The Impact of Internal Communication on Individual Empowerment: Findings of a Representative Employee Survey in Germany

ABSTRACT

In times of turbulence and uncertainty, internal communication management is an important means of demonstrating accountability to employees and supporting their empowerment, thus contributing to organizational success. Employee empowerment has numerous positive effects on employee attitudes, emotions, and behaviors, making it a relevant workplace and internal communication goal, especially in challenging times – and it seems to be influenced by internal communication. However, few studies have explored the influence of internal communication on employee empowerment. Therefore, this article examines how empowerment can be influenced by executive and peer-to-peer communication as two important domains which internal communication management needs to consider and manage. The article presents the results of a representative online survey among non-executive employees in German companies with at least 50 employees (n = 606). The findings show that the quality of both executive and peer-to-peer communication strongly supports empowerment, while the quantity of executive communication can hinder perceptions of integration and autonomy as empowerment components. This article adds to the previously limited knowledge about the impacts of executive and peer-to-peer communication on empowerment, and discusses implications regarding the theoretical analysis, empirical analysis, and practice of internal communication management.

Acknowledgments

We thank Sinah Marie Pohlücke, B. A., for her support in researching and proofreading the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval statement

The institutional ethics committee (Commission for the Ethical Evaluation of Research Projects of the Department of Communication, University of Münster; https://www.uni-muenster.de/Kowi/forschen/ethikkommission.html) has approved the study on May 24, 2022, prior to the start of the survey, stating: “The Commission assessed the study as ethically unobjectionable” (English translation of German).

Informed consent statement

All of the subjects have provided appropriate informed consent. The institutional ethics committee has confirmed that the voluntary nature of the subjects’ participation is ensured, and that the written consent given prior to participation in the survey includes information about the study procedure and the use, analysis, and evaluation of the data. Participants’ data have been appropriately anonymized as confirmed by the institutional ethics committee, and anonymization has not distorted the scholarly meaning.