Employee-centric perspective on organizational crisis: how organizational transparency and support help to mitigate employees' uncertainty, negative emotions and job disengagement

Abstract

PurposeThe study focuses on the negative implications that an organizational crisis can have for individual employees. Specifically, it considers job-related uncertainty, negative emotions (anxiety and frustration) and job disengagement. Through the lens of the social exchange theory, it is argued that internal crisis communication needs to provide sufficient socioemotional resources to their employees in order to mitigate these negative outcomes. In particular, the study argues for internal crisis communication that fosters organizational transparency and organizational support to achieve these mitigating effects.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey among employees in Austria was administered one year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic – this specific crisis context particularly evoked job-related uncertainty and negative emotions which are considered relevant drivers of job disengagement. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling based on a sample of N = 410.FindingsResults show that employees' perceptions of job-related uncertainty are strongly linked to job-related anxiety and frustration; job-related frustration, in turn, strongly influences job disengagement. Overall, employees' perceptions of organizational transparency and organizational support contribute both to prevent the risk of job disengagement; however, the processes how these effects evolve differ. Whereas organizational transparency works on the cognitive level via a reduction of employees' perceptions of uncertainty, organizational support shows its effect on the emotional level through a reduction of job frustration.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the scarce research on how internal crisis communication can address employees' uncertainty, negative emotions and job disengagement during a crisis. Moreover, despite the lack of organizational responsibility for creating the crisis, the study emphasizes organizational accountability to respond to the needs of its employees to mitigate negative effects.

Pengaruh Job-Related Uncertainty, Job-Related Anxiety, dan Job Frustration terhadap Job Disengagement pada Organisasi

“…Berdasarkan hasil pengujian pada hipotesis pertama job-related uncertainty terhadap job disengagement memiliki nilai signifikan sebesar 0.735 ≥ 0.05 artiya hipotesis tidak berpengaruh positif job-related uncertainty terhadap job disengagement. Hasil penelitian ini tidak sejalan dengan (Ruppel, Stranzl and Einwiller, 2022) dalam penelitiannya yang menunjukkan bahwa hasil job-related uncertainty berpengaruh positif terhadap job disengagement sehingga tidak semua karyawan memiliki persepsi yang sama dalam masa krisis organisasi yang diakibatkan kurangnya informasi yang memadai dan rutinitas biasa yang terganggu dapat menimbulkan ancaman bagi karyawan.…”

“…Hasil hipotesis kedua job-related anxiety terhadap job disengagement memiliki nilai signifikan sebesar 0.013 ≤ 0.05 artinya hipotesis berpengaruh positif job-related anxiety terhadap job disengagement. Hasil penelitian ini ini juga mendukung pernyataan (Ruppel, Stranzl and Einwiller, 2022) bahwa terdapat pengaruh positif job-related anxiety terhadap job disengagement yang disimpulkan bahwa anxiety atau kecemasan terjadi sebagai reaksi terhadap rangsangan, termasuk situasi baru dan potensi hasil yang tidak diinginkan. Anxiety didefinisikan sebagai keadaan emosional yang ditandai dengan perasaan takut, khawatir dan tegang, tekanan darah meningkat dan mengantisipasi ancaman atau bahaya di masa depan.…”

“…Hasil hipotesis ketiga job frustration terhadap job disengagement memiliki nilai signifikan sebesar 0.000 ≤ 0.05 artinya hipotesis berpengaruh positif job frustration terhadap job disengagement. Hasil penelitian tersebut juga memiliki hasil yang sama pada penelitian sebelumnya yang dilakukan oleh (Ruppel, Stranzl and Einwiller, 2022) dimana selama masa krisis, karyawan lebih cepat mengalami frustasi pada pekerjaan. Kondisi kerja yang penuh tekanan dapat menyebabkan tingkat frustrasi kerja yang tinggi.…”

Monetary Policy Credibility and Economic Growth: A Comparative Analysis of COMESA and ECOWAS Countries

“…In the literature, the credibility of an economic institution is supposed to promote economic growth in two (02) ways: credible institutions act on the level of investments by reducing transaction costs through the reduction of risks and the neutralization of rigidities which alter markets (Ameli et al, 2020). On the other hand, credible institutions make it possible to reduce the uncertainties inherent in human relations (Ruppel et al, 2022). So far, (Coenen et al, 2017) specify that the gradual construction of the credibility of a Central Bank is one of the channels through which the maturity of Central Banks can act on economic growth.…”