The impact of internal communication on engagement and resistance to change

Abstract

In the last decades, several empirical studies have revealed the importance of internal communication, both for the performance of the organization and for the satisfaction of its employees. The present study analyzes the impact of internal communication on two fundamental aspects for the success and even survival of organizations: engagement and resistance to change. More specifically, the study analyzes the impact of different types of internal communication (organizational, with superiors and with peers) in different dimensions of engagement (absorption, dedication and vigor) and in different dimensions of resistance to change (routines seeking, emotional reaction, cognitive rigidity and shortterm focus). In contrast to previous studies, where communication with superiors was the most important variable, the results of this study emphasize the importance of organizational communication and communication with peers. These two variables have the highest explanatory power for the variance of engagement at work (R2 = 36%). Communication with peers and educational level are the variables with the highest explanatory power of resistance to change (R2 = 11.3%).