short case study communication strategies in the workplace

5 Internal Communication Case Studies and Best Practices To Follow

Alex Cleary

Updated: May 13, 2024

Internal Communications

From employee engagement to workplace culture to change management, businesses often face similar challenges to each other even if those businesses are radically different. While the specifics of these challenges may differ, how other businesses solve these challenges can give you new insights into addressing your own.

We’re always interested in how our customers use ContactMonkey to solve their internal communications challenges, which is why we publish customer case studies. Learn how other businesses solve their communication challenges and get inspiration on ways you can improve your business by using an internal communications tool .

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What is an Internal Communication Case Study?

An internal communication case study examines how a company addressed a specific problem facing their organization, or achieved a specific goal. Communication is crucial for every business, and communication challenges can manifest in all kinds of situations.

An effective internal communication case study will clearly outline the problem, solution, and result of the business’ efforts to reach their goal. An internal communication case study should also outline best practices that were developed in this process, and how those best practices serve the business going forward.

Why are internal communication case studies important?

A good internal communication case study should not only explain the circumstances around a specific business’ problems and solution. It should also help others develop new ways to approach their own internal communication challenges , and shed light on common communication pitfalls that face a majority of businesses.

Whenever you’re facing a particular communication problem at your workplace, we recommend searching out a relevant internal communication case study about businesses facing similar issues. Even though the particulars may be different, it’s always important to see how internal communications problems are solved .

Featured Resource: Internal Email Benchmark Report 2023

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5 Best Internal Communications Case Studies

We put together this list of our favourite ContactMonkey case studies that best demonstrate the many problems our internal communications software can be used to solve. If you want to learn more about any of these customers and see other case studies, check out our Customers page .

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1. Mettler Toledo Saves Days on their Internal Communications with ContactMonkey

When Kate Kraley began as Mettler Toledo’s Marketing Communications Specialist, she wanted to use internal communications to increase engagement and improve communication with employees.

But Mettler Toledo —a global manufacturer of precision instruments for various industries—had a confusing and ineffective array of internal communications channels . Here’s how Kate took charge of internal communications at Mettler Toledo with ContactMonkey.

Kate came to an internal communications department tasked with reaching employees through a number of channels. Email was the main focus of their approach, but this encompassed many forms of communication based on email like employee newsletters, eNews, and quarterly email updates.

Kate wanted to improve the quality of their internal communications. She used a variety of tools to create their newsletters, including using Mailchimp and online HTML template builder. But because Mailchimp is not for internal communications , Kate and her team found themselves spending over 8 hours a week building their internal communications:

“We faced challenges with Mailchimp. Since we had to leave Outlook to use Mailchimp, we found it was double the work to maintain distribution lists in both Outlook and Mailchimp. The HTML builder in Mailchimp was also difficult to use as it didn’t work well with older versions of Outlook, compromising the layout.”

Kate also needed a way to determine whether Mettler Toledo employees were actually reading her internal communications. She used Mailchimp to track open rate, but wanted more in-depth measures of engagement. That’s when she switched to ContactMonkey.

Kate found ContactMonkey via the IABC Hub in 2018, and began testing it out. ContactMonkey’s all-in-one internal communications software removed the need to switch from tool to tool. Using our email template builder , Kate now builds visually stunning email newsletters and templates without having to navigate away from Outlook:

She also now has access to her own analytics dashboard . Kate analyzes numerous email metrics like open rate, click-through rate, read time, opens by device and location, and more to see which communications are driving the most engagement. With this new centralized approach, Kate knew she had found the right solution:

“Once I started using ContactMonkey, I realized I was able to save 4 hours of work a week, which translated to 25 days saved per year! ContactMonkey has helped us understand what employees are interested in!”

2. BASF Manages Their Remote Workforce with ContactMonkey

Mark Kaplan is the Global Communications Manager at BASF’s Agricultural Group —a department of the German chemical company BASF SE. Because BASF has offices and production sites around the world, Mark coordinates with other internal communicators across the company to drive employee engagement.

With the success of any business comes new challenges, and BASF isn’t any different. While Mark knew he had to keep others informed of the latest news from the BASF Agricultural Group, he was aware employees would be receiving news from other parts of the company as well.

With many different departments sending their own internal communications, Mark faced a difficult task: keeping employees engaged while being careful not to overwhelm them with countless emails and updates.

“We try to be very strategic with what we’re sending out because people are already getting a lot.”

Not only did Mark have to find a solution that made his email communications more engaging, but he also had to prove the value of whatever solution he chose to management. How could Mark show that he was increasing employee engagement while avoiding tuning out from oversaturation?

Mark began using ContactMonkey to create better internal communications for BASF employees. Using our drag-and-drop email template builder, he designs emails that maximized communication and minimized distractions, keeping information to just what his recipients needed to know.

Mark uses ContactMonkey’s email template library to save time on his email design process. He also uses the easy drag-and-drop format of the email template builder to add multimedia into his email communications to save space and increase their effectiveness:

Mark uses the email analytics provided by ContactMonkey to determine the best times to send internal emails . Not only does email analytics help Mark increase engagement on his employee emails, but he now has hard data he can show management to prove the value of his internal communications.

“ContactMonkey has been great in that I can download a report, attach it to an email, and send it to our top leadership and say, ‘Oh, wow. 88% of the organization opened this in the last 24 hours, I think we should do more of this.’ It’s that little extra credibility.”

Best way to build engaging employee newsletters

3. alnylam drives remote employee engagement using contactmonkey.

Employee engagement is crucial for ongoing productivity and growth, and Alnylam’s Brendon Pires wanted to leverage their internal communications to increase engagement.

Brendon is an internal communications specialist at Alnylam —the world’s leading RNAi therapeutics company—and is tasked with keeping their 2000+ employees engaged and informed. But Brendon’s existing internal communications process was leading to issues all over the place.

Like many companies, Alnylam shifted to remote work when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Brendon knew that employees would be relying on his emails to stay up-to-date on the latest company news and announcements, but their existing internal communications tool wasn’t up to the task:

• Scheduled emails were prevented from being sent out.
• Email design was a chore with a difficult-to-use email builder.
• Intranet traffic was down and Brendon’s emails weren’t driving traffic to it.
• Email tracking was limited as many internal emails were being flagged by their tracking software’s firewall.

“We were having consistent issues and it had been going on for like a couple of months. It was one issue after the other, between emails not sending because they were getting caught in our firewall, and then tracking not being consistent. So at the end of the day it was kind of like that’s really important, you know? Obviously if I can’t send that email that’s a problem. So that’s what really drove us to look at other solutions like ContactMonkey”

Brendon and Alnylam use Outlook for their employee emails, so he began looking for alternatives to his current software. That’s when Brendon found ContactMonkey.

Right away Brendon had a much easier time creating internal emails using our email template builder. He can create stellar internal emails and email templates that drive more engagement.

Brendon also uses ContactMonkey’s embedded star ratings to let Alnylam employees rate the emails they’re receiving. This helps Brendon and his team zero-in on their most engaging email content. He also uses our email analytics to measure engagement via open rate and click-through rate. He maximizes his results on these metrics by using ContactMonkey’s scheduled email sending:

Using ContactMonkey, Brendon was able to increase email engagement and drive traffic to Alnylam’s internal intranet . He now sends emails without worry of encountering sending errors that can hinder engagement—like Outlook not rendering HTML emails .

“ContactMonkey is really easy to use and allows me to create really nice content. There’s enough customization so we can do what we really want and have some creative freedom.”

4. Travel Counsellors Ltd. Stays Connected with Remote Employees Using ContactMonkey

In an economy deeply impacted by COVID-19, countless companies had to adapt to new challenges. As Community Manager at Travel Counsellors , Dave Purcell experienced firsthand the effects on morale and engagement his over 1,900 partners experienced as result of the quarantine and resulting societal changes.

Dave wanted to regularly check-in on Travel Counsellors franchisees’ wellbeing, and measure their engagement over time. But Dave’s current method of checking-in on an audience of over 1,900 was not up to the task.

Using their existing email software, Dave encountered all sorts of problems when trying to gauge wellness and drive email engagement. He and his team were unable to create personalized internal communications , as they were told it just wasn’t possible with their existing “solution”. They also experienced numerous tracking issues, as they were receiving tracking numbers that didn’t make any sense.

“The stats we had previously were unusable and that’s the easiest way I can put it. I was getting 200% open rates, which was just impossible.”

Realizing that email tracking and personalization were must-have features for him and his team, Dave sought a new email software that could deliver what he was looking for.

With the aim of sending personalized emails and tracking wellness in his organization, Dave was immediately impressed by ContactMonkey. “I stumbled across ContactMonkey, and everything just screamed: ‘This is the right platform for us’. It’s pretty fantastic.”

Dave uses ContactMonkey’s merge tags to create personalized subject lines and body copy based on the recipient:

He also began using emoji reactions on his weekly employee newsletters , using them as a pulse check survey for his audience.

“Mindset and wellbeing have always been a big part of what we do. It’s even more so now. Our franchisees craved that personal interaction. ‘Welcome to a Brand New Week’ checks in with them on a Monday, sees how they’re feeling with emoji reactions. And we do the same on a Friday.”

In addition to customization and surveys, Dave uses our email template builder’s custom employer branding options to save time on creating his email newsletters. All of this is driven by email analytics that help Dave and his team determine which content is generating the greatest engagement.

“Our commercial team is looking at what people are engaging with in terms of link clicks and what they’re not engaging with and changing our tactic depending on that. We also send an update from our CEO and we can now track this more accurately. We’re getting a 90% open rate within two days.”

5. Exemplis Boosts Internal Communications Engagement with ContactMonkey

When Corey Kachigan arrived at Exemplis as Engagement and Communications Lead, she knew she had her work cut out for her. Exemplis—the largest volume manufacturer of office seating in North America—was experiencing rapid growth but did not have any sort of internal communications strategy . Corey knew if she wanted to properly manage Exemplis’ ongoing growth, she’d need to make internal communications an indispensable part of the business.

Before Corey arrived, Exemplis’ existing internal communications consisted only of random announcements and update emails. They had no defined approach for sending internal communications, which lead to emails that can cause employees to tune out.

“Our receptionist would email: ‘Hey, whoever left their coffee mug in the sink, please clean it and take it back to your desk.’ And it’s like, okay, that just went to 200 people.”

Corey and her team knew they had to harness their email resources better, and wanted a way to measure what employees actually wanted to see.

“We need some metrics to gauge whether this is working or not. We’re rolling out all these things, but we can’t tell if employees are even clicking these emails. Our team is inundated with hundreds of emails a day. How do we know they are reading these and how do we know they find it valuable? We have no idea.”

They also wanted to use emails to align their ever-growing employee base with Exemplis’ core values and vision. Using Mailchimp—an external marketing email tool—resulted in more problems than solutions. Corey experienced issues with importing and tracking emails within Outlook. She realized that Mailchimp is not for internal communications , and set out to find a new solution to power her employee emails.

So Corey began searching for a new email software for internal communications. Creating a definite approach to internal communications was just one priority of hers; she also wanted to prove the value of internal communications to management using hard data.

What first stood out to Corey about ContactMonkey was the crisp layout and that it worked with Exemplis’ existing Outlook system. ContactMonkey uses your company’s existing email services, and this meant Corey would no longer encounter internal email problems caused by an external tool like Mailchimp.

Corey now uses email metrics and employee feedback to inform her internal communications approach. She features pulse surveys on her internal emails, and uses the results in combination with email metrics to pinpoint what Exemplis employees want to see.

With ContactMonkey’s email analytics, Corey can point to real engagement data to back up her internal communications objectives.

“The thing I love about ContactMonkey is that it allows us to communicate more consistently with our team, but also be able to have the data to back it up. When we used to send out newsletters, we didn’t really have a way to see who did or didn’t open it, who clicked what and they couldn’t interact with the communication besides reply to me, which was super cumbersome.”

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Achieve Your Internal Communications Goals with ContactMonkey

Although internal communications is a common aspect of all businesses, everyone approaches it differently. Finding out the best email practices that work for your employees is a crucial step in the quest for increased engagement.

Read even one internal communication case study and you’ll see how ContactMonkey stands out among other internal communications tools. You can create, send, and track internal emails, and collect employee feedback and email metrics to develop innovative internal communication tactics . Whether you’re a seasoned internal communicator or new to the field, ContactMonkey can turn your internal communications into a powerful driver of productivity and growth at your organization.

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A CASE STUDY OF WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION PROBLEM: STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION TO MAKE THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS MORE EFFECTIVE

Instituting effective organisational communication is imminent for organisations if they want to be relevant in the business world, going forward. Severally, breaches in communication ethics result in conflicts between top management and the labour force. This work examine such a case with a fictitious company name, in order to address the issue, by proffering a way forward using psychological theories and models.

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Hesti Nur Syafa'ati

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This journal was my submission for the course's final assignment. it is my reflection on ethics base on the case studies from Steve May's Case Studies in Organizational Communication. Ethics stand different for every individual and therefore, assuming that the thoughts in this journal are the only right ethical decisions would be wrong.

NHRD Network Journal

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abhilasha ram

Excellent employee communication is must for any thriving organization. Effective internal communication is key to success of any organization. The need for communicating information to an organization's internal public — its employees — has become of utmost importance in the recent years. This research article studied internal / employee communication in terms of openness of communication and adequacy of information. The openness should be followed across the organization – between the employer and employee as well as amongst employees. Giving too little information as well as too much information to the concerned employee makes him/her confused; so, the importance of adequate information. The effectiveness of information studied on the basis of communication tools and practices used in the organization for the proper dissemination of communication.

Carl Harshman

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Effective Communication in the Workplace

Source: https://pixabay.com/vectors/social-media-connections-networking-3846597/ is in the Public Domain at Pixabay.com. Retrieved 07.05.2022.

Effective workplace communication helps maintain the quality of working relationships and positively affects employees' well-being. This article discusses the benefits of practicing effective communication in the workplace and provides strategies for workers and organizational leaders to improve communication effectiveness.

Workplace Communication Matters

Effective workplace communication benefits employees' job satisfaction, organizational productivity, and customer service (Adu-Oppong & Agyin-Birikorang, 2014). We summarized Bosworth's (2016) and Adu-Oppong and Agyin-Birikorang's (2014) works below related to the benefits of practicing effective communication in the workplace.

• Reduces work-related conflicts
• Enhances interpersonal relationships
• Increases workers' performance and supervisors' expectations
• Increases workforce productivity through constructive feedback
• Increases employee engagement and job satisfaction
• Builds organizational loyalty and trust
• Reduces employees' turnover rate
• Facilitates the proper utilization of resources
• Uncovers new employees' talents

Strategies to Improve Communication Effectiveness

Effective communication is a two-way process that requires both sender and receiver efforts. We summarized research works and guidelines for good communication in the workplace proposed by Cheney (2011), Keyton (2011), Tourish (2010), and Lunenburg (2010).

Sender's strategies for communication planning

• Clearly define the idea of your message before sharing it.
• Identify the purpose of the message (obtain information, initiate action, or change another person's attitude)
• Be aware of the physical and emotional environment in which you communicate your message. Consider the tone you want to use, the configuration of the space, and the context.
• Consult with others when you do not feel confident or comfortable communicating your message.
• Be mindful of the primary content of the message.
• Follow-up previous communications to verify the information.
• Communicate on time, avoid postponing hard conversations, and be consistent.
• Be aware that your actions support your messages and be coherent in your verbal and behavioral communication style.
• Be a good listener, even when you are the primary sender.

Receiver's strategies during a conversation

• Show interest and attitude to listen.
• Listen more than talk.
• Pay attention to the talker and the message, avoiding distractions.
• Be patient and allow the talker time to transmit the message.
• Be respectful and avoid interrupting a talker.
• Hold your temper. An angry person takes the wrong meaning from words
• Go easy on argument and criticism.
• Engage in the conversation by asking questions. This attitude helps develop key points and keep a fluid conversation.

Effective communication practices are essential for any successful team and organization. Organizational communication helps to disseminate important information to employees and builds relationships of trust and commitment.

Key points to improve communication in the workplace

• Set clear goals and expectations
• Ask clarifying questions
• Schedule regular one-on-one meetings
• Praise in public, criticize in private
• Assume positive intent
• Repeat important messages
• Raise your words, not your voice
• Hold town hall meetings and cross-functional check-ins.

Adu-Oppong, A. A., & Agyin-Birikorang, E. (2014). Communication in the Workplace: Guidelines for improving effectiveness.  Global journal of commerce & management perspective ,  3 (5), 208–213.

Bosworth, P. (2021, May 19). The power of good communication in the workplace . Leadership Choice. Retrieved May 18, 2022.

Cheney, G. (2011). Organizational communication in an age of globalization: Issues, reflections, practices . Waveland Press.

Keyton, J. (2011). Communication and organizational culture: A key to understanding work experience . Sage.

Tourish, D. (2010). Auditing organizational communication: A handbook of research, theory, and practice . Routledge

Lunenburg, F. C. (2010). Communication: The process, barriers, and improving effectiveness.  Schooling ,  1 (1), 1-10.

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12 tips for effective communication in the workplace

Effective communication transcends simple information exchanges. Understanding the emotions and motives behind the given information is essential. In addition to successfully conveying messages, it's important to actively listen and fully understand the conversation, making the speaker feel heard and understood.

Today, we’re in almost constant contact with our coworkers. You might not put a lot of thought into saying “hi” to your coworker, grabbing virtual coffee with a remote team member, or sending a gif of a cat wearing pajamas to your team—and that’s ok. Even though you’re communicating at work, there’s a difference between these types of messages and communication in the workplace.

Communication in the workplace refers to the communication you do at work about work. Knowing when and how to effectively communicate at work can help you reduce miscommunication, increase team happiness, bolster collaboration, and foster trust. Teams that know how to communicate effectively about work are better prepared for difficult situations. But building good communication habits takes time and effort—and that’s where we come in. Here are 12 ways to take your workplace communication skills to the next level.

What is effective communication?

Effective communication is the exchange of ideas, thoughts, opinions, knowledge, and information so that the message is received and comprehended clearly and purposefully. When we communicate effectively, all stakeholders are fulfilled.

Developing effective communication skills requires a delicate balance of active listening, verbal communication, nonverbal cues, body language, and emotional intelligence to ensure messages are clearly transmitted and understood.

It's about more than just talking; effective communication involves listening skills and a deep understanding of interpersonal dynamics. Individuals can use these communication skills to bridge gaps, make informed decisions, and strengthen relationships. 

What does “workplace communication” mean?

Communication in the workplace can happen face-to-face, in writing, over a video conferencing platform, on social media, or in a group meeting. It can also happen in real time or asynchronously , which happens when you’re communicating about work over email, with recorded video, or on a platform like a project management tool . Some examples of workplace communication include:

Team meetings

1:1 feedback sessions

Receiving information

Communicating about project status or progress

Collaboration on cross-functional tasks

Nonverbal communication

Collaboration Report: How the most effective teams in the world collaborate

Explore key traits that have made the most effective teams in the world successful: their strategies, techniques, and tips for working well together.

What makes communication effective?

Now that you know what type of communication can be included in workplace communication, how do you start getting better at it? There are a few key tenets of effective communication that you can use, no matter what type of communication it is. In particular, good communication:

Aims for clarity. Whether you’re sending a Slack message, drafting an email, or giving an off-the-cuff reply, aim to be clear and concise with your communication.

Seeks to solve conflicts, not create them. In the workplace, we're often involved in problem solving and collaborating on projects or tasks. Good communication in the workplace can involve bringing up blockers or providing feedback—but make sure the goal is to get to a better place than where you are now.

Goes both ways. Every instance of effective communication in the workplace represents an exchange of information—even when the information is communicated solely through nonverbal cues.

Benefits of effective communication in the workplace

Clear, effective workplace communication can:

Boost employee engagement and belonging

Improve interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence

Encourage team buy-in

Increase productivity

Build a healthy workplace and organizational culture

Reduce conflict

Increase retention

7 tips for more effective communication in the workplace

Effective communication in the workplace is all about where, how, and when you’re communicating. Try these seven tips to develop better communication skills.

1. Know where to communicate—and about what

Communication happens in many different forms—face-to-face, over email, via instant messages, and in work management platforms. To be most effective, make sure you’re following communication guidelines and messaging about the right things in the right places.

Sometimes, knowing where to communicate is half the battle. Your company may have different communication tools , which makes knowing which tool to use all the more important. Which tool is appropriate for your question or comment? Do you need to communicate in real time, or is it ok to send an asynchronous message? If you’re not sure, ask a team member or manager where you should be sending different types of messages. It is important for everyone to be on the same page. For example, at Asana, we use:

2. Build collaboration skills

Collaboration is the bedrock of effective teamwork. In order to build strong team collaboration skills , you need to practice open and honest communication. This doesn’t necessarily mean always agreeing on things—knowing how to disagree and work through those differences is a key part of collaboration, too.

Collaboration and communication skills are kind of a “chicken and egg” scenario. You can build good collaboration by communicating effectively, but knowing how to collaborate is a key component of strong communication. Essentially, this just means you’ll have to practice improving both collaboration and communication skills over time. As you improve team collaboration, you’ll get better at conveying information and opinions in a work environment—and as a result, that honest communication will make collaboration feel more effortless.

3. Talk face-to-face when you can

Perhaps the most tried-and-true way to avoid miscommunication is to talk face-to-face. If your team is virtual, speaking via video conferencing also works. Eye contact is particularly important if you know a conversation is going to be hard. Tone can be difficult to communicate through writing so ideally, you want your team member to be able to see your facial expressions and body language.

If your team is remote or distributed, communicating via a phone call instead of a video conference could work as well. Video conferencing fatigue is real, and it can make collaboration and communication particularly difficult for remote teams. Communicating over the phone reduces some of the visual strain, while still giving you the ability to hear your team member’s voice and tone.

4. Watch your body language and tone of voice

Communication isn’t just about what you say—it’s also about how you say it. Make sure you aren’t crossing your arms or coming off as curt. Oftentimes, your body language may have nothing to do with the current situation—maybe you’re tired or stressed about something in your personal life. But your team members, who might not have that context, could see your actions and assume you’re angry or upset about something. Particularly for hard conversations, try to relax your body language and facial expressions to avoid giving off any unintentional cues.

5. Prioritize two-way communication

Listening skills are just as important to communication in the workplace as talking. Part of being a collaborative team member is listening to other people’s ideas instead of just trying to put your own ideas out there.

There are two common types of listening : listening to reply and listening to understand. When you listen to reply, you’re focusing on what you’re going to say next, rather than what the other person is saying. With this type of listening, you risk missing key information or even repeating what the other person just said.

Instead, try active listening—that is, listen to what the other person has to say without thinking about how you’re going to reply. If you do think of something you want to say, jot it down so you can go back to listening to understand , instead of trying to remember the thing you want to say next.

6. Stick to facts, not stories

“Facts vs. stories” is a technique recommended by the co-founder of the Conscious Leadership Group, Diana Chapman. In this case, “facts” are things that have actually happened—things that everyone in the room would easily agree on. A “story,” on the other hand, is your interpretation of the situation.

For example, say your manager gives you live feedback during a small team meeting. That is a fact. You weren’t expecting the feedback, and you feel like your manager shared the feedback—instead of saving it for your 1:1—because they’re dissatisfied with your work. This is a “story” because you have no way of knowing if it is true or not.

Stories are inevitable—we all create stories from facts. But try to separate stories from facts, and avoid acting on stories until you’re able to validate them. For example, in this case, you might want to talk to your manager during your next 1:1 and ask why they shared feedback in a team meeting.

7. Make sure you’re speaking to the right person

Effective workplace communication is as much about who you’re talking to as it is about what you’re saying. Poor communication often occurs when you’re talking to the wrong people or trying to share information in the wrong setting.

To avoid this, make sure the right people are in the room or receiving the message. If you aren’t sure who that would be, go through an exercise to identify any important project stakeholders who might be missing.

5 tips to build effective communication skills in the workplace

If you’re a leader, you have the power to set and establish communication conventions on your team. Effective communication skills can build healthy company culture , foster trust among your employees, and break down silos between cross-functional teams. Here’s how:

1. Address any underlying changes

Before you start improving your team’s communication skills, ensure there are no underlying issues that keep everyone from communicating honestly. Does everyone feel comfortable talking openly? Is there anything that might make a team member feel like they can’t be their full selves?

One of the most valuable things you can do as a leader is to make sure your employees feel comfortable showing up to work as their whole selves (or as much of themselves as they want to bring). Whether that means voicing disagreements, talking about their passions outside of work, or being honest about what type of communication works best for them, make sure to understand each team member’s needs and ensure they’re being met in the team environment.

One theme that kept coming up in our employee engagement surveys was that we could improve information sharing and communication across the organization, so we looked for a way to do that.”

2. Frequently ask for feedback

If you don’t ask for feedback on your communication style, you may never get it. Even though communication in the workplace impacts every other interaction, team members might not immediately think of it as something to provide feedback on. By asking your employees for feedback on your communication style, you can continue to improve and develop clear communication strategies for your team.

3. Understand team communication styles

Another effective way to communicate with your team is to ask them how they want to communicate. Communication preferences shouldn’t be a secret—or a guessing game—and knowing off the bat if your team members prefer video conferences or phone calls, early morning meetings, or afternoon jam sessions can help you create an environment where they can thrive.

Important questions to ask include:

Are they an early bird or a night owl?

Do they like structured meetings or prefer free-flow brainstorming sessions?

Do they do their best thinking out loud, on the spot, or on paper?

What personality type do they identify with: introvert, extrovert, or ambivert?

Do they feel like they know their team members, or would they prefer more team bonding activities?

What types of meetings or tasks are most energizing for them?

4. Make time for team building or icebreakers

Getting to know your team is critical to developing good communication skills. It’s particularly important to make time to get to know your team outside of a workplace setting. Icebreaker questions can help bring an element of personality and fun to every meeting, so consider starting with a light chat before diving into your meeting agenda.

5. Set the tone

Remember: the way you communicate and collaborate will impact your entire team. It’s up to you to set the standard for open and clear communication in the workplace. Once you establish this standard, your team will follow suit.

Every few months, make a note to follow up with how everyone is feeling about team communication. Are there any habits that have cropped up in the last few months that you want to cull or encourage? Regularly thinking about how your team communicates—instead of “setting and forgetting” your team practices—can help you be more intentional about your communication methods.

As an organization grows, communication starts to bottleneck. At Hope for Haiti, we’ve seen those inefficiencies hurt us: when we can’t run like a well-oiled machine, we’re not serving as many people as we could be—and it’s our responsibility to improve upon that.”

More types of workplace communication

Most discussions about communication in the workplace assume the “workplace” is in person. But there are various forms of communication across different locations—from global offices to remote teams. Most effective communication best practices still apply to any type of team, but there are a few additional considerations and best practices you can use to help team members truly connect.

Distributed teams

Distributed teams work across multiple national or global offices. These teams might span different time zones and languages, and each office will have its own culture and habits. Don’t expect each distributed team to communicate in the same way—in fact, one of the advantages of distributed teams is the variety of thought you’re exposed to by working with teammates from all over the world.

If you work on a distributed team, it’s critical to over-communicate so that team members in different time zones and offices stay in the loop. Make sure to document everything in a central source of truth that team members can access when they’re online, and look for a tool that updates in real-time so no one has to slow down due to information lag.

Keep in mind that time zones might affect how people come to a conversation. Try to schedule meetings when everyone is available, or offer recordings and notes if team members can’t make it. It’s also critical to double check that the right people are in the loop, and that they aren’t just being left out because they’re in a different office than the majority of your team.

Online coworkers

If you’re working with a virtual team, it’s critical to establish where you’re going to communicate and how frequently. Knowing exactly what each communication tool should be used for can help team members feel connected—even while they’re remote.

While working remotely, we’ve had to re-learn how to communicate in many ways. Slack, Asana, and integrations between these tools has replaced or supplemented a lot of in-person ways we used to communicate.”

Remote team members can feel isolated and disconnected from one another, so consider doing an exercise with your entire team about preferred business communication habits. Some team members might love cold calls, while others might prefer scheduled meetings with concise agendas. Because team members have fewer chances to interact in person, it’s critical to establish these forms of communication as a team so you can keep the communication channels open.

Finally, make sure to bring team members in for regular team bonding events. Whether you’re doing icebreaker activities at the beginning of every meeting or scheduling some time to just chat at the end of each week, dedicated team time can help team members connect, no matter where they’re dialing in from.

The cherry on top of effective workplace communication

The last component of great communication is having a central source of truth for all of your communication and work information. Using a centralized system like a work management tool can help you coordinate work across all levels of your team. Learn more about how work management makes project coordination and communication easier in our introduction to work management article .

FAQ: Effective communication in the workplace

What are the best ways of communicating with your work colleagues.

The best ways of communicating with your work colleagues involve concise, respectful, and timely exchanges. This can be achieved through various channels, such as emails, instant messaging, face-to-face meetings, and video calls. Selecting the right medium based on the context of your communication (e.g., using emails for formal requests or Slack for quick queries) and ensuring you're concise and to the point can enhance the effectiveness of your communication.

Why is effective communication important?

Effective communication ensures that information is accurately conveyed and understood, resulting in improved efficiency, fewer misunderstandings, and better working relationships. It promotes teamwork, decision-making, and problem solving, which makes effective communication a cornerstone of successful operations and a positive work environment.

What constitutes effective communication?

Effective communication is characterized by clarity, conciseness, coherence, and considerateness, also known as the 5 Cs of communication. It means the message is delivered in a clear and understandable manner, is direct and to the point, logically organized, and sensitive to the receiver's needs and perspectives. It also involves active listening, openness to feedback, and the ability to adjust or paraphrase the message according to the audience and context.

How can you become an effective communicator?

To become an effective communicator, focus on clarity and brevity in your messages, actively listen to others, and provide constructive feedback. Pay attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues, such as body language and tone, to ensure your message is received as intended. Practice empathy by considering the receiver's perspective, and be open to feedback to continuously improve your public speaking skills.

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7 effective employee engagement case studies and strategies for a productive workplace.

• 1. Acknowledgment and Appreciation
• 2. Emphasis on Employee’s Holistic Wellness
• 3. Initiatives that are Development-Focused
• 4. Develop a Sense of Purpose, Values & Mission
• 5. Maintain Transparent Communication Channels
• 6. Create Conducive Working Conditions

7. Create Space for Fun & Happiness

Are you looking for employee engagement case studies? Learn from some of the best companies out there that have successfully increased employee engagement. See how they did it and what worked for them.

As more and more employers in today’s corporate world realize the importance of employee engagement , the demand for effective and result-oriented employee engagement programs is rising. The internet may present many employee engagement initiatives, but here’s something more: case studies to prove that certain employee engagement strategies are really effective. Follow our blog to learn more about employee satisfaction and ensure that your company is teeming with higher employee engagement initiatives.

According to Johnson and Johnson “ the degree to which employees are satisfied with their jobs, feel valued, and experience collaboration and trust. Engaged employees will stay with the company longer and continually find smarter, more effective ways to add value to the organization. The end result is a high-performing company where people are flourishing and productivity is increased and sustained.”  

Nokia Siemens describes employee engagement as “ an emotional attachment to the organization, pride and a willingness to be an advocate of the organization, a rational understanding of the organization’s strategic goals, values, and how employees fit, and motivation and willingness to invest the discretionary effort to go above and beyond”.

While we learn what employee engagement means and its importance, incorporating practical and effective employee engagement programs as part of company culture is the right recipe for success.  Here are certain strategies for best employee engagement with case studies. 

1. Acknowledgment and Appreciation 

The first and foremost step to boost employee engagement is making sure your employees are valued, acknowledged, and appreciated. This motivates employees to become more productive , stay on track with tasks, and perform well. This can be done in many ways and you need to choose an approach that your employees can relate with. While some enjoy public recognition, others don’t. Hence, you can work on innovative recognition ideas . 

According to a study , social workers in a company received personalized letters of recognition at their home addresses. The workers were chosen randomly and half of them received letters while the rest half didn’t receive any. The first half of the letter was chosen from a few positive motivational sayings and the second half of the letter had a personal note of appreciation written by managers. After a month of the letter experiment, the workers who received letters felt more recognized and appreciated for their efforts, compared to those who didn’t get any. This also had a positive effect on their motivation levels and well-being, according to the results of this study.  

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2. Emphasis on Employee’s Holistic Wellness 

There are many components of employee wellness like nutrition, work-life balance , mental health, and stress management, to name a few. A healthy employee will be more productive and employees who are mentally and physically healthy will exhibit positive motivation, and better morale and resulting in a win-win for both employers and employees. A wellness program can be a good way to start where employees get a chance to explore yoga, in addition to vacation days. A wellness room provides employees with a personal space for their personal needs. 

The indispensable role of wellness and an overall effective wellness strategy for an organization can be best understood based on a study that explored the objective of workplace wellness programs and their impact on employees health and medical expenses and so on. The study identifies certain key factors to boost wellness ideas in a corporate setup such as: 

Effective communication strategy 

Organizations that were part of this research emphasized the importance of how a wellness program is communicated to employees, both in-person and mass information campaigns, with messaging and clear interaction getting the highest priority.

Accessibility of wellness programs

Making wellness programs accessible for all employees is an effective strategy to boost the levels of employee engagement in their organization.

Engaged leadership

According to this study, for wellness programs to be successful, senior leadership should imbibe wellness as an integral and important part of the company culture. 

Effective use of existing resources

Organizations leverage the existing resources and then build relationships, which also include health plans to provide employees with more options.

Ongoing assessment

Most companies agree that continuous assessments are required for employers to better understand their employee’s wellness needs. 

Employee-Centric Engagement, Internal Communications, and Recognition

3. Initiatives that are Development-Focused  

Ongoing development is key for every employee and there are a few development-focused initiatives that you can adopt actively to help your employees gain professional growth like professional networking, master’s or even Ph.D. programs, industry seminars, training courses and conferences, internal promotions, mentoring groups, and career coaching. 

This study titled A Study on the Influence of Career Growth on Work Engagement among New Generation Employees involved six companies from diverse industries like consulting, finance, management, real estate, and so on. The findings of this study show that: 

Organizational identification (IO) is very important for engagement levels and career growth.

Employee career growth positively impacts work engagement;

Person-organization value is positively linked to career growth and organizational identification (IO).

If employees recognize that they can make career progress in a company, they feel more attached and this increases employee loyalty, particularly for the new generation. It motivates them to put in the extra effort, improve performance, work on new skills, and so on. 

4. Develop a Sense of Purpose, Values & Mission 

A visible employee engagement program to achieve higher employee satisfaction levels requires employees to gain a sense of purpose, portray the company’s values and understand the mission. It is important to also understand what each of these attributes stands for. 

Purpose 

A company's purpose is the reason it exists in the first place. Purpose-driven companies are devoted to achieving goals that are bigger than just making money and increasing shareholder value. They also want to make a positive impact on the world around them and approach their work sustainably and ethically. In other words, they're committed to making a difference. 

Mission 

The mission of a company is similar but not identical to its purpose. Many people use the terms interchangeably, but we see the main difference as follows: the mission statement focuses on what the company has been built to achieve. 

Values 

Values are important because they act as a compass for the overall expectations of an organization - they guide how employees do their jobs, how managers communicate with clients and partners, and how workers interact with their peers. By understanding and sharing company values, employers can make better decisions that reflect the priorities of the business.

According to a study by Deloitte , a company’s purpose and mission impact corporate confidence as well, as indicated by the results of this study.

Nearly half of all executives (47%) say that they can identify with their company's purpose, while only 30% of employees feel the same way. 

A whopping 44% of executives believe that exemplary leadership involves setting an example that lives and breathes the company's purpose - but only 25% of employees share this belief. 

41% of executives believe that a company's purpose plays a significant role in major corporate decisions, whereas only 28% of employees feel the same way.

38% of leaders claim that their company's purpose is communicated clearly and openly to all, but only 31% of employees actually think this is the case.

Ultimately, teaching your employees about the company's purpose, mission, and vision takes time and patience. It's a gradual process, but when done correctly, it has numerous benefits for employers. Creating a sense of purpose for your employees allows you to see numerous benefits in the long run such as a more committed workforce and less employee turnover. 

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5. Maintain Transparent Communication Channels 

Many employees feel reluctant to share their concerns and opinions with their managers or peers, either due to a perception that their managers don’t pay much attention to them or maybe they tried earlier but no action was taken by the leadership. Encouraging employees to share their concerns with leaders has its own benefits. 

Practicing reflective listening helps managers to understand the message, through attentive communication. 

Making employees understand they are respected helps them to respect you back and this is an employee engagement strategy based on common sense.

Acknowledging employee views is a way of recognizing a diverse range of ideas and respecting what they say, even though in the end you may still agree to disagree.

Seeking employee’s input actively helps to boost job satisfaction levels. 

A research study analyzed communication between employers and employees and its impact on engagement levels.   The findings supported the general definition of engagement as a sense of shared responsibility between both supervisors and employees, proving that establishing communication with your employees has a wide range of benefits and can work wonders for a company’s employee engagement levels . 

6. Create Conducive Working Conditions 

While expecting high performance from employees by an organization is quite natural, it is also equally important to provide necessary conditions for employees to do their best, by supporting them in any way you can. You can encourage positive and healthy competition in the workplace, show zero tolerance for toxic behavior, maintain a clean and healthy workplace ambiance, and create supportive teams . One way to support your workforce is by encouraging them to focus on things that are already good in their lives. 

According to a consultant, Stephanie Pollack , a visible change is possible when employees are encouraged to know more about the benefits of gratitude and become aware of good things already existing in their lives. Showing gratitude has a plethora of benefits that range from reducing stress to making people feel better about themselves. It's important to build a culture of appreciation in your company so that employees feel comfortable expressing gratitude to one another and also feel appreciated in their jobs. This will not only lead to employees appreciating their jobs and coworkers more, but it will also help them appreciate themselves on a whole new level. Creating a grateful environment takes time, but it's worth it to see the positive transformation it can have on your organization as a whole. 

Workers who are content with their jobs are more likely to be motivated, productive, and engaged than those who are unhappy with their work. And happiness usually comes with having fun. However, this doesn't mean that employees should neglect their tasks or ignore deadlines. Learning how to balance work and play is key to being successful in both areas.

Employees should get the chance to do fun stuff to uplift their moods and refresh their minds and thoughts. This will make them more productive while handling their daily tasks. This can be in the form of having lunch together, organizing joke sessions, quizzes, celebrating employee milestones and birthdays, hosting parties, sports activities, recreational outings, and so on.  According to a study “ Finding Fun in Work: The Effect of Workplace Fun on Taking Charge and Job Engagement” , having fun in the workplace motivates employees in a positive way improving their job satisfaction levels, productivity, commitment, energy,  and creativity. It also helps to reduce anxiety, turnover, stress, and absenteeism.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to improving employee engagement in the workplace. You can employ one or more of these strategies based on case studies and see what works best for you and your workforce. Creating a nurturing and fun-filled productive place can make a great difference for your company and its growth in the years to come. 

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Author Bio:

This article is written by a marketing team member at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications & engagement, and rewards & recognition. Our user-friendly software increases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk.

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5.1: Preface: Learning with Case Studies

Learning objectives.

• Identify the use of case studies in learning scenarios
• Describe the types of case studies available for learning use

Case Studies: Definition and Uses

Case studies are detailed “stories” about a business situation that allow us to consider a number of aspects of the business world:

• the diversity of everyday business situations we might encounter;
• the seriousness of some of the dilemmas business professionals routinely deal with;
• the consequences involved if a difficult situation is mishandled (if those involved do or say the wrong thing);
• the difficulty to choose the best response in a complicated business situation (sometimes, there is no ideal solution, and we might have to choose the least damaging solution instead).

These “stories” typically provide detailed information about the business situation in question, the problem encountered, how it was approached, and to what results. They can be shorter or longer, and strictly descriptive (most cases used for training purposes in college tend to be descriptive, and students are asked to analyze them) or analytical (some academic case studies provide analysis, too, and they might also make suggestions regarding better ways to address similar situations in the future). For instance, an academic article tracing Target’s failure to operate in Canada (2013-2015) would summarize in detail the facts of the case and analyze where the company went wrong; it might also suggest what the company should have done instead to secure a place on the Canadian market.

Professionals in different fields often use case studies as part of their research into various issues of interest for their organization (for instance, when they decide to launch a new product and/or service and want to learn from other companies’ success/failure before they plan their course of action). In college/university courses, case studies are used in order to connect the course material more effectively to the types of tasks the students will have to perform at work once they graduate.

Main advantages of learning with case studies — in general and in COMM 6019 :

• Case studies allow us to apply the theoretical knowledge we have acquired, so we can see how we can take advantage of our knowledge in everyday business situations.
• Case studies encourage critical thinking and collaborative learning.
• Based on what we know about professional business communication, we can use case studies to assess situations, examine options, trace a course of action for each option, and decide which might be the best. In so doing, we have to keep our focus on our goal.
• For each case study, we should try to make suggestions that would allow those involved to reach their goal, if possible, or get as close to their initial expectations as possible.
• people who are equally valuable in an organization might have very different leadership, management, or communication styles – and they might fail to appreciate each other for these reasons;
• depending on our boss and coworkers’ personality, background, and preferences, different approaches must be taken to ensure success (a direct approach might work with some of them, whereas others might prefer an indirect approach; there might also be situations when certain issues should not be brought up at all in order to avoid making a bad situation worse;
• choosing the wrong words in expressing an idea might have serious consequences for our career, even if we had the best of intentions in initiating contact with the other person(s) involved and did not mean to offend anyone.

Approaching Case Studies Analytically and Making Suggestions

Understanding the situation.

Whenever we work with a case study, we should take an analytical approach. First, we should make sure we understand the situation clearly. That includes identifying the following:

1. The problem/ issue:

What is the problem, exactly? In complex business situations, this question might not be as easy to answer as it seems. For example, there might be several problems involved, and trying to solve them all or treating them all as equally important might cause us to get lost in details and give insufficient attention to the one issue that might have the most damaging effect on our organization. In identifying the problem, we need to clearly distinguish between major concerns and peripheral aspects.

2. The context/background:

What caused the problem? Again, the answer might not be easy to formulate. There might be multiple causes, and some might have had more impact than others. Some of these causes might be out of anyone’s control: unpredictable market fluctuations due to natural disasters, etc. Others might be mistakes people made: lack of foresight in analyzing the market, communication problems, etc.

We also need to analyze the context in terms of the options available in addressing the problem. For example, the context might not allow for a certain type of approach (some obvious examples would be differences in legislation or in cultural norms between different countries).

3. The key aspects/facts of the situation:

Again, distinguishing between major and minor aspects might not be an easy task. Making this distinction might be particularly difficult for people who are directly involved in the situation. This may seem counterintuitive, but if, say, a project leader is more invested in some parts of a project than others for whatever reason, he/she might not be able to judge the key facts correctly in a crisis.

4. The decision-maker’s priorities and goal:

We need to understand exactly what the decision-maker is hoping to achieve, as well as what he/she can – realistically – achieve. We also need to understand the decision-maker’s and the company’s priorities. Caution is recommended here: the decision-maker might not be aware that there is a mismatch between the goal he/she has set and the company’s priorities. If that is the case, our recommendations may have to include cautious explanations that might help the decision-maker redefine his/her goal.

Analyzing Options

Next, we should try to see how many options the decision-maker might have. The key question at this stage is the following: Can the problem be solved (can all negative aspects or effects be completely eliminated) or is reducing the negative effects the best we can hope for?

Many professionals sometimes make a situation worse because they naïvely assume that every conflict or problem can be completely eliminated, in all its overt and hidden implications/ consequences. Thus, they set the wrong goal (an unreachable goal ) and choose their strategies based on that goal. In such situations, the results can be disastrous – financial losses, loss of reputation, etc. — because resources will be wasted on aspects that were hopeless to begin with. Setting a more realistic goal (say, to improve specific aspects of the situation in a limited, achievable way) would allow decision-makers to select the right strategies to reduce losses as much as possible, and to get the most out of the resources available.

Presenting Persuasive Suggestions

Finally, after analyzing the situation and the available options, case studies allow us to present and motivate our recommendation as we would at work. To make our recommendation persuasive, we should offer several options (typically, at least two or three) and discuss them in detail, to show that the one we recommend is the most likely to lead to a positive outcome.

Here are some aspects to consider in choosing the solutions we should discuss and then selecting the best one:

• If other decision-makers involved seem to favour an approach with which we disagree, we need to include that approach as one of the options, analyze it, and show that it will have limited success or that it comports serious risks.
• Potential improvements, as well as potential risks need to be discussed in detail for the solution we want to recommend, too. If we do not mention some obvious drawbacks of the solution we support, we can lose our credibility.
• The idea is to show that we have carefully weighed all relevant options and that we chosen the option that seems to be the most advantageous.

Case Study Work in COMM 6019 and Workplace Applications

Depending on your course section and professor, you might have to do more or less case study-related work in this course, but you are likely going to be asked to complete at least two case study-related assignments. Specifically, your professors might use information from case studies to create scenarios for your written assignments, or they may ask you to find and/or analyze case studies specific to your field, always with a focus on communication aspects. Case study elements can also be used in the Research Report, although they are not mandatory.

Our work with case studies in COMM 6019 is meant to help you assimilate the necessary strategies in analyzing any business situation (from a communication perspective, as well as in general). This experience will prove particularly useful when you are asked to complete analytical reports and recommendation reports at work. Any routine business situation, as well as any crisis, can be analyzed in this manner to make sure we arrive at the best decision.

Whenever you are assigned this type of task in the workplace, make sure you understand what you are expected to do and that you do just that:

• In some cases, you might be asked for a recommendation, whereas in others you might just be asked to analyze options.
• If you are asked to analyze options, you can still explain which option you think is best, to show initiative – but only if you think your reader(s) would be open to accepting a recommendation. (Some upper-management employees might think that you are overstepping your mandate if you do that. Always consider your primary audience carefully when you make such decisions.)

In courses focused on field-specific skills, professors usually use complex case studies, and the students are expected to produce lengthy case study-related assignments (reports). Thus, the case studies provided to students would be at least 4 pages long (usually much longer), and the reports the students would be expected to write might be 2000-word reports that include information from several research sources.

In COMM 6019, our focus is on teaching students how to analyze situations and make recommendations in objective language and without saying anything that might be perceived as unnecessarily negative, insensitive, or offensive . To this end, we typically use short case studies and short articles reporting various real-life business/professional incidents  as “prompts” for assignments – to help you understand what kinds of problems professionals have to deal with in the business/professional world and what might be the best approach from a communication perspective . Your professors might also ask you to read a longer, more complex case study but focus on just one particular aspect of the situation instead of providing a full-length case study analysis (a long report). This is meant to stimulate your critical thinking skills while maintaining the focus on the main objective of this course – helping students to acquire the writing and communication techniques they need in order to make their case effectively in any business situation, however difficult/ sensitive.

A Sample Case Study

Here is an example of a case study we might use in a Professional Communication class:

• https://www.iveycases.com/ProductView.aspx?id=35525

This is a tricky case study – as case studies usually are. In class discussions, some students rush to suggest that the two business people involved should set up a meeting and solve their financial disagreements immediately, so that they can work together on the new task they have been assigned. However, a more careful analysis of the case study would show that this is a naïve approach. The details provided about the two individuals’ educational background, personality, work history, and history of business conflict (including a lawsuit!) clearly indicate that they won’t be able to “solve the problem” in a meeting (or two, or ten). Therefore, what they need to do is agree to focus on the new task and never mention their previous problems in meetings related to the new task, allowing the old conflict to be solved in court.

Once this aspect of the situation is clarified, a good way to use this case study for an assignment in COMM 6019 would be to ask students to pick one of the two business professionals and write a short recommendation report from a Communication perspective, advising the person of their choice that the best way to approach the situation is to keep the old conflict and the new task separate. To be persuasive and useful, the report would have to include the following sections:

• an analysis of the situation, explaining why this is the best option;
• a section of detailed suggestions concerning exactly how the person they are advising should behave, exactly what he should say, etc.

In order to help you to understand a little better the relevance of the content studied in this course for the work you will do as professionals, your professors may relate case studies or media coverage of business/ professional/ corporate incidents to any number of themes covered in this course, from effective social media use to workplace diversity and intercultural communication to employment interviews.

Case Studies and Workplace Communication: Quick Example

Here is an example of a costly communication mistake concerning the channel of communication chosen by the sender of the initial message and the role the receiver decided to assume — a mistake with serious international consequences, as you are about to see.

You might have heard that Hillary Clinton is assumed to have lost quite a few votes in the US election in 2016 after some emails exchanged between individuals in high-ranking positions in her campaign were “leaked” as a result of hacking. According to a December 2016 New York Times article, FBI agent Adrian Hawkins called the Democratic National Committee in September 2015 to warn them that their computers are being hacked by “The Dukes,” a cyberespionage team linked to the Russian Government. He was transferred to the Help Desk and spoke to Yared Tamene, a tech-support contractor working for the DNC, who did a routine check of the DNC computer system logs to look for evidence of a cyberattack and did not find any.

Tamene was not an expert in cyberattacks, and “The Dukes” appear to be a sophisticated group – they are suspected of having hacked the unclassified email systems of the White House and the State Department, among other cybercrimes. Apparently, Tamene was not sure if Hawkins was a real FBI agent or an impostor – sohe  did not conduct a more thorough search for signs of hacking and did not transmit the information to higher-ranking DNC officials, although Special Agent Hawkins called repeatedly, over several weeks.

You can read a New York Times article on this topic here if you are not familiar with the incident:

• The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S . (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/us/politics/russia-hack-election-dnc.html?_r=0)

It is easy to see that several communication mistakes are to blame for the fact that the cyberattack was not stopped right away. Most importantly,

• The FBI agent spoke on the phone with a tech desk employee instead of setting up an official face-to-face meeting with a top DNC official (he made a serious error in choosing the channel of communication and the person to contact).
• The tech desk employee acted as a gatekeeper for the message although he was not competent to assess the validity of the warning (he made a serious error in judgement).

Since Hillary Clinton won the popular vote (by 2.8 million votes) and was narrowly defeated in several key states, many political commentators have argued that if even one mistake of this type had been avoided, she could have been the President of the U.S. instead of Donald Trump. Imagine what this public perception might mean for the future career of the F.B.I. agent or for that of the tech desk employee involved. Even communication mistakes of a much lower magnitude can get employees into serious trouble. At the very least, they would lose any chance at promotions. Consequences might also include being fired and, perhaps, becoming unemployable in their field. (Who would take a chance on a potential employee with this kind of work history?)

Additional  Case Study Examples

A list of case studies in Astronomy, Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Chemistry, Ethics, Evolution, Genetics, Behavior, Biology, Botany, Ecology, Epidemiology, Health Sciences, Microbiology, Phylogenetics, Physiology, Physics,  and other disciplines:

• http://bioquest.org/icbl/cases.php 

National Centre for Case Study Teaching in Science: The purpose of this center is to “promote a nationwide application of active learning techniques to the teaching of science, with a particular emphasis on case studies and problem-based learning” (quotation from front page of the official website). This resource contains many cases in all areas of science:

• http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/ and, more specifically:
• http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/

MERLOT II: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching: You can have access to many cases in various disciplines by doing a search with the key phrase: “case studies”.

• https://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm

Stanley, E., (n.d.). Investigative case based learning examples, SERC Pedagogic Service Project: Several cases are provided and some of the Earth Systems topics are in atmosphere, biosphere, climate, Earth’s cycles, human dimensions, hydrology and surface processes.

• http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/icbl/examples.html

Ryerson University – The Teaching and Learning Office – Teaching Methods for Case Studies: This is a pdf file with information on how to pick a case study, how to prepare students for it, the importance of knowing students’ abilities and needs, how to lead the discussion, what types of questions to be asked, and the evaluation process.

• http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/lt/resources/handouts/CaseMethodBestPractices.pdf

Boston University – Center for Teaching and Learning – Using Case Studies to Teach: This website has a brief introduction on case study use to teach: common elements in case studies, advantages in using them in class, guidelines for using them, how to lead a case discussion and how to evaluate performance.

• http://www.bu.edu/ctl/teaching-resources/using-case-studies-to-teach/

The case directory of Western University’s Ivey Business School:

• https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/internationalbusiness/resources/published-cases/case-directory/http://www.bu.edu/ctl/teaching-resources/using-case-studies-to-teach/

Key Takeaways

• Case studies allow for complex learning activities that stimulate the development of higher-order cognitive skills such as critical thinking in students
• Analyzing a case study (and any business situation) involved understanding the problem/ issue, the context of the problem, the key aspects of the situation, and the decision-maker’s priorities and goal.
• In making suggestions, we should always start by carefully assessing what is achievable and what is not — to avoid directing resources at issues that can’t be solved. We should also make our suggestions in clear, objective language, being careful to avoid careless and unnecessarily negative comments.

Additional resources for case study-based learning:

Brown University, (n.d.). Case Studies. Retrieved April 13, 2017 from:

https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/sheridan-center/teaching-learning/effective-classroom-practices/case-studies  

Davis, C., and Wilcock, E. (2003). Teaching materials using case studies. In UK Centre for Materials Education: Working with you to enhance the student experience. Retrieved on April 18, 2017 from:

http://www.materials.ac.uk/guides/1-casestudies.pdf

Stanford University Newsletter on Teaching, (1994). Teaching with case studies. In Speaking of Teaching, 5(2), 1-4. Retrieved on April 13 2017 from:

https://web.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/Newsletter/case_studies.pdf

Stanley, E., (n.d.). Using Investigative Cases. SERC Pedagogic Service Project. Retrieved on April 18, 2017, from:

http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/icbl/index.html

The BioQuest Library IV, (1996). Planning for case-based learning. Retrieved on April 18, 2017, from:

http://bioquest.org/lifelines/PlanningStages.html#structure

Advanced Professional Communication Copyright © 2021 by Melissa Ashman; Arley Cruthers; eCampusOntario; Ontario Business Faculty; and University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Managing Organizational Change

Communication failure in the workplace: case study.

What happens when communication fails in the workplace?

What are the common problems in communication and what can we do to fix communication issues at work?

In this case study we will try to understand how things can go wrong and what should be done to avoid the catastrophic consequences of bad communication .

Let’s take a look at small projects that you have to work on daily. Projects or activities that somehow you were expecting would improve your job, increase efficiency, productivity or improve relationships.

In this post, I want to analyse what brings people to fail in communicating .

I want to analyse a real event happened in the company I work for when a new project had to be planned and executed to improve scheduling of the machining and tooling department.

Creation of a new project

Our Head of quality (that we will call Mr L.) suggested that the company needed to improve the planning and scheduling of the machining and tooling department.

All companies that have machine production do this, and we already had someone scheduling this department (Mr M.), but we needed someone that could do it much more in detail and ahead of time.

• Eventually, the supervisor of the machining department (Mr S.) was elected to be the best person for this job, so the CEO of the company decided that Mr M. had to train Mr S. and explain the method he followed for the planning.
• Mr M. is known to be someone that likes to work the way he wants to work! In other words, he is not known for being someone that listens to other people’s opinion, so Mr S. (much younger) had some difficulty getting information out of Mr M.
• This problem had been planned. In fact, before this project started there had been at least two separate meetings, one together with Mr M. in which the steps of the projects were planned and agreed upon, and one meeting without Mr M. where the relationship issue was discussed with the CEO.

Starting the project

Mr S. was not satisfied with the training received by Mr M. and more than once explained that he could not start scheduling the machines if he had not received more information from Mr M.

After he explained this simple point to the CEO, he almost lost his job and was told that “there are other people out there that can do your job!”.

Mr S. almost left the company, but eventually decided to continue and asked help to other members of the company and understood that there were important elements missing.

He had very poor tools that could not help him understand what had to be scheduled, there was no method and the MRP (Material Requirement Planning) was missing most BOMs.

Without this basic information there was no way that he could receive the correct data from the MRP and start planning.

Where is the communication issue?

Mr. M. was cut out without notice.

The first and maybe the most important mistake was performed by the CEO. He did not understand why there was a need to increase efficiency in the planning and did not communicate properly this need to Mr M. which had been doing it for over 10 years.

How to communicate with Mr M?

The communication issue with Mr M. was not sufficiently taken into consideration by the CEO nor by the head of quality. Given the younger age of Mr S. it was given for granted that there would have been communication differences between the two, but clearly, this cannot be a reason for not facilitating communication.

Age difference in today’s companies is a very important topic that has been studied for decades and needs to be understood deeply by HR managers, CEO’s and middle management in organizations.

What should have been done?

First, the communication problem with Mr M. should have risen at the beginning , in the very first meeting, and should have been faced directly explaining what everyone expected from him .

Second, there had to be a better role definition and goal setting . Who does what and when!

If everyone had a clear idea of the steps required before Mr S. could take ownership of his new task, probably they would have learned from the very beginning that there were important information missing.

They would have saved a lot of time and probably Mr S. wouldn’t have almost lost his job for no reason.

What everyone did was concentrate on the relationship with Mr M. and believed that the project could not continue because of him and not because of the lack of tools to properly schedule the machines.

How did things go?

It ended with Mr S. losing almost 3 months without planning.

The company lost a lot of time and money on something that would have taken a few days to figure out.

Mr M. and Mr S. did not improve their communication skills.

The head of quality stopped following the project and did not facilitate the cooperation between the two.

Communication continued to fail and other projects did not meet the results expected.

The CEO believed that Mr S. was not right for the job and probably never changed idea.

Production efficiency decreased.

All of these “catastrophic” consequences were caused by a simple communication issue.

Common communication issues

These are some common communication difficulties :

• Not explaining goals and priorities properly
• Not asking questions
• Preconceived ideas
• Not understand the actual problem and where the project is aiming to
• Jumping to conclusions
• Not exploring alternatives

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Case Studies in Organizational Communication Ethical Perspectives and Practices

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The course including ethical decision-making has to be reshuffled for now, but in the future I will definitely use the book as a source for supporting material.

Excellent supplement to text I'm using. Offers in depth case studies and addresses evaluation using critical thinking.

Is there any instructor material available?

This book provides an effective way to engage students into theory. The cases presented can also be further analysed using a plethora of approaches, which makes it a useful teaching tool.

This book will be particularly helpful for students who have an interest in communication. I will also use it to supplement my lectures with examples in class. The book is very well laid out, engaging in its detail with signposting to further material for those students who wish to read more.

Matched with course design- practical and applied pedagogy for studying ethical issues and communication in everyday life.

NEW TO THIS EDITION

• The Second Edition includes expanded coverage of the recent economic meltdown, globalization, new technologies, and corporate social responsibility.
• Eighteen new case studies on current workplace issues include companies such as BP, Google, Toyota, Gap, Wyeth, and Enron.

KEY FEATURES

• Emerging issues in the workplace, explored in several case studies, include work/family balance, sexual harassment, outsourcing, personal privacy, bribery, new technologies, social networking, corporate social responsibility, and other issues.
• International case studies examine the ethical behavior of non-American organizations, providing a more thorough understanding of ethics in a global business environment.
• The consistent case study structure allows instructors and students greater opportunity to compare and contrast cases on comparable terms.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Case Study 1

Case Study 3

For instructors

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1. WHAT IS TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION?

1.4 Case Study: The Cost of Poor Communication

No one knows exactly how much poor communication costs business, industry and government each year, but estimates suggest billions.  In fact, a recent estimate claims that the cost in the U.S. alone are close to $4 billion annually! [1] Poorly-worded or inefficient emails, careless reading or listening to instructions, documents that go unread due to poor design, hastily presenting inaccurate information, sloppy proofreading — all of these examples result in inevitable costs. The problem is that these costs aren’t usually included on the corporate balance sheet at the end of each year; if they are not properly or clearly defined, the problems remain unsolved.

You may have seen the Project Management Tree Cartoon before ( Figure 1.4.1 ); it has been used and adapted widely to illustrate the perils of poor communication during a project.

The waste caused by imprecisely worded regulations or instructions, confusing emails, long-winded memos, ambiguously written contracts, and other examples of poor communication is not as easily identified as the losses caused by a bridge collapse or a flood. But the losses are just as real—in reduced productivity, inefficiency, and lost business. In more personal terms, the losses are measured in wasted time, work, money, and ultimately, professional recognition. In extreme cases, losses can be measured in property damage, injuries, and even deaths.

The following “case studies” show how poor communications can have real world costs and consequences. For example, consider the “ Comma Quirk ” in the Rogers Contract that cost $2 million. [3]   A small error in spelling a company name cost £8.8 million. [4]   Examine Edward Tufte’s discussion of the failed PowerPoint presentation that attempted to prevent the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster. [5] The failure of project managers and engineers to communicate effectively resulted in the deadly Hyatt Regency walkway collapse. [6]   The case studies below offer a few more examples that might be less extreme, but much more common.

In small groups, examine each “case” and determine the following:

• Define the rhetorical situation : Who is communicating to whom about what, how, and why? What was the goal of the communication in each case?
• Identify the communication error (poor task or audience analysis? Use of inappropriate language or style? Poor organization or formatting of information? Other?)
• Explain what costs/losses were incurred by this problem.
• Identify possible solution s or strategies that would have prevented the problem, and what benefits would be derived from implementing solutions or preventing the problem.

Present your findings in a brief, informal presentation to the class.

Exercises adapted from T.M Georges’ Analytical Writing for Science and Technology. [7]

CASE 1: The promising chemist who buried his results

Bruce, a research chemist for a major petro-chemical company, wrote a dense report about some new compounds he had synthesized in the laboratory from oil-refining by-products. The bulk of the report consisted of tables listing their chemical and physical properties, diagrams of their molecular structure, chemical formulas and data from toxicity tests. Buried at the end of the report was a casual speculation that one of the compounds might be a particularly safe and effective insecticide.

Seven years later, the same oil company launched a major research program to find more effective but environmentally safe insecticides. After six months of research, someone uncovered Bruce’s report and his toxicity tests. A few hours of further testing confirmed that one of Bruce’s compounds was the safe, economical insecticide they had been looking for.

Bruce had since left the company, because he felt that the importance of his research was not being appreciated.

CASE 2: The rejected current regulator proposal

The Acme Electric Company worked day and night to develop a new current regulator designed to cut the electric power consumption in aluminum plants by 35%. They knew that, although the competition was fierce, their regulator could be produced more affordably, was more reliable, and worked more efficiently than the competitors’ products.

The owner, eager to capture the market, personally but somewhat hastily put together a 120-page proposal to the three major aluminum manufacturers, recommending that the new Acme regulators be installed at all company plants.

She devoted the first 87 pages of the proposal to the mathematical theory and engineering design behind his new regulator, and the next 32 to descriptions of the new assembly line she planned to set up to produce regulators quickly. Buried in an appendix were the test results that compared her regulator’s performance with present models, and a poorly drawn graph showed the potential cost savings over 3 years.

The proposals did not receive any response. Acme Electric didn’t get the contracts, despite having the best product. Six months later, the company filed for bankruptcy.

CASE 3: The instruction manual the scared customers away

As one of the first to enter the field of office automation, Sagatec Software, Inc. had built a reputation for designing high-quality and user-friendly database and accounting programs for business and industry. When they decided to enter the word-processing market, their engineers designed an effective, versatile, and powerful program that Sagatec felt sure would outperform any competitor.

To be sure that their new word-processing program was accurately documented, Sagatec asked the senior program designer to supervise writing the instruction manual. The result was a thorough, accurate and precise description of every detail of the program’s operation.

When Sagatec began marketing its new word processor, cries for help flooded in from office workers who were so confused by the massive manual that they couldn’t even find out how to get started. Then several business journals reviewed the program and judged it “too complicated” and “difficult to learn.” After an impressive start, sales of the new word processing program plummeted.

Sagatec eventually put out a new, clearly written training guide that led new users step by step through introductory exercises and told them how to find commands quickly. But the rewrite cost Sagatec $350,000, a year’s lead in the market, and its reputation for producing easy-to-use business software.

CASE 4: One garbled memo – 26 baffled phone calls

Joanne supervised 36 professionals in 6 city libraries. To cut the costs of unnecessary overtime, she issued this one-sentence memo to her staff:

After the 36 copies were sent out, Joanne’s office received 26 phone calls asking what the memo meant. What the 10 people who didn’t call about the memo thought is uncertain. It took a week to clarify the new policy.

CASE 5: Big science — Little rhetoric

The following excerpt is from Carl Sagan’s book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, [8] itself both a plea for and an excellent example of clear scientific communication:

The Superconducting Supercollider (SSC) would have been the preeminent instrument on the planet for probing the fine structure of matter and the nature of the early Universe. Its price tag was $10 to $15 billion. It was cancelled by Congress in 1993 after about $2 billion had been spent — a worst of both worlds outcome. But this debate was not, I think, mainly about declining interest in the support of science. Few in Congress understood what modern high-energy accelerators are for. They are not for weapons. They have no practical applications. They are for something that is, worrisomely from the point of view of many, called “the theory of everything.” Explanations that involve entities called quarks, charm, flavor, color, etc., sound as if physicists are being cute. The whole thing has an aura, in the view of at least some Congresspeople I’ve talked to, of “nerds gone wild” — which I suppose is an uncharitable way of describing curiosity-based science. No one asked to pay for this had the foggiest idea of what a Higgs boson is. I’ve read some of the material intended to justify the SSC. At the very end, some of it wasn’t too bad, but there was nothing that really addressed what the project was about on a level accessible to bright but skeptical non-physicists. If physicists are asking for 10 or 15 billion dollars to build a machine that has no practical value, at the very least they should make an extremely serious effort, with dazzling graphics, metaphors, and capable use of the English language, to justify their proposal. More than financial mismanagement, budgetary constraints, and political incompetence, I think this is the key to the failure of the SSC.

CASE 6: The co-op student who mixed up genres

Chris was simultaneously enrolled in a university writing course and working as a co-op student at the Widget Manufacturing plant. As part of his co-op work experience, Chris shadowed his supervisor/mentor on a safety inspection of the plant, and was asked to write up the results of the inspection in a compliance memo . In the same week, Chris’s writing instructor assigned the class to write a narrative essay based on some personal experience. Chris, trying to be efficient, thought that the plant visit experience could provide the basis for his essay assignment as well.

He wrote the essay first, because he was used to writing essays and was pretty good at it. He had never even seen a compliance memo, much less written one, so was not as confident about that task. He began the essay like this:

On June 1, 2018, I conducted a safety audit of the Widget Manufacturing plant in New City. The purpose of the audit was to ensure that all processes and activities in the plant adhere to safety and handling rules and policies outlined in the Workplace Safety Handbook and relevant government regulations. I was escorted on a 3-hour tour of the facility by…

Chris finished the essay and submitted it to his writing instructor. He then revised the essay slightly, keeping the introduction the same, and submitted it to his co-op supervisor. He “aced” the essay, getting an A grade, but his supervisor told him that the report was unacceptable and would have to be rewritten – especially the beginning, which should have clearly indicated whether or not the plant was in compliance with safety regulations. Chris was aghast! He had never heard of putting the “conclusion” at the beginning . He missed the company softball game that Saturday so he could rewrite the report to the satisfaction of his supervisor.

• J. Bernoff, "Bad writing costs business billions," Daily Beast , Oct. 16, 2016 [Online]. Available:  https://www.thedailybeast.com/bad-writing-costs-businesses-billions?ref=scroll ↵
• J. Reiter, "The 'Project Cartoon' root cause," Medium, 2 July 2019. Available: https://medium.com/@thx2001r/the-project-cartoon-root-cause-5e82e404ec8a ↵
• G. Robertson, “Comma quirk irks Rogers,” Globe and Mail , Aug. 6, 2006 [Online]. Available: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/comma-quirk-irks-rogers/article1101686/ ↵
• “The £8.8m typo: How one mistake killed a family business,” (28 Jan. 2015). The Guardian [online]. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/law/shortcuts/2015/jan/28/typo-how-one-mistake-killed-a-family-business-taylor-and-sons ↵
• E. Tufte, The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint , 2001 [Online]. Available: https://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/teaching/courses/pi/2016_2017/phil/tufte-powerpoint.pdf ↵
• C. McFadden, "Understanding the tragic Hyatt Regency walkway collapse," Interesting Engineering , July 4, 2017 [Online]: https://interestingengineering.com/understanding-hyatt-regency-walkway-collapse ↵
• T.M. Goerges (1996), Analytical Writing for Science and Technology [Online], Available: https://www.scribd.com/document/96822930/Analytical-Writing ↵
• C. Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, New York, NY: Random House, 1995. ↵

Technical Writing Essentials Copyright © 2019 by Suzan Last is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Role of Communication Strategies in Organizational Commitment, Mediating Role of Faculty Engagement: Evidence From English Language Teachers

Associated data.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

Employees are critical stakeholders for an organization because they directly deal with the end-users and represent the entire firm. To recognize the strategic importance of the employees, organizations create communication programs to keep employees apprised of organizational issues. In this regard, this study examined the role of communication strategies (i.e., information flow, information adequacy, and information feedback) on organizational commitment. The study also investigated the mediating effect of faculty engagement between communication strategies and organizational commitment. Self-administered survey aided in acquiring data from 276 English language teachers in China. The analysis of the data was conducted using SmartPLS through the Structured Equation Modeling technique. The outcome of the study demonstrated that information flow and information feedback significantly impact organizational commitment and faculty engagement. The analysis also revealed that information adequacy significantly impacts organizational commitment but has no relationship with faculty engagement. The mediation analysis demonstrated that faculty engagement mediated the relationship between information flow and organizational commitment and between information feedback and organization commitment. However, faculty engagement did not mediate the relationship between information adequacy and organizational commitment among English language teachers in China. In theoretical terms, the study contributed in terms of incorporating different communication strategies and examining their effect on organizational commitment and faculty engagement. In practical terms, this study would be beneficial for the management of the educational institutes to develop different ways of enhancing communication strategies within the institute. This study also provided directions for the future, for example, conducting the study on other subject teachers, increasing the sample, carrying out the research in a different context, and adding different mediators and moderators in the existing model.

Introduction

Faculty members have several important obligations toward their organizations. They are important stakeholders of organizations due to their professional positions and capacity to impact outsiders (Kim and Rhee, 2011 ). Further, they noticed that educational institutions now realize the strategic importance of teachers for enhancing the performance of the institution. Therefore, these organizations develop systematic communication programs to keep them informed about the organizational issues. These communication programs consist of managers, supervisors, administrators, and internal communication teams (Rhee and Moon, 2009 ). The importance of faculty members is quite similar to employees of any organization. So, when organizations provide effective internal communication to employees about the organizational goals, they are more likely to work hard. Such employees advocate for the organization to everyone else and establish a strong relationship with the organization (Mishra et al., 2014 ).

Faculty members are the most valuable asset of an institution because they have an important role in maintaining sustainability. Their functionality is varied across different institutions. Therefore, it becomes difficult to manage their roles appropriately. Some faculty members are more devoted, and they try to deliver more than what is required by their employer organizations. This devotion of faculty members enhances their work engagement which defines the significance of their roles in academic performance. So, why do some faculty members get more involved in the institution's operations? In the literature on organizational behavior and management, “organizational commitment” seems widely used. According to a research, faculty opinions toward their institution significantly impact their commitment (Jing and Zhang, 2014 ). Organizational commitment is a behavioral disposition that refers to an individual's willingness to remain employed. It motivates the employees to become high performers. It also leads to put up maximum effort in the company's best interests (Lovakov, 2016 ). According to studies, one of the most important determinants of the additional activities of faculty members is organizational commitment (Lovakov, 2016 ). Professionals who are prominently committed to the organization consider the work in a more favorable dimension. They desire to stay employed in the company, and are much more satisfied with their work. It is assumed that a committed employee is a good fighter for the organization (Lawrence et al., 2012 ). There are many factors which help in strengthening the commitment of employees with organization. Effective communication is one of these factors at organizational level.

Professional communication is acknowledged as a subset of organizational communication. It is vital for shaping employee-organization ties (in this case, faculty–organization interactions). It is also important for boosting workplace productivity (Men, 2014 ). The relationship development initiatives at organizational level such as communication efforts may result in two critical outcomes. These include job engagement and organizational commitment (Mishra et al., 2014 ). Employee engagement (faculty engagement in this study) is better described as a pleasant and rewarding state of mind which relates to commitment, vitality, and immersion at work (Schaufeli et al., 2006 ). Such engagement is all about getting involved in work at hand and feeling energized by it. Based on trust and fulfillment criteria, commitment is one of the most commonly cited factors of faculty–organization relationship quality in public relations (Men, 2014 ). A research implies that engagement's role in faculty–organization relationships is understudied (Saks, 2019 ). This is a shortcoming, because job engagement has been shown to be a determinant of long-term organizational commitment in studies (Saks, 2019 ). It is also critical to study faculty engagement to comprehend that what may drive organizational commitment in educational institutions (Harrison et al., 2017 ).

Human capital having lots of energy, effectiveness, and commitment are required to achieve competitive edge in the modern world. Several organizations are well aware that engagement and commitment are crucial to their competitiveness. Faculty members also have the responsibility to keep their organizations competitive. So, they are anticipated to have high levels of professional motivation, dedication, and job engagement. Disengaged teachers are upset and unsatisfied with their employment. Therefore, they underperform and have an adverse influence on their coworkers' efforts in the organizations. On the contrary, engaged faculty members are wholly devoted, committed, and determined to their work. An engaged staff can boost an organization's competitive advantage (Harrison et al., 2017 ). Effective communication is one of the important tasks of all academic, profit, and non-profit organizations. A growing body of research on higher education institutions have found that communication is critical for molding work attitudes and organizational productivity. It strengthens an organization's vision, activities, and procedures. It also helps in accelerating organizational improvements (Keyton, 2017 ). Communication is dependent on the possibilities of interaction and relationship development. It provides stimulation for professional and personal relationships through a variety of organizational communication methods (Murphy, 2015 ). During the recent years, it is observed that much attention has been paid to the enthusiasm and prestige of teachers in educational institutions. On the other hand, communication attribute has been neglected. Therefore, consideration to communication is critical for higher education, both in terms of success and efficacy (Avotra et al., 2021 ; Yingfei et al., 2021 ).

Communication at the organizational level is the process by which people share information relevant to the organization strategy, activities, and processes (Samson, 2018 ). Lateral communication refers to communication of data at the same level. Vertical communication refers to distribution of information either upward or downward between different positions in the organization. Both types of communications are accomplished through official or unstructured communication channels. It is important to provide a platform of communication to employees and supervisors for maintaining organizational activities. It may help in effective communication between the workers operating in different departments at various levels (Hee et al., 2019 ). According to a researcher, communication has two components at organizational level. The first is the content or the information which is communicated. The flow of information or “how information is shared inside an organization” is the other factor to consider. The flow of communication is a facet of the broader notion of psychological climate. It refers to an employee's interpretations of communication at work (Smidts et al., 2001 , p. 1059). To measure communication content in organizational communication, the categories such as access to information, information adequacy, company information, and feedback are developed (Downs and Hazen, 1977 ; Goldhaber and Krivonos, 1977 ).

The demand for interaction, confidence in seniors, and communication linkages described by Roberts and O'Reilly ( 1974 ) are concerned with how information is shared in organizations. According to Hargie ( 2009 ), the function of internal communications is shifting through one to two-way communications. One-way communication is largely concerned with regulating employee conduct to assure adherence to work. It is also associated with dissemination of the previously decided choices without participation of workers. Two-way conversation at organizational level is defined as workers' participation and involvement in decision making practice. According to Hargie ( 2009 ), one-way communication indicates an asymmetrical point of view, while two-way communication reflects a harmonious viewpoint. To summarize different levels of communication strategies, several people place a strong emphasis on the informational side of organizational communication. Some place an emphasis on the environment when it comes to workplace communication. Internal communication tactics may reflect different organizational viewpoints. In terms of communication strategies for teaching English language by the faculty, authors divided these in three elements. These strategies include information flow, information adequacy, and information feedback. Previously, role of information flow and information adequacy have been explored in general perspective of organizational commitment (Walden et al., 2017 ). Researchers did not explore the impact of these communication strategies along with the feedback of information on faculty engagement and organizational commitment.

To fill this gap, authors tried to explore the impact of information flow, information adequacy, and information feedback suggested by Walden et al. ( 2017 ) on faculty engagement leading to the organizational commitment in educational institutions of English teaching. This study is based on certain questions such as what are the possible relationships between information flow, adequacy, and feedback with organizational commitment of faculty members. This study also tries to find out the mediating role of faculty engagement between these relationships instead of job or work engagement of the employees of the organizations as suggested by Walden et al. ( 2017 ). The results of this study give directions regarding internal communication strategies and their role in achieving organizational commitment of faculty members.

Theoretical Underpinning

This study is inspired by relationship management theory by Ledingham ( 2003 ) and the public relations literature on faculty–organizational relationships. Cultural and societal roots, relationship development tactics, communications, and outcomes of interactions make up the relationships (Men, 2014 ). The relationships, hence developed, are the changeable outcomes of interactions between an organization and the various organizational and the outside groups (Ledingham, 2003 ). This seems to be true for different users and faculty–organization relationships administration, in which the organization increasingly builds and strives to keep connections with the faculty throughout the times. The conventional notion of integration of employees within organizations is related to this relationship viewpoint (Zerfass et al., 2018 ). The faculty relationships are more likely to be open, trusting, and credible when educational institutions implement faculty-centered communication tactics and develop an internal climate based on collaboration with instructors and staff (Zerfass et al., 2018 ). According to research, the quality of the faculty–organization relationship is related to the efforts of organizations to create ties with teachers and employees. The faculty perspectives on the quality of the faculty–organization connection are favorably predicted by the integration of faculty members in the organization. Furthermore, the faculty perceptions of the faculty–organization interaction are favorably associated with transformational leadership style (Men, 2014 ).

Information flow, interaction cooperativeness, and information adequacy are investigated as the components of internal communication and predictor variables of relationship management effects in this study. Interaction cooperativeness considers faculty getting about the content of communication on individual and organizational issues, while information adequacy considers faculty views about the content of communication on individual and organizational issues. Investigating faculty engagement as a prospective relationship result is one strategy to enhance relationship management theory in the context of faculty–organization connections (Walden et al., 2017 ). Faculty engagement ought to be a logical byproduct of strategic communication, according to Ruck and Welch's ( 2012 ) evaluations of the literature. Although the current empirical studies on the engagement framework consider that engagement has yet to be incorporated into the faculty–organization relationship paradigm (Mishra et al., 2014 ). Authors introduce faculty engagement as a particular type of engagement in the current framework to progress this theory. The relationship management theory has also previously provided basis for the relationships among employees through communication strategies Walden et al. ( 2017 ) which suggested that it could also be utilized as a foundational stone in our research. This study tries to find possible impact of communication strategies among faculty members to achieve organizational commitment.

This study also got a support from the theories of organizational commitment including behavioral commitment theory, transactional commitment theory, obligatory commitment theory, and attitudinal commitment theory (Becker, 1960 ). Theories that use an attitudinal concept of commitment emphasize on an individual's desire to stay in an organization. According to this hypothesis, an individual's commitment to an organization was likely influenced by emotions of cohesion or connection with that group (Meyer, 1984 ). With the help of this theory, it is assumed that faculty engagement is a behavioral aspect which may lead to their commitment with the organization. Therefore, this theory provides a foundational basis of organizational commitment by the faculty members.

Communication Strategies and Faculty Engagement

According to the analysis of the literature, the level of employee engagement (faculty engagement in this case) first gained traction as a topic of substantial scientific investigation with Kahn's ( 1990 ) research. Kahn's ( 1990 ) research characterized engagement as the presentation of someone's identity via job behaviors which encourage commitment to work. Work engagement, on the other hand, has been the topic of discussion since Kahn ( 1990 ) stated this definition as to what it genuinely comprises. The argument includes whether work engagement differs from other ideas such as organizational satisfaction and commitment, and what exactly employees are involved with at work. “Being dedicated to an organization is different than being engaged to the activities done within it”, it is also wise to note (Vecina et al., 2013 , p. 293). According to studies, there is a difference between work engagement (the subject of this study) with organizational engagement, that is, a type of organizational commitment. To distinguish the concept of job engagement from that of organizational commitment, authors employ the label job engagement of faculty in this study. Job engagement entails a task orientation as well as one's work position. Job engagement is a psychological condition which workers perceive (similar to flow and also being taken away for work), so it describes whether people engage with their employment or not (Saks, 2019 ). Organizational commitment, on the other hand, is an emotional tie to the organization that includes cost concerns and a social obligation to the organization (Meyer, 1984 ).

A prospective study has demonstrated that more engaged and determined people with their occupations have the probability to keep ties with their employers for long. It demonstrates strong organizational commitment (Lesener et al., 2019 ). However, there are some similarities between work engagement and organizational commitment, they are not the same. Faculty members' job engagement is defined as their engagement with activities, passion for jobs, and ability to work effectively. Engagement is made up of some of the following elements: Vigor, commitment, and assimilation. At job, vigor entails a high degree of energy and mental fortitude, a determination to put effort into one's task, and perseverance in the face of adversity (Schaufeli et al., 2006 ). The feeling of importance, passion, motivation, dignity, and struggle are all characteristics of commitment. When somebody is entirely attentive and pleasantly immersed in their task, assimilation happens, and time passes swiftly (Schaufeli et al., 2006 ). Engagement is a psychological condition which lasts longer and therefore is separate from many other conceptions such as organizational commitment (Saks, 2019 ). Work engagement is defined in this study as a condition of absorption in working in which faculty members show passion for accomplishing a specialized job while retaining a strong emotional attachment to their job position.

When faculty members obtain resources and support from their organization, some of them feel obligated to reciprocate it by immersing themselves deeper wholeheartedly in their roles (Saks, 2019 ). Faculty members can absorb themselves into the day-to-day activities and experience a sense of belongingness with this support. When faculty members believe their organization and supervisors support them, they experience work and job-related engagement (Schaufeli et al., 2006 ). According to Ruck and Welch ( 2012 ), organizations must meet the following six requirements to engender the behaviors associated with engagement: simply stating the employee's role in an organization, assisting the employee in identifying with the organization, making sure workers feel that they have organizational support, providing information that assists employees in understanding corporate goals and strategy.

Educational organizations should evaluate information flow, adequacy of the information, feedback of the information, and interactive support as characters of communication which are likely to lead to work engagement when interacting with staff and faculty members. Such factors measure how faculty members perceive the access of work and relevant information about the organization, and they handle the common layers of communication inside organizations (organization to faculty and manager to faculty) (Rhee and Moon, 2009 ). The open interchange of ideas, topics, and views through an organization's vertical and horizontal networks is referred to as information flow. Employees' perceptions of information adequacy are defined as their belief that they are obtaining the quantity of knowledge needed to execute their tasks in the short term and make long-term decisions regarding their employment (Robertson, 2005 ; Rawlins, 2008 ). The organizational environment and mechanism of relaying information to employees are the focus of information flow and information adequacy, whereas the content of communication in organizations is the focus of information feedback (Robertson, 2005 ; Rhee and Moon, 2009 ). Faculty members and students in educational institutions frequently seek feedback from colleagues and mentorship. Having these points considered, it appears that faculty members may agree with Robertson's ( 2005 ) and Rawlins's ( 2008 ) notions about information flow within organizations, assuming that organizations should allow the open interchange of information and ideas at work. When faculty encounters high-quality information flow at work, it is expected that they will show evidence of engagement. So, this study proposed the hypothesis about this kind of possible relationship:

H 1 : Information flow plays a role in faculty engagement .

Furthermore, informational adequacy involves giving faculty members with an appropriate amount of communication on important issues so that they would perform successfully at workplace. Smidts et al. ( 2001 ) shared similar viewpoint, claiming that organizational communication among employees consisted of delivering information well about organization and the employee individually. Performing one's everyday work as a faculty member necessitates frequent updates from bosses on personal and individual difficulties (Hartman and McCambridge, 2011 ). As a result, faculty members' inclination for effective communication shows a need to obtain constant updates on the organization's achievements, objectives, as well as how their specific function is evaluated by the organization. It appears like faculty members who work for organizations that have a lot of knowledge should be more engaged. Similarly, feedback of information would also keep the faculty members engaged to their tasks so the following hypotheses were proposed:

H 3 : information adequacy plays a role in faculty engagement .

H 5 : information feedback plays a role in student engagement .

In conclusion, flow of information, adequacy of the information, and information feedback are the three levels of communication that are often discussed inside organizations, because they represent the substance and organizational strategy of employee communication. Authors expect faculty members to be involved with the work if they believe that their organization is backing them and engaging with them. Therefore, this communication must be very pertinent to them.

Communication Strategies, Engagement, and Organizational Commitment

Faculty engagement, as previously said, is a psychological condition in which faculty members are fully immersed in their work responsibilities and role performance at the workplace. Organizational commitment contrasts with work engagement in that it refers to a person's mindset and attachment to their company, whereas employee engagement focuses on work absorption. Organizations must encourage as well as provide knowledge assets to employees regarding job engagement. It helps them to emerge above the other faculty members (Saks, 2019 ). In this setting, faculty engagement is the result of an organization's efforts to foster beneficial relationships with its employees.

Furthermore, studies on faculty–organization interactions indicates that providing particular information about faculty status within the organization as well as specific task feedback might improve connections (Karanges et al., 2015 ; Wang et al., 2019 ). Organizations' relationship development efforts, in particular, produce a significant amount of commitment. The amount to which other party thinks the interaction is worth investing time and effort to preserve and promote, could be characterized as organizational commitment (Kim et al., 2019 ). Commitment, in the viewpoint of the faculty, is a long-term desire to stay connected to the company as well as a pleasant feelings disposition toward their workplace. Staff employees receiving assistance from their employer are obliged to put everything into their employment, which causes them to feel more devoted to the company. An urge to continue one's affiliation with an organization is influenced by his work experiences. So, commitment emerges as a result of workplace experiences that are aligned with staff values and meet staff's needs (Albdour and Ikhlas, 2014 ). Scholars should pay attention to the link between workplace contact with faculty members and organizational commitment. Faculty members frequently request assistance from their superiors and desire unrestricted accessibility to information about their organization's future. According to industry research, educational institution teachers have become less burdened and more likely to desire career security than other professions (Singh and Maini, 2021 ).

Employees' commitment to their organization is strengthened by open communication, which reduces the possibility that they may explore for other employment prospects beyond their organization (Sadia et al., 2016 ). This is especially essential for young faculty members. Organizations are significant contributors in improving how individuals of this faculty view their connection with their employers by satisfying the communication demands of young faculty. Work- and job-centered faculty engagement promotes organizational commitment between both academics and staff, according to research (Xie and Derakhshan, 2021 ). Tomietto et al. ( 2019 ) model of job engagement also said that communications and assistance have an impact on employee engagement. Given their workplace communication choices, these challenges of job engagement appear to be particularly pertinent to young faculty. All these arguments suggested the following hypothesis.

H 2 : Information flow plays a role in organizational commitment .

H 4 : Information adequacy plays a role in organizational commitment .

H 6 : Information feedback plays a role in organizational commitment .

H 7 : Faculty engagement plays a role in organizational commitment .

Mediating Role of Faculty Engagement

Humanistic approach emphasizes a person's quantifiable, dynamic working, predictable qualities, and emotional capability, rather than workplace negatives such as exhaustion, disagreement, and job discontent. As a result, educational institutions are now looking for faculty who are energetic, dedicated, and focused, i.e., persons who are enthusiastic and engaged with their profession because such faculty members are more efficient and imaginative when they devote their skills and experience to the organization (Minghui et al., 2018 ). The term “faculty engagement” refers to a pleasant and rewarding emotional state regarding work that is characterized by enthusiasm, determination, and absorption. According to a previous study, the most important aspects of faculty engagement are commitment and vigor (Taris et al., 2017 ).

Faculty members in educational institutions with greater levels of vigor and passion discover a variety of approaches to address working requirements and barriers while maintaining health and wellbeing. Furthermore, the immersion component, that relates to entire focus on a task, is commonly described by the progression of time or even the trouble of disconnecting himself from someone's activity (Ojo et al., 2021 ). According to Burić and Macuka ( 2018 ), vigor relates to the tangible strength of the mind or body while working; dedication refers to the doer's emotional state, in which he or she is enthusiastic about work; and absorption refers to a cognitive situation in which the individual is completely absorbed in a task.

The pleasant and fascinating inspiration which teachers demonstrate in accomplishing their performance targets while feeling totally engaged and committed in performing their job obligations are crucial qualities to clarify job engagement (Wood et al., 2020 ). Since a prior study demonstrated statistically meaningful and favorable correlations between teacher work engagement and student achievement, teachers' job engagement can be considered crucial in terms of overall school success. Teacher engagement, according to scholars, is one of the indicators of student engagement (Keay, 2018 ; Butakor et al., 2021 ). Teachers that are engaged go above and beyond their formal tasks and duties to support their students intellectually using a variety of ways and strategies, resulting in improved academic achievement (Sugianingrat et al., 2019 ). Hence, the significant role of faculty engagement and the literature discussed in the previous sections, suggested the following role of faculty engagement. Figure 1 shows the bonding of the previous literature and the study module of hypothesis framework.

Theoretical framework.

H 8 : Faculty engagement mediates the relationship of information flow and organizational commitment .

H 9 : Faculty engagement mediates the relationship of information adequacy and organizational commitment .

H 10 : Faculty engagement mediates the relationship of information feedback and organizational commitment .

Methodology

The hypotheses of the study were developed to analyze the impact of information flow, information adequacy, and information feedback on organizational commitment with the mediation of faculty engagement. The study used a deductive approach and a quantitative research design to test the hypotheses of the study (Nawaz et al., 2022 ). The hypotheses helped the researcher to investigate the impact of independent variables on dependent variables. The reliability of the study was ensured using a quantitative research design because this design helps to reduce the biases in the study. The questionnaire survey was clear and precise to ensure data rationality. The target population of this study was English language teachers in China. The sample from the entire population was chalked out using the non-probability purposive sampling method. This method saves the resources as the data is collected from readily available respondents (Xiaolong et al., 2021 ). This particular sector (English language faculty) has been chosen purposefully because it better complements the conceptual model of the study adhering communication strategies with faculty engagement and organizational commitment (Kim and Rhee, 2011 ). The questionnaires were in English language; therefore, the English language faculty easily and properly understood the questionnaire. A careful estimation of the sample was made based on the study conducted by Wolf et al. ( 2013 ) who has investigated the parameter estimate biases in detail along with the scenarios where the parameters affect the statistical power, with a thorough statistical analysis. Wolf et al. ( 2013 ) found that a sample size between 30 and 460 cases is found to produce meaningful trends and patterns among the parameters using structural equation modeling. Self-administered survey aided in the data collection process. A total of 350 questionnaires were disbursed among the participants. The respondents were given enough time to fill out the questionnaire. The respondents were told to be natural while filling out the questionnaire and there are no right or wrong responses. A total of 300 questionnaires were collected from the participants over a period of 2 weeks. A total of 24 responses were discarded during the data screening process as they were incomplete or not properly filled by the respondents. A total of 276 responses were found usable after the initial screening for the survey. The usable response rate was 78%. Statistical software was then used for analyzing the data that was obtained from the study participants. The unit of analysis is individuals as the data has been taken from the English language faculty of China.

Statistical Tool

SmartPLS 3.3.3 software was used as it aids in examine the Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. It is considered as a suitable statistical technique for the analyses based on perceptions (i.e., hypotheses testing). The SEM is an equally helpful technique for all research models irrespective of their nature, i.e., univariate, bivariate, or multivariate. According to Hair et al. ( 2017 ), it can be used for both theory exploration and theory confirmation. The partial least square structural equation modeling offers two major advanced regarding data. First of all, traditional multivariate technique requires normal distribution of data, while PLS–SEM is very robust for model estimations and shows flexibility regarding normal distribution, kurtosis and skewness. Second, this technique is also helpful regarding the analysis of ordinal scales along with interval ad ratio scales. This software helps in analyzing the data in a short time with the help of path models such as measurement model and structural model (Nawaz et al., 2020 ). The recent study has used SmartPLS software for analyzing the data since it is very user friendly and generates detailed results. These models help to determine data reliability, data validity, and significance of the relationships between the constructs. On the basis of t -values and p -values, the hypotheses are either rejected or accepted.

Measurement

The data from the study participants were acquired using a 5-point Likert scale. The measurement scales for every construct have been described in detail. The full questionnaire is given in Appendix A.

Information Flow

There were four items in the measurement scale of information flow and it was adopted from Rhee and Moon ( 2009 ). The sample items are such as “Information in our organization flows openly from the top of the organization downwards.” The Cronbach alpha obtained for this scale is 0.884.

Information Adequacy

The measurement scale of information adequacy was adopted from Rhee and Moon ( 2009 ) and it consisted of nine items. The sample items are such as “Employees like me receive adequate information how we are being judged from the organization.” The Cronbach alpha obtained for this scale is 0.941.

Information Feedback

There were five items on the scale of information feedback and it was adopted from Rosen et al. ( 2006 ). The sample items are such as “My supervisor is usually available when I want performance information.” The Cronbach alpha obtained for this scale is 0.922.

Faculty Engagement

The measurement scale of faculty engagement was adopted from Schaufeli et al. ( 2006 ) and it consisted of nine items. The sample items are such as “At my work, I feel bursting with energy.” The Cronbach alpha obtained for this scale is 0.906.

Organizational Commitment

There were five items on the scale of organizational commitment and it was adopted from Gallicano et al. ( 2012 ). The sample items are such as “I have a long-lasting bond with the organization I work for.” The Cronbach alpha obtained for this scale is 0.917.

Demographic Profile

Table 1 below shows the demographic characteristics of the study participants. The table depicts that 57.97% of males and 42.0% of females participated in the study. Moreover, 19.57% of the respondents had an age between 20 and 30 years, 55.47% of the respondents had an age between 31 and 40 years, 16.30% of the respondents had an age between 41 and 50 years, and 14.49% of the respondents had an age above 50 years. The participants had either a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, or a Ph.D., or other degree. A total of 15.58% of the faculty members had a bachelor's degree, 52.27% of the English faculty teacher had a master's degree, while 32.48% had a Ph.D. or other degree. The English faculty teachers who had an experience of <1 year were 18.25%, the English faculty teachers who had an experience of between 1 and 3 years were 43.48%, the English faculty teachers who had an experience of between 4 and 6 years were 27.90%, whereas the English faculty teachers who had an experience of more than 6 years were 10.51%.

Demographics analysis ( N = 276).

Data Analysis and Results

Measurement model.

Figure 2 depicts the outer measurement model. The output of the measurement model assists in explaining the contribution of independent variables to outcome variables.

Output of measurement model. IFlow, Information flow; IAdeq, Information adequacy; IFeedback, Information feedback; FE, Faculty engagement; OC, Organizational commitment.

Table 2 demonstrates the model assessment of the direct model. The value of factor loading of more than 0.60 is considered acceptable (Bollen, 2019 ). The result of the factor loadings for this study shows that the values are above the threshold level; thus, the values are acceptable. The VIF indicator helps in addressing the issue of collinearity. The value of variance inflation factors should be below 5 (Salmerón et al., 2018 ), and the results revealed that all the values are between 1.657 and 4.938; therefore, the issue of multicollinearity was not detected from the data.

Model assessment (direct model).

IF, Information flow; IA, Information adequacy; IFB, Information feedback; FE, Faculty engagement; OC, Organizational commitment; VIF, Variance inflation factor; α, Cronbach alpha; AVE, Average variance extracted .

Table 2 also shows the results for construct reliability and validity. According to Taber ( 2018 ), for determining the internal consistency the value of Cronbach alpha (α) has to be above 0.70. The table shows that the values are above 0.70. For information flow, the value is (α = 0.884); for information adequacy, the value is (α = 0.941); for information feedback, the value is (α = 0.922); for faculty engagement, the value is (α = 0.906 ); and for organizational commitment the value is (α = 0.917); thus, internal consistency exists. Moreover (Benitez et al., 2020 ), explained that the value of composite reliability must be >0.70 for the data to be reliable. The value obtained for the composite reliability is between 0.920 and 0.950 which indicates that the data came out to be reliable. Furthermore, the average variance extracted (AVE) highlights the presence of convergent validity in the data set. This value must be more than 0.50 (Shrestha, 2021 ). The value obtained for AVE is between 0.566 and 0.762 which indicates the existence of convergent validity.

The results for Fornell–Larker Criterion and Heterotrait–Monotrait (HTMT) ratio have been shown in Table 3 . These tests explain the discriminant validity of the data. As for the Fornell–Larkar criterion, the value at the top column should be higher than the following values on the same column (Nawaz et al., 2019 ). For example, for faculty engagement, the first value in the column is 0.752, while the following values are 0.476, 0.533, 0.564, and 0.588, which are < 0.752. For the HTMT ratio, the threshold is below 0.90 (Benitez et al., 2020 ). The results for both these tests are under acceptable ranges; thus, it shows that discriminant validity exists.

Discriminant validity.

N = 276, IF, Information flow; IA, Information adequacy; IFB, Information feedback; FE, Faculty engagement; OC, Organizational commitment .

The R 2 -value explains the sustainability of the model and its value should be near 0.50 (Akossou and Palm, 2013 ). The values of R 2 obtained for faculty engagement and organizational commitment are 0.360 and 0.495, respectively. The values are close to 0.50; therefore, the model shows sustainability. The model with values below 5 is said to be free from collinearity (Legate et al., 2021 ). The table demonstrates that the values are between 1.580 and 3.050; thus, there was no issue of collinearity.

Structural Model

Figure 3 presents the output of structural model bootstrapping. This shows the values of t -statistics. The PLS–SEM bootstrapping technique used a 95% confidence interval to accept or reject the proposed hypotheses of this study.

Structural model bootstrapping. IFlow, Information flow; IAdeq, Information adequacy; IFeedback, Information feedback; FE, Faculty engagement; OC, Organizational commitment.

Tables 4 , ​ ,5 5 reveal the direct effect and indirect effects of the study. The hypotheses were accepted or rejected on the basis of p -values and t -statistics. According to Winship and Zhuo ( 2020 ), the t -statistics have to be more than 1.96. Likewise, the threshold for p -value is < 0.50 (95% confidence interval) (Ioannidis, 2018 ). These tables also present the f -values (effect size) that explain the strength of the model. The f -values that are close to 1 indicate a strong effect while the values near to 0 signify a weak effect (Funder and Ozer, 2019 ).

Direct effects of the variable.

N = 276, *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.005, * p < 0.05 .

H, Hypothesis; O, Original sample; M, Sample mean; SD, Standard deviation; SRMR = 0.092, NFI = 0.688, IF, Information flow; IA, Information adequacy; IFB, Information feedback; FE, Faculty engagement; OC, Organizational commitment .

Indirect effects of the variable.

N = 276, ** p < 0.005, * p < 0.05 .

H, Hypothesis; O, Original sample; M, Sample mean; SD, Standard deviation; SRMR = 0.092; NFI = 0.688; IF, Information flow; IA, Information adequacy; IFB, Information feedback; FE, Faculty engagement; OC, Organizational commitment .

Table 4 demonstrates the results for Hypotheses H1–H7, i.e., direct effects of the variables. Hypothesis H1 proposed that information flow plays a role in faculty engagement. The results showed that the acceptance of Hypothesis H1 as ( t = 3.276; p = 0.000). The value of effect size ( f 2 = 0.057) indicates the model is weak. Hypothesis H2 proposed that information flow plays a role in organizational commitment. The results showed that the acceptance of Hypothesis H2 as ( t = 6.091; p = 0.001). The value of effect size ( f 2 = 0.103) indicates the model is weak. Hypothesis H3 proposed that information adequacy plays a role in faculty engagement. The results showed that the rejection of Hypothesis H3 as ( t = 1.128; p = 0.260). The value of effect size ( f 2 = 0.004) indicates the model is very weak. Hypothesis H4 proposed that information adequacy plays a role in organizational commitment. The results showed that the acceptance of H4 as ( t = 2.492; p = 0.000). The value of effect size ( f 2 = 0.020) indicates the model is weak. Hypothesis H5 proposed that information feedback plays a role in faculty engagement. The results showed that the acceptance of H5 as ( t = 4.056; p = 0.000). The value of effect size ( f 2 = 0.069) indicates the model is weak. Hypothesis H6 proposed that information feedback plays a role in organizational commitment. The results showed that the acceptance of H6 as ( t = 3.426; p = 0.001). The value of effect size ( f 2 = 0.064) indicates the model is weak. Hypothesis H7 proposed that faculty engagement plays a role in organizational commitment. The results showed that the acceptance of H7 as ( t = 4.263; p = 0.000). The value of effect size ( f 2 = 0.119) indicates the model is weak.

Table 5 presents the results for Hypotheses H8–H10, i.e., the indirect effects of the variables. H8 proposed that faculty engagement mediates the relationship between information flow and organizational commitment. The results showed that the acceptance of Hypothesis H8 as ( t = 2.490; p = 0.013). Hypothesis H9 proposed that faculty engagement mediates the relationship between information adequacy and organizational commitment. The results showed that the rejection of Hypothesis H9 as ( t = 1.058; p = 0.291). Hypothesis H10 proposed that faculty engagement mediates the relationship between information feedback and organizational commitment. The results showed that the acceptance of Hypothesis H10 as ( t = 3.012; p = 0.003).

The purpose of this study was to progress supposition in the field of faculty–organization relationships through analyzing the effect of faculty engagement in these relationships and by gaining a better understanding of how organizations instill committed relationships to faulty members through communication. For this purpose, we created and tested a framework wherein faculty engagement mediated the association between communication strategies and organizational commitment among educational organization's faculty members. The communication strategies included information flow, adequacy of information, and information feedback. The three employee communication variables studied in this study were all drivers of faculty engagement, which was linked to organizational commitment.

This study tried to find out the possible associations between information flow, information adequacy, information feedback, and faculty engagement. This kind of relationships suggested that the teachers, who were communicated properly through the organizational management, were more engaged to their duties. The better the things communicated to the faculty members, better should have been the level of engagement to their jobs. This kind of associations were suggested by some of the scholars of recent past in which the associations of these communication strategies were assessed in terms of job engagement of young generation (Walden et al., 2017 ). The results showed mixed indications in this study.

The first direct association of information flow with faculty engagement indicated strong association indicating that if information is properly passed on from the administration to the teachers, then it could lead to enhanced dedicated engagement with working by the teachers. The possible reason lies in the flow of information indicating that if information is present but not passed on to the faculty members then it would be difficult for them to do the things on their own. The association of information adequacy with faculty engagement indicated that it was not necessary for the information to be adequate while working of teachers, as there was no significant indication of relationship between both of these. The reason could be drawn from the supposition that the required information for work engagement of teachers does not have any set amount. This information could be of any amount and length as also indicated by Suh et al. ( 2018 ).

It was indicated through the results that feedback is very important factor in any communication approach across the organizations (Wang et al., 2020 ). The results of the association between information feedback and faculty engagement proved that if feedbacks are given properly through communication, then it could lead to more engaged working by the faculty members in educational organizations. The results of all these hypotheses are in accordance with (Walden et al., 2017 ). They also got the similar results in regard to the millennial generation communication approaches. This study also tried to find out the possible associations of information flow, information adequacy, and information feedback for assessing the organizational commitment of the faculty members. The results indicated a strong positive association between all these three associations.

Similar kind of results were also obtained by Walden et al. ( 2017 ) who also found significant associations between communication strategies and the organizational commitment of the employees. The reason behind such results are also alike the reasons for the associations with job engagement of faculty members. The flow of information is necessary, information quantity should be in adequate levels and feedback is also necessary for attaining organizational commitment as were required for the engagement to job. These associations were also indicated by some of the previous researchers in the field of organizational management such as Albdour and Ikhlas ( 2014 ) and Sadia et al. ( 2016 ). The last direct association was assessed between faculty engagement and organizational commitment.

Previously, a lot of research has been carried out in finding the associations between job engagement, work engagement, student engagement, teachers' engagement, and organizational commitment (Xie and Derakhshan, 2021 ). These associations were also suggested by Tomietto et al. ( 2019 ). The results of this study also indicated that more engaged faculty proves more commitment with their organizations. The mediating or indirect associations were also tested in this study indicating that faculty engagement positively mediated between information flow, information feedback, and organizational commitment. While it could not mediate the relationship between information adequacy and organizational commitment as again the amount of information was not considered necessary component in communication strategies for developing commitment with the organizations. Similar kind of mixed results were also shown by Walden et al. ( 2017 ).

Theoretical Implications

This study has some significant theoretical implications. First, the study examined the role of internal strategies of communication (i.e., information flow, information adequacy, and information feedback) on organizational commitment. Such a model has not been investigated and explored before; therefore this study thoroughly added to the existing public relation and education literature. This study also found that among these three communication strategies, two strategies, i.e., information flow and information feedback significantly impacted the faculty engagement. This study has enriched the literature by examining faculty engagement as a mediator. The reader can understand how significant is faculty engagement in facilitating the relationship between information flow and organizational commitment and between information feedback and organizational commitment. This study would enhance the current knowledge of the readers with regard to communication strategies, organizational commitment, and faculty engagement.

Practical Implications

This study provides some practical implications that are significant for the management of educational institutes. Based on the results of the result, communication strategies such as information flow, information adequacy, and information feedback are important factors for inducing organizational commitment among the faculty members. Therefore, the management of the institutes should enhance communication strategies by encouraging the employees to collaborate effectively. Hiring supportive leaders who can facilitate the smooth flow of information within the organization. Another way through which communication strategies can be improved is by having a decentralized system within the organization. Moreover, information flow and information feedback are important indicators that help to maximize faculty engagement. Engagement of the faculty can be measured using performance appraisals; hence, the performance appraisals must be conducted quarterly to examine how engaged the faculty members are. Therefore, the role of communication strategies is crucial for improving organizational commitment and faculty engagement.

Limitations and Recommendations

Although this study was designed to study English language teachers, in the future studies, other subject teachers can also be considered. Western regions and other Asian countries (apart from China) might show different results as the context of the study would be changed in the future studies. Moreover, increasing the sample size would be beneficial in generalizing the data. In the future studies, a mixed approach can be deployed to have an in-depth understanding of the relationship between study variables. This study examined the role of three different communication strategies, i.e., information flow, information adequacy, and information feedback on organizational commitment with the mediation of faculty engagement. The future studies can examine the role of faculty motivation as a mediator and organizational support as a moderator in the relationship between communication strategies and organizational commitment.

Fostering organizational commitment for the employees is necessary for the organization to deliver high-quality service to the end-user. In this regard, organizations are seeking ways to enhance organizational commitment through communication strategies. Therefore, this study investigated the role of communication strategies (i.e., information flow, information adequacy, and information feedback) on organizational commitment with the mediation of faculty engagement among English language teachers in China. The outcome of the study demonstrated that information flow and information feedback significantly impact organizational commitment and faculty engagement. The analysis also revealed that information adequacy significantly impacts organizational commitment but has no relationship with faculty engagement. The mediation analysis demonstrated that faculty engagement mediated the relationship between information flow and organizational commitment; and between information feedback and organization commitment. However, faculty engagement did not mediate the relationship between information adequacy and organizational commitment among English language teachers in China.

Data Availability Statement

Ethics statement.

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Lanzhou City University, China. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Author Contributions

YM conceived, designed the concept, collected the data, wrote the article, read, and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

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Appendix A (Questionnaire)

Information flow

• Information in our organization flows openly from the top of the organization downward.
• Information in our organization flows openly to the top of the organization.
• Information in our organization flows openly between workgroups/departments.
• Information in our organization flows openly throughout the overall organization.

Information adequacy

• Employees like me receive adequate information how we are being judged from the organization.
• Employees like me receive adequate job performance information from the organization.
• Employees like me receive adequate information about employee welfare from our organization.
• Employees like me receive adequate information about our progress in our job from the organization.
• Employees like me receive adequate information about the goals of the organization.
• Employees like me receive adequate information about changes within our organization.
• Employees like me receive adequate information about policy within the organization.
• Employees like me receive adequate information about accomplishments of the organization.
• Employees like me receive adequate information how organization profits and standing.

Faculty engagement

• At my work, I feel bursting with energy.
• At my job, I feel strong and vigorous.
• I am enthusiastic about my job.
• My job inspires me.
• When I get up in the morning, I feel like going to work.
• I feel happy when I am working intensely.
• I am proud of the work that I do.
• I am immersed in my work.
• I get carried away when I am working.

Organizational commitment

• I have a long-lasting bond with the organization I work for.
• Compared to other potential employers, I value my relationship with the organization I work for more.
• I would rather work together with this organization than not.
• I feel that the organization I work for is trying to maintain a long-term commitment to me.
• I can see that the organization I work for wants to maintain a relationship with me.

Information feedback

• My supervisor is usually available when I want performance information.
• My supervisor is too busy to give me feedback.
• I have little contact with my supervisor.
• I interact with my supervisor on a daily basis.
• The only time I receive performance feedback from my supervisor is during my performance review.
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Case Study of Conflict Management: To Resolve Disputes and Manage Conflicts, Assume a Neutral 3rd Party Role

Here is a case study of conflict management emphasizing the importance of hearing all sides in a dispute.

By PON Staff — on May 13th, 2024 / Conflict Resolution

In their book Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Penguin Putnam, 2000), authors Douglas Stone , Bruce Patton , and Sheila Heen tell us how to engage in the conversations in our professional or personal lives that make us uncomfortable by examining a case study of conflict management. Tough, honest conversations are critical for managers, whether they need to change the group culture, manage conflict within a team, give a negative performance evaluation, disagree with others in a group, or offer an apology.

To set the stage for a productive discussion, open a difficult conversation with the “Third Story,” advise the authors of Difficult Conversations . The Third Story is one an impartial observer, such as a mediator, would tell; it’s a version of events both sides can agree on. “The key is learning to describe the gap—or difference—between your story and the other person’s story. Whatever else you may think and feel, you can at least agree that you and the other person see things differently,” Stone, Patton, and Heen write.

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Suppose two regional sales reps share responsibility for sending weekly updates to their manager. Brad always submits them on time, but Frank often turns them in late. Saying, “Frank, you’ve turned in the sales reports late again” would only put Frank on the defensive. Instead, Brad opens the conversation this way: “Frank, you and I place a different value on deadlines. I want to explain why meeting them is important to me, and then I’d like to hear your take on them.”

Brad learns that Frank, when faced with the choice of possibly making a sale or compiling the report, thinks he should focus on the sale. With this insight, Brad proposes another way to share responsibilities: Brad will complete the report when it’s Frank’s turn to do so, as long as Frank gives Brad two hours’ notice and a share in any commission Frank earns as a result of being able to continue pursuing a lead.

What are your favorite conflict management methods?

Related Conflict Resolution Article: Conflict Management Skills When Dealing with an Angry Public – Here is some negotiation advice drawn from a case study of conflict management dealing with an angry public.

Adapted from “How to Say What Matters Most,” by Susan Hackley (former managing director, Program on Negotiation), first published in the  Negotiation  newsletter.

Originally published in 2010.

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3 Ways to Clearly Communicate Your Company’s Strategy

• Constantinos C. Markides
• Andrew MacLennan

Most leaders struggle to explain big decisions in a way that makes sense to employees.

For all the communication around strategy, we know that leaders at many companies don’t provide the necessary context for employees to understand what the words and sentences in a strategy statement actually mean. What can leaders do to help employees understand enough context to understand a strategy? In this article, the authors offer three recommendations: 1) Present the alternatives considered and explain why they were not adopted. 2) Explain how each choice is linked to the organization’s purpose. 3) Involve employees in strategy development.

A pilot once told us a story about an accident on an early morning flight in the 1950s. As the aircraft accelerated to take off, the captain noticed his flight engineer’s sullen expression and called out, “Cheer up, George.” But in his sleepy state, what the engineer heard was, “Gear up, George” — and he duly raised the landing gear — prematurely as they were not quite airborne. The aircraft sank onto its fuselage and slid to a halt, causing much damage. Luckily, nobody was hurt.

• Constantinos C. Markides is a professor of strategic and international management at London Business School.
• AM Andrew MacLennan is a guest lecturer at London Business School in London England

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