engleski

Strategic Internal Communication for Effective Internal Employer Branding

Purpose – In order to become an employer of choice, organizations use different employer branding initiatives. Internal communication is perceived as one of the elements crucial for favourable internal evaluation of an employer brand. The paper explores the relationship between employees’ satisfaction with internal communication and their perceptions of their employers’ attractiveness. Precisely, it determines which aspects of internal communication contribute the most to becoming and remaining an attractive employer for current employees. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire- based field research study was conducted on a sample of 3457 employees. Internal communication satisfaction was assessed using the Internal Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire – UPZIK, developed by Tkalac Verčič et al. (2009), while the Employer attractiveness scale – the EmpAt scale, developed and validated by Berthon et al. (2005), was used for assessing employer attractiveness. The relationship between the multi-dimensional internal communication satisfaction (ICS) construct, and the multi- dimensional employer attractiveness (EA) construct was explored. Findings – Respondents’ overall satisfaction with internal communication in their organizations is statistically significantly positively related with the overall attractiveness they assign to their employers, as well as with all five EA dimensions explored (interest, social, economic, development and application value). Moreover, seven out of eight ICS dimensions are statistically significant for the overall employer attractiveness, and each ICS dimension is statistically significant for at least one EA dimensions. The most relevant ICS dimensions for employer attractiveness are “satisfaction with feedback” and “satisfaction with communication climate”. Practical implications – Findings are beneficial for organizations as they indicate which internal communication activities have the biggest significance for positive internal employer brands. These results may help internal communicators to better understand and manage various activities, and potentially revise and improve their internal communication practices. Originality/value – Findings of this study offer new insight into the relationship between internal communication satisfaction and employer attractiveness. Results highlight the importance of understanding the organizational context, to gain a better overview of what forms employer brands. As the effects of good internal employer brands are increasingly important, activities, processes and systems that help form positive employer brands, such as internal communication, should be well understood.

internal communication, internal communication satisfaction, employer branding, internal employer brand, employer attractiveness, Internal Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (ICSQ), EmptAt scale

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