Transformational Leadership During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Strengthening Employee Engagement Through Internal Communication

Abstract

This article examines the function of transformational leadership in enhancing employee engagement through internal communication during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the companies’ sustainability. This article is based on semi-structured interviews with 16 informants (human resources department representatives and employees) from the four industries most impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic: travel, hotel, food and beverage, and retail sectors. The findings reveal that transformational leaders play a critical role in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic by encouraging employees to be innovative and creative, undertaking active actions, and strengthening employee engagement through internal communication. On the other hand, internal communication has changed due to the pandemic, including communication flow, messages, and media. Internal communication has promoted a climate for active communication behaviors encouraging knowledge sharing, collaboration, and creativity-enhancing employee engagement. Through spiritual values, transformational leaders who promote employee engagement amid this crisis ensure the organization's sustainability. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this research suggests that leaders might increase employee engagement by including spiritual values through internal communication.

The function of internal communication during the COVID-19 health crisis: Transformation or transubstantiation?

“…They also explained that IC had assumed a coordinating role for all messages circulated, and that three priority areas of information had been identified as the main focus: protect the health and well-being of employees; maintain commitment and trust in the company; and reinforce leadership and business continuity. These priorities coincide with the findings of Castro-Martínez and Díaz-Morilla (2020), Qin and Men (2022) and Santoso et al (2022). During the period of crisis studied, workers were in a situation of maximum alert and uncertainty.…”

“…Now, however, IC is becoming a highly professionalised two-way strategic praxis in organisations and in the field of consultancy services and specialised agencies (Aced-Toledano and Miquel-Segarra, 2021;Cowan, 2017;Verazzi, 2018, 2020;Dahlman and Heide, 2021;FitzPatrick and Valskov, 2014;Karanges et al, 2015;Men and Bowen, 2016;Men and Yue, 2017;Aced, 2018, 2019;Verčič, Ćorić and Vokić, 2021;Zerfass and Viertmann, 2016). In brief, it has evolved into a fundamental activity to cement and maintain a psychological contract based on trust and employee engagement (Castro-Martínez and Díaz-Morilla, 2020;Qin and Men, 2022;Ruck, 2020;Ruck and Men, 2021;Santoso, Sulistyaningtyas and Pratama, 2022;Yeomans and Carthew, 2014;Xifra, 2020;Zerfass et al, 2017Zerfass et al, , 2019Zerfass et al, , 2021. It helps achieve organisational differentiation, efficiency and innovation, and address reputational challenges (Berceruelo, 2020).…”

“…Organisations have usually focused on external communication (Heide and Simonsson, 2019), while communication efforts in a crisis scenario have also mainly concentrated on its external consequences (Strandberg and Vigsø, 2016). However, the contribution of IC can also be decisive in the face of a crisis situation, which constitutes a threat to the survival of the organisation, or at least to the development of its activities (Berceruelo, 2020;Coombs, 2015;Kim, 2018;Mazzei and Butera, 2021;Mazzei, Kim and Dell'Oro, 2012;Santoso et al, 2022).…”

Predictors of Post-Traumatic Growth in a Sample of United Kingdom Mental and Community Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Such a climate can be created by a transformational leadership style, which focusses on inspiring and motivating employees to think creatively and to feel empowered to enact positive change in their organization [ 103 ], and has been shown to reduce burnout and increase job satisfaction and innovative ways of working [ 104 , 105 , 106 ]. This is in turn facilitated by a clear leadership vision, leadership behaviour which builds trust and respect, and communication with staff that encourages knowledge sharing, collaboration, and creativity [ 107 ]. Similarly, guidance on promoting healthcare staff wellbeing post-pandemic emphasizes creating a culture of effective and honest communication between managers and staff, where staff are encouraged to express their ideas and innovations locally [ 65 ].…”

The Role of Grit in Organizational Performance During a Pandemic

“…Transformational leaders assist employees in producing better-than-expected results (Kouzes and Posner, 1996 ; Epitropaki and Martin, 2005 ). Further, transformational leaders, in particular, focus on supporting employees, enabling them to have a bond with their organization via effective internal communication (Santoso et al, 2022 ). TAT emphasizes the context dependence of the relationship between traits and performance (Luria et al, 2019 ).…”