoming a highly professionalised two-way strategic praxis in organisations and in the field of consultancy services and specialised agencies (Aced-Toledano and Miquel-Segarra, 2021;Cowan, 2017;Verazzi, 2018, 2020;Dahlman and Heide, 2021;FitzPatrick and Valskov, 2014;Karanges et al, 2015;Men and Bowen, 2016;Men and Yue, 2017;Aced, 2018, 2019;Verčič, Ćorić and Vokić, 2021;Zerfass and Viertmann, 2016). In brief, it has evolved into a fundamental activity to cement and maintain a psychological contract based on trust and employee engagement (Castro-Martínez and Díaz-Morilla, 2020;Qin and Men, 2022;Ruck, 2020;Ruck and Men, 2021;Santoso, Sulistyaningtyas and Pratama, 2022;Yeomans and Carthew, 2014;Xifra, 2020;Zerfass et al, 2017Zerfass et al, , 2019Zerfass et al, , 2021. It helps achieve organisational differentiation, efficiency and innovation, and address reputational challenges (Berceruelo, 2020).…”

“…In such circumstances, organisational executive teams needed, on the one hand, to stay well connected with their employees to ensure the correct linkage with objectives, and to provide guidance in the face of the procedural, technological and structural changes that were taking place. At the same time, they also needed information, reassurance and support (Ruck and Men, 2021;IC Kollectif, 2020). An uncertain context required flexibility and speed in decision-making, along with a great deal of transparency, agility and credibility (Horney, Pasmore and O'Shea, 2010).…”

“…With the COVID-19 crisis, the world has changed and, consequently, so have concepts, beliefs and processes, as well as many of the established ideas regarding internal communication (IC) (Ruck and Men, 2021;Verazzi, Padrós and Vallmajor, 2022). The pandemic may have meant accidental (not essential) transformations in IC, or substantial alterations in its essence, i.e.…”

Transformasi Komunikasi Internal Public Relations dalam Membangun Keterlibatan Karyawan di Masa Pandemi COVID 19

“…Hal ini menggambarkan, proses komunikasi internal bersifat indirect communications yang mungkin dihadapkan pada kendala teknis yang dapat menimbulkan persepsi berbeda, sehingga berdampak pada psikologis karyawan dan terkesan kurang efektif. Disinilah pentingnya peran Public Relations untuk mengatasi hambatan komunikasi internal (Ruck, K., & Men, 2021). Ervani & Wijaya (2021) dalam penelitiannya mengemukakan, praktisi komunikasi seperti PR sangat dibutuhkan untuk mengatasi hambatan komunikasi yang ada di perusahaan.…”