Open AccessExamining the Role of Transparent Organizational Communication for Employees’ Job Engagement and Disengagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria
Author(s) -
Julia Stranzl,
Christopher Ruppel,
Sabine Einwiller
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of international crisis and risk communication research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2576-0025
pISSN - 2576-0017
DOI - 10.30658/jicrcr.4.2.4
Subject(s) - disengagement theory , transparency (behavior) , perception , psychology , pandemic , covid-19 , social psychology , public relations , political science , medicine , gerontology , disease , pathology , neuroscience , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
This study provides an understanding of how employees’ perception of organizational transparency during the long-lasting situation of the COVID-19 pandemic engendered their job engagement as well as job disengagement. Data were collected by means of an online survey among 410 employees in Austria during March 2021. Results show that employees’ perception of their organization’s approach to transparency directly influenced their job engagement and disengagement. Importantly, the relationship between transparency and job engagement was also mediated through organizational trust, and job-specific state anxiety mediated the relationship between transparency and job disengagement. The results imply the importance of transparency during times of great uncertainty and emphasize the necessity to closely consider employees’ emotional states and worries during a crisis.