Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore employees' perceptions of the quality of internal communication in German organizations during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this context, the paper aims to identify antecedents and outcomes of high-quality internal communication during the pandemic. In doing so, it draws important practical and theoretical implications for pandemic-era communication, particularly surrounding issues such as employees' needs and strategic approaches to communication during the pandemic, as well as the effects of successful internal (crisis) communication.

Design/methodology/approach

A representative survey was conducted on employees (n = 934) working at different types of organizations in Germany. After a dimensionality check was conducted through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the proposed hypotheses were tested by conducting a structural equation model (SEM) using the R package lavaan.

Findings

This study identifies several antecedents of high-quality internal communication during the Covid-19 crisis, such as the frequency of communication at the beginning and during the pandemic, the dissemination of substantial information, participative communication and a clear rejection of secrecy. Furthermore, the findings show that high-quality internal communication has a positive impact on the employee–organization relationship (EOR).

Originality/value

This study suggests that strategic alignment of internal communications during the Covid-19 pandemic is crucial: by considering a number of factors, organizations can positively influence employees' perceptions of the quality of their internal communication. In terms of theoretical implications, this study discusses how the concept of high-quality internal communication can be operationalized and explores the outcomes that this can generate.

中文翻译：

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质量问题：对德国 Covid-19 大流行期间内部沟通的看法

目的

本文的目的是探讨员工对 Covid-19 大流行期间德国组织内部沟通质量的看法。在此背景下，本文旨在确定大流行期间高质量内部沟通的前因和结果。这样做，它对大流行时代的沟通产生了重要的实践和理论意义，特别是围绕大流行期间员工的需求和战略沟通方法等问题，以及成功的内部（危机）沟通的影响。

设计/方法/方法

对 在德国不同类型组织工作的员工 ( n = 934)进行了代表性调查。在通过验证性因素分析 (CFA) 进行维数检查后，通过使用R包 lavaan进行结构方程模型 (SEM) 来测试提出的假设。

发现

这项研究确定了 Covid-19 危机期间高质量内部沟通的几个前因，例如大流行开始和大流行期间的沟通频率、大量信息的传播、参与式沟通和明确拒绝保密。此外，研究结果表明，高质量的内部沟通对员工-组织关系 (EOR) 具有积极影响。

原创性/价值

这项研究表明，在 Covid-19 大流行期间内部沟通的战略调整至关重要：通过考虑多种因素，组织可以积极影响员工对其内部沟通质量的看法。在理论意义方面，本研究讨论了如何实施高质量内部沟通的概念，并探讨这可能产生的结果。