Reducing Anxiety Through Workplace Communication During COVID-19: Who, What, When, and How

Abstract

Organizational communication is particularly important during times of uncertainty and turmoil, such as the first few weeks of COVID-19 in the United States. This paper explores the who, what, when, and how of organizational communication during this time, looking at how these factors affected satisfaction with communication and anxiety among a sample of working adults. Through path analysis the paper suggests that having the direct manager communicate, communicating personal messages of support, communicating daily, and communicating via text media are related to higher levels of satisfaction with communication, and in turn with lower levels of anxiety. Individual traits of the employee are also discussed, including the need for affiliation as a moderator on the relationship between communication satisfaction and anxiety. Finally, suggestions are presented regarding how organizations can best leverage communication in novel and uncertain situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Work Values of Working Women in Israel: A Comparison of Haredi Women with Those from the Secular and Traditional Segments

“…The above has been seen as an outcome of the very high fertility rate, lower participation in the labor market (especially among men), and lower income of Haredim as compared with non-Haredi Jewish families (Malach and Cahaner 2020 ). Additionally, Haredi society tends to reject modern Western culture and values, so they minimize and control access to social media (Kay and Levine 2019 ; Sharabi and Kay 2021 ). They tend to live in segregated localities and mostly work within their community, which is itself underdeveloped economically and technologically when compared with non-Haredi localities (Cahaner et al.…”

“…2003 ; Sharabi and Polin 2020 ) that expends extraordinary efforts to guard its members from the destructive consequences of “modernity” (Caplan and Stadler 2012 ). They not only reject “Western” culture and values, which they view as corrupt and corrupting, and seek to control and reduce the impact of the above via control of access to the internet and social media in particular (Kay and Levine 2019 ; Sharabi and Kay 2021 ), but are also, typically, suspicious of and resistant to government policies, such as those associated with COVID-19, that may somehow compromise current Haredi norms and beliefs (Block and Zalcberg 2022 ).…”

“…With that, Israeli society is multifaceted and the shift to individualism has been less evident in the more religious elements of the Jewish-Israeli populace (Arieli and Sagiv 2018 ; Or and Berkovich 2021 ). This is particularly true for the Haredi society that, as an enclave society, has been far less exposed to mass media and Western secular culture (Kay and Levine 2019 ; Sharabi and Kay 2021 ).…”

Notes From the Editors: Communication for Persuasion, Emotions, and Customers

“…These researchers found notable differences between how entrepreneurs and nonentrepreneurs use language to secure funding, offering insights into what makes for successful campaigns in both contexts.Our next section addresses workplace emotions. Kay et al (2022) focus on how organizations can alleviate follower anxiety through communication. They examine…”

“…Our next section addresses workplace emotions. Kay et al (2022) focus on how organizations can alleviate follower anxiety through communication. They examine…”