Engaging employees in (at least partly) disengaged companies. Results of an interview survey within about 500 German corporations on the growing importance of digital engagement via internal social media

• Published in: Public relations review 2017-12, Vol.43 (5), p.894-903
• Main Authors: Sievert, Holger, Scholz, Christina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Business; Communication; Companies; Employee Engagement; Employee involvement; Enterprise Social Networks (ESN); Interdependence; Internal Communication; Internal public relations; Knowledge management; Leadership; Loyalty; Mass media; Productivity; Social Media; Social networks; Studies; Trust
• ISSN: 0363-8111; 1873-4537
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2017.06.001

•Internal social media as a form of Digital Employee Engagement can play an effective supporting role concerning engagement.•A strong mutual Corporate trust culture between management and employees increases the opportunities for Employee Engagement.•Employee engagement is not only a soft factor, but also results in business benefits like cost and time savings.•(Slightly) flatter hierarchies and leaders acting as role models can therefore greatly facilitate this process.•“Digital Employee Engagement” can probably only truly function as at least partly “Blended Employee Engagement” in the end. In an increasingly disengaged world, companies need to engage their employees, at the very least in order to boost employee loyalty and productivity. In line with the trend of digitalization, more and more companies are also establishing social tools in their internal communication. When such platforms are established internally in companies, they can, in a best case scenario, change employee engagement, knowledge management, leadership structure and ultimately even the business models of companies fundamentally. However, there is an important interdependence: the use of internal social media fosters stronger employee engagement, while a minimum of existing trust based employee engagement is necessary in order to successfully establish these tools. Therefore, "digital employee engagement" can only function as at least partly "blended employee engagement".