Exploring the Impact of Internal Communication on Employee Psychological Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Employee Organizational Trust

Abstract

This study examines whether and how internal communication at different levels (i.e., corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication) interact to influence employee psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study also reveals the mediating effects of employee organizational trust in this process, which helps explain how internal communication influences employee psychological well-being. An online survey was conducted with 393 employees across various industries in the United States. The key findings showed that supportive peer communication was positively associated with employee mental wellness. In addition, increased organizational trust positively mediated the effects of both corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication on employee psychological well-being. This study advances understanding of employee psychological well-being by examining the impact of internal communication. The results of this study also provide practical implications regarding how to promote employee psychological wellness by creating an effective internal communication environment at both corporate and peer levels to cultivate employee organizational trust.

Keywords

employee psychological well-being internal communication organizational trust COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly changing how businesses operate. Among the new and unique challenges that organizations are dealing with, one important task is maintaining employee psychological well-being as the pandemic is causing many employees to feel hopeless, isolated, and overwhelmed (Kaufman, 2020). Employee psychological well-being, defined as “the affective and purposive psychological state that people experience while they are at work” (Robertson & Flint-Taylor, 2009, p. 6), is a critical concept in workplace. Mental health has become the focus for a growing number of businesses in the United States (Forbes Coaches Council, 2017). Studies have shown that one in five Americans experiences a diagnosable mental illness in a given year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019), and the COVID-19 pandemic along with the resulting social turbulence and economic recession has caused new barriers for maintaining employee mental well-being. The vast majority of employees in the United States have reported symptoms of depression and anxiety during the pandemic and said it is the most stressful time of their career (Mayer, 2020). In this regard, organizations should put increasing emphasis on employee mental health to improve their life quality—the foundation of an effective workplace—which may in turn bring organizational benefits such as increasing work performance and reducing turnover intention.

Internal communication which serves a critical function in influencing employee attitudes and driving operational success, becomes more important in promoting employee psychological wellness given the uncertainties, information overload, and unprecedented changes during the pandemic (Grates, 2020). Internal communication is a dynamic process including formal and informal forms of communications among different levels within the organization (Verčič et al., 2015). For example, employees primarily receive organization-related information at the vertical level and interact with co-workers daily at the horizontal level (Sollitto & Myers, 2015). It is important for organizations to strategically utilize internal communication at different levels to provide accurate information, listen to employee concerns, strengthen the sense of belonging, and promote positive emotions, which all help employees get through the challenging times.

Given the importance of employee psychological well-being in the workplace, much research attention has been paid to the factors that influence employee mental health, such as leadership styles (e.g., Kelloway et al., 2012; Teimouri et al., 2018), job demands and workplace social support (De Jonge et al., 2001), organizational identification and commitment (Harris & Cameron, 2005). Previous literature has also demonstrated the importance of communication as an antecedent of employee psychological well-being (e.g., Madlock 2008; Miller et al. 1990; Kaufman 2020). The internal communication system is composed of different dimensions or types of communication which serves unique functions and purposes; yet, most extant studies focused on the isolated functions of internal communication, instead of examining it as an integrated system (see Bowman, 2020; Brown & Roloff, 2015; Kang & Sung, 2017). This study thus aims to address this research gap by examining the impacts of different levels of internal communication, more specifically, corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication, two positive indicators of internal communication revealed in previous literature (e.g., Linke & Zerfass 2011; Men & Bowen 2017), on influencing employee psychological well-being during the pandemic.

In addition, it remains unclear how different dimensions of internal communication influence employee psychological well-being. As an attempt to explore potential mechanisms that underlie this process, informed by recent research in internal communication (e.g., Kang & Sung, 2017; Yue et al., 2019), this study proposes employee organizational trust as a mediator that can help explain the influence of internal communication on employee psychological wellbeing. Organizational trust refers to employee willingness to be open and vulnerable to the actions of the organization based on the belief that the organization will be candid and perform beneficial activities (Hon & Grunig, 1999). Organizational trust happens when competence, integrity, and dependability exist within the relationships between the organization and employees (Chathoth et al., 2007), which becomes more critical during turbulent times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the level of organizational trust may serve as a critical psychological mechanism underlying the relationship between internal communication and employee psychological well-being.

In a nutshell, this study considers corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication in an integrated manner and investigates how these two types of communication within the organization influence employee psychological well-being during the pandemic and the mediating role of organizational trust. The findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge in internal communication and employee psychological well-being. The unique context of COVID-19 pandemic also provides insights into how organizations cultivate organizational trust and foster employee psychological wellness through internal communication during this challenging and highly uncertain times.

Literature Review

Internal Communication

Internal communication has been defined as “managing interdependence and building mutually beneficial relationships between the organization and its employees” (Men & Bowen 2017, p. 12). The significant impact of internal communication on multiple organizational outcomes have been widely examined by previous literature, such as employee communication behaviors (Kang & Sung, 2017), organizational culture (Yue et al., 2021), organizational change management (Kitchen & Daly, 2002; Linke & Zerfass, 2011), and job satisfaction (Nikolić et al., 2013). Internal communication is an integrated system including all formal and informal communication flow taking place across various interrelated dimensions within the organization (Welch & Jackson 2007; Verčič et al., 2015). Specifically, corporate internal communication primarily focuses on formal communication led by the organization’s communication function (Kalla, 2005). According to Likely (2008), there are five roles of corporate internal communication: communicator/reporter, educator/trainer, change agent, operational performance advisor, and relationship manager. Corporate internal communication takes charge of information dissemination by controlling the timing of messages and consistency of wording and provides employees timely and important information through various communication channels (Kang & Sung, 2017; Verčič et al., 2015).

In addition, the importance of peer communication among employees cannot be neglected (Odden & Sias, 1997). Peer communication can be understood as the informal networks where information flows horizontally, and employees are able to receive, give, and exchange information with co-workers (Odden & Sias, 1997; Sollitto & Myers, 2015). Given that co-workers are closely associated with each other in daily work, peer communication is normally perceived as more authentic and genuine compared to other levels of communication such as communication with leaders (Robinson & Thelen, 2018; Sias et al., 2002). A supportive climate in which employees respond with empathy, provide positive feedback, and offer support to each other, can help employees thrive at work, which becomes increasingly important during a pandemic (Colbert et al., 2016). Supportive peer relationship characterized by task assistance, emotional support, and giving to others enables employees to receive beneficial resources from informal communication with their peers. Such social resources have been found to be associated with multiple employee outcomes such as organizational commitment (Colbert et al., 2016), psychological well-being (Chen & Feeley, 2012), sense of belongingness (Salanova et al., 2021), and work engagement (Torrente et al., 2012). Therefore, deviating from previous internal communication research that predominantly focuses on formal organizational communications, this study examines the impact of both formal and informal internal communications, specifically, corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication, on employee outcomes during the pandemic.

Corporate symmetrical communication

Regarding communication at the corporate level, symmetrical communication is one of the most cited communication models in public relations (Sha, 2009). Symmetrical communication is an interactive process in which different subjects construct cognitions in an integrated manner (Grunig, 1989). Symmetrical communication emphasizes two-way communication to create mutually beneficial relationships between organizations, employees, and publics (Grunig et al., 2002; Huang, 2004). By contrast, asymmetrical communication, characterized by power, control, and efficiency, considers communication as a tool to manipulate stakeholder attitudes and behavior (Grunig & White, 1992). Within the organizational setting, corporate symmetrical communication emphasizes organizational listening and employee-centered communication to address employee concerns by adjusting organizational actions and behaviors instead of forcing employees to do what organizations desire. It requires organizations and leaders to sincerely listen to employee needs, care about their opinions, address their concerns, and provide them timely feedback. Corporate symmetrical communication characterized by reciprocity, openness, trustworthiness, two-way communication, timely feedback, and participation is considered the most effective communication model in achieving organizational effectiveness. Symmetrical communication not only enables organizations and employees to be involved in a two-way communication system that allows information to be transmitted openly to clarify work requirements and foster mutual understanding (Grunig et al., 2002; Ni, 2007), but also encourages employee participation in the decision-making process that empowers them. Corporate symmetrical communication has been found to have positive effects on multiple employee outcomes, such as engagement (Lemon, 2019), organizational citizenship behavior and advocacy (Yue et al., 2021), and communication behaviors (Kang & Sung, 2017).

Supportive peer communication

Peers refers to the group of people who share similar demographic and socio-economic backgrounds (Qin & Men, 2019). Peer communication can be considered the horizontal information exchange among peers with similar interests, which can lead to natural accumulation of affinity (Churchill and Moschis, 1979). Team—member exchange (TMX), the whole of peer relationships in team, is regarded an important theoretical foundation to examine peer communication. TMX refers to the extent to which information, support, and recognition among peers is reciprocal. In other words, it depicts an employee’s perception of the quality of the exchange relationships with other team members (Seers, 1989). Abu Bakar and Sheer (2013) further proposed that effective communication among peers, such as information sharing and constructive negotiation, can strengthen group cohesion and identity. In internal communication, peer communication entails the interaction that “employees form with colleagues on the same level of organizational hierarchy with no formal authority over one another” (Sollitto & Myers 2015, p. 36). Peer communication is a significant component of internal communication as employees interact and exchange information with co-workers every workday (Sias et al., 2002). Characteristics of peer communication including intimacy, affinity, and self-disclosure set it apart from other types of internal communication, such as communicating with supervisors or senior leaders (Gordon & Hartman, 2009). Among various outcomes exerted by peer communication, social support is considered most important considering the human nature of nurturance and existence (Ellis & Miller, 1994), as employees expect to receive understanding and emotional support from co-workers (Odden & Sias, 1997). Previous research has demonstrated that supportive communication among employees could have significant impact on employee outcomes such as increasing job satisfaction (Colbert et al., 2016), reducing work stress and exhaustion (Bolger & Amarel, 2007), and facilitating innovation and problem solving (Gordon & Hartman, 2009).

Employee Psychological Well-being

In general, well-being refers to “positive affect, negative affect, mental health, emotional exhaustion, life satisfaction, domain satisfaction, dispositional affect, and subjective, psychological, and emotional well-being” (Wright & Huang 2012, p. 1188). Psychological well-being can be understood as all factors that significantly influence how individuals think of and experience their lives (Rath et al., 2010). In the organizational domain, employee psychological well-being is defined as the general feelings related to “the affective and purposive psychological state that people experience while they are at work” (Robertson & Flint-Taylor, 2009, p. 6). The concept of psychological well-being can be considered from two dimensions: “hedonic” and “eudaimonic” (Boniwell & Henry, 2007; Fredrickson, 1998). The approach of “hedonic” refers to positive feelings, moods, emotions, and overall life satisfaction. Positive emotions can broaden people’s attention and action, which further builds upward emotional well-being (Fredrickson, 1998). The other approach, “eudaimonic” means having purposeful life experiences that provide directions and values to people’s behavior (Robertson & Cooper, 2010). In summary, pleasure and purpose are two key components of psychological well-being, which indicates that developing mental health in the workplace should include positive feelings and clear purpose of work (Robertson & Flint-Taylor, 2009).

Communication is a significant component of organizational climate (Gondlekar & Kamat, 2016), and the characteristics of effective communication including trust, support, recognition, and openness have been associated with employee psychological well-being (Madlock, 2008; Miller et al., 1990). An effective internal communication system in which employees can freely express themselves regardless of whom they are communicating with (the organization/supervisor, or peers) provides a psychologically safe place for employees to speak up (Gondlekar & Kamat, 2016). An open and supportive internal communication environment embodied by respecting employee input, providing feedback in a timely manner, and recognizing employee efforts and contributions could boost morale, self-regard, and positive emotions at work (Kaufman, 2020). This may be the case particularly during the pandemic—a public health crisis that posed different levels of challenges on organizations, and employees have to cope with enormous uncertainty and mental stress (Guzzo et al., 2021; Heide & Simonsson, 2021; Yu et al., 2021). For example, the work from home policy may limit normal employee interactions with co-workers and cause negative emotions such as disorientation, anxiety, and the feeling of isolation (Mayer, 2020). In order to alleviate such mental health issues, the role of internal communication needs to be emphasized. Developing an internal communication environment that provides guidance, assistance, support, and encourages the conversation among employees and with the organization can help employees feel empowered to get through the difficult situation (Brown & Roloff, 2015; Robertson & Cooper, 2010).

Corporate symmetrical communication and employee psychological well-being

Kelloway et al. (2012) suggested that employee’s mutual relationships with the organization serve as the basis for employee mental health as organizations can provide the most relevant resources for employees to deal with work stress. Research on occupational health psychology suggests that organizational resources for tasks (e.g., autonomy, instant and constructive feedback) and social environment (e.g., positive workplace relationships, responsive leadership) are associated with employee psychological well-being and other health-related outcomes such as resilience, work performance, and work-life balance (Biggio & Cortese, 2013; Kizuki & Fujiwara, 2020; Salanova et al., 2021). Employees are likely to feel less stressed when they perceive the organization cares about their needs, listens to their opinions, and commits to developing a long-term relationship with them (Wright & Huang, 2012). As indicated by the uncertainty reduction theory, effective communication can help employees decrease anxiety and stress caused by unknown events and develop a sense of control which is a critical predictor of psychological well-being during turbulent situations (Kramer, 1995).

Specifically, corporate symmetrical communication characterized by openness, two-way communication, empowerment, and tolerance for different opinions can influence employees’ psychological state (Gondlekar & Kamat, 2016). Previous research suggests that the level of organizational openness to employee input and emotional expression can help reduce negative emotions such as depression and burnout at work (Biggio & Cortese, 2013). When employees feel their voice can be heard and valued through active organizational listening and genuine input solicitation, the primary value of corporate symmetrical communication, they will feel they are playing a useful part and capable of dealing with problems in workplace, which can ultimately reduce the feelings of uncertainties and ambiguity (Salanova et al., 2021). It is thus logical to argue that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate symmetrical communication characterized by openness, listening, two-way information, participation, and genuine care for employee interests and feelings can greatly contribute to employee psychological well-being. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H1. Corporate symmetrical communication is positively related to employee psychological well-being during the pandemic.

Supportive peer communication and employee psychological well-being

Peer relationship has been found to be an important predictor of employee mental health (e.g., Colbert et al., 2016; Ellis & Miller, 1994; Sollitto & Myers, 2015). Based on the theory of human motivation, emotional support can satisfy the human need of belonging and acceptance via receiving encouragement, appreciation, respect, and recognition from family members, friends, or co-workers (Chen & Feeley, 2012). Emotional support is a primary function of interpersonal communication in workplace (Miller et al., 1990). According to the social psychological literature, employee socializing with co-workers is more closely associated with psychological state than any other activities in the workplace (Colbert et al., 2016). Baran et al. (2012) also suggested that social support gained from co-workers can exert greater positive impact on employee mental health than friends and family outside of the workplace as co-workers better understand work stressors.

By contrast, employees develop negative feelings towards work when co-workers are not cohesive or lack mutual support (Odden & Sias, 1997; Postmes et al., 2001). In addition, supportive peer communication can satisfy employee psychological need for relatedness, a basic intrinsic motivation of work (Van den Broeck et al., 2016). When such innate psychological need is met, the sense of belonging with the organization will provide greater self-motivation and ultimately nurture positive emotions at work (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Moreover, Kramer (1995) proposed that supportive interactions among co-workers, such as receiving assistance, recognition, and emotional support directly from peers can help employees better adapt to a new environment, such as during a pandemic. Also, the effects of supportive peer communication may become more evident in the context of a pandemic as employees more than ever need to interact with peers to exchange information, share thoughts and feelings, and satisfy feelings of relatedness. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H2. Supportive peer communication is positively related to employee psychological well-being during the pandemic.

Organizational Trust

Trust is a widely discussed concept across various disciplines such as management, marketing, communication, and interpersonal relationships (e.g., Cook & Schilke, 2010; Jo & Shim, 2005; Mayer et al., 1995). Earlier scholars define trust as the willingness of an individual to expect that others will perform a particular action without being controlled or monitored (Rotter, 1967). In organizational studies, organizational trust refers to “an individual’s belief that others (individual or group) will make a good faith effort to keep commitments, be honest, and not take advantage of another” (Cummings & Bromiley, 1996, p. 303). Trust has been considered an organization’s intangible asset and an important attribute to achieve (Grunig et al., 2002). Organizational trust which exists in multiple formats such as formal, informal, psychological, emotional, and social connection can be mainly predicted by three underlying dimensions: integrity, the belief that the organization is fair; dependability, the belief that the organization can be relied on to keep its promises; and competence, the belief that the organization has the ability to accomplish what it says it will do (Hon & Grunig, 1999; Nikolić et al., 2013). Although organizational trust has been widely examined in public relations (e.g., Grunig et al., 2002; Kang & Sung, 2017; Kim & Rhee, 2011), how organizations can leverage internal communication to cultivate employee trust toward the organization, especially during turbulent times such as the COVID-19 pandemic remains underexamined.

Internal communication and employee organizational trust during the pandemic

Grunig et al. (2002) proposed the impact of symmetrical communication on relationship development between the organization and employees by arguing that employee-centered communication could lead to positive employee attitudes and behaviors towards the organization. Two-way symmetrical communication that emphasizes reciprocity, employee voice, responsiveness, and empowerment has been associated with employee organizational trust (Kang & Sung, 2017). For example, employees are more willing to believe in the organization when they are allowed to freely express their thoughts (Jo & Shim, 2005). The reciprocal communication between organizations and employees can foster an organizational culture filled with joy, pride, and appreciation (Yue et al., 2021), which could ultimately lead to the increasing trust towards the organization. During a public health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, what organizations communicate to employees can greatly influence their organizational trust (Guzzo et al., 2021). Specifically, organizations need to communicate accurate information with employees in a timely manner, include them in the decision-making process, and consider the impact of any new decisions on employees’ work and life. By doing so, employees sense the authentic intention of the organization and trust the organization’s competence in surviving through the pandemic (Kim & Rhee, 2011; Men et al., 2021). Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H3. Corporate symmetrical communication is positively related to employee organizational trust during the pandemic.

A growing body of literature has demonstrated the significance of peer communication in influencing employee attitudes toward the organization (Colbert et al., 2016). When employees receive assistance, information, advice, and recognition from co-workers, they feel that they are trusted, cared for, and empowered at a supportive work environment (Teven et al., 2006). The work-related assistance and emotional support received from co-workers which serve as important job resources at work, which can lead to flourishing employee outcomes such as positive emotions, finding meaning of work, and increased job satisfaction (Colbert et al., 2016; Keyes, 2007). Given that organizational trust occurs when employees feel they are treated justly and fairly (Grunig et al., 2002), employees’ perceived supportiveness received from co-workers could generate positive attitudes, including a trusting relationship with the organization (Eisenberger et al., 2010). In addition, supportive peer communication could enable employees to feel close and connected with team members, thus engendering the willingness to maintain a trusting relationship with the organization (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H4. Supportive peer communication is positively related to employee organizational trust during the pandemic.

Organizational trust and employee psychological well-being

Research in management and social sciences has suggested the positive effects of organizational trust on employee outcomes including work performance, mental health (Kramer & Cook, 2004), and innovative and prosocial behaviors (Vokić et al., 2020). According to the social exchange theory, when employees trust their organization and experience a supportive work environment, they tend to perceive their relationship with the organization favorably, and consequently, are more willing to repay the organization by investing their resources and energy to deliver quality work performance (Salanova et al., 2021). Furthermore, employees are more likely to feel safe and comfortable at work if they perceive their organization as fair, competent, benevolent, and they feel being cared and recognized (Mayer et al., 1995). Previous research indicated that the trusting relationship with the organization is associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of work stress (see Dirks & Ferrin, 2002; Liu et al., 2010). Thus, it is logical to propose that organizational trust can ultimately benefit employee psychological well-being. Especially in a highly turbulent environment such as a pandemic, the impact of organizational trust on employee mental health may become stronger. Employees with higher levels of organizational trust are more likely to reduce the sense of uncertainty that may affect mental wellness as they believe the organization would treat them justly, care about their welfare, and is competent to accomplish what it says it will do even during the crisis times (Kizuki & Fujiwara, 2020). In other words, when employees trust the organization, they are confident the organization will protect their benefits and help them overcome difficulties and, consequently, become less susceptible to emotional exhaustion at work (Chughtai et al., 2015). Collectively, findings from previous literature suggest the following hypothesis:

H5: Organizational trust is positively related to employee psychological well-being during the pandemic.

The mediating role of organizational trust

Organizational trust can be understood as a psychological mechanism that mediates the relationship between organizational practices and employee psychological health (Chughtai et al., 2015). Prior studies in public relations and management communication have demonstrated that employee trust toward the organization mediates the effects of internal communication on various employee attitudinal and behavioral outcomes, such as openness to change (Yue et al., 2019), job engagement (Karanges et al., 2015), and employee communication behavior (Kang & Sung, 2017). In the same vein, we argue that organizational practices such as effective internal communication can exert positive effects on employee mental health when employees trust their organization and believe in their genuine intentions to improve employee interests (Salanova et al., 2021). Specifically, the open and symmetrical communication environment in the workplace in which employees feel safe and free to speak up and express their concerns has been proven to cultivate organizational trust (Alingh et al., 2019; Vokić et al., 2020). Supportive communication among peers, a critical feature of team collaboration, can increase employees’ sense of involvement with the team and further strengthen their trusting relationship with the organization (Colbert et al. 2016; Myers & Johnson, 2004).Based on the above-reviewed literature (e.g., Colbert et al., 2016; Kang & Sung, 2017; Kizuki & Fujiwara, 2020), organizational trust is closely associated with employee mental wellness, which indicates its potential mediating role in the relationship between internal communication and employee psychological well-being. In other words, an effective internal communication system that incorporates both corporate symmetrical communication vertically and supportive peer communication horizontally can create an open and supportive environment that fosters employee trust, which can, in turn, reduce employees’ feelings of helplessness and anxiety and ultimately benefit their psychological well-being. Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed:

H6a-b. Organizational trust mediates the effects of (a) corporate symmetrical communication and (b) supportive peer communication on employee psychological well-being during the pandemic.

Method

Sample and Procedure

An online survey was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses in May 2020. The participants of this study were composed of employees who were currently employed full-time with an organization in the United States. The participants were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), which has been used by a great number of social science studies for sample recruiting and data quality, which has been confirmed in previous studies (e.g., Buhrmester et al., 2011; Sheehan, 2018). To increase data quality, we recruited MTurk workers with an approval rate of greater than or equal to 99% and with more than 50 approved tasks. In addition, a screening question was used to screen out unqualified participants who were not full-time workers. All participants received $0.80 as compensation for their time completing the survey. Approval from the Institutional Review Board at a large Southeastern university in the United States was obtained prior to data collection. Before fully launching the questionnaire, a pretest with 100 qualified responses recruited via MTurk was conducted, which ensured the reliability and validity of all measures were satisfactory. Given that all measures remained the same and no changes were made in the main study, the pretest sample was included in the final sample for data analysis. After data cleaning, a total of 393 complete and qualifying responses were used for data analysis¹.

The average age of the respondents was 33.26 years (SD = 9.49). Among the respondents, 64% were male and 36% were female. The majority of respondents (88%) earned 2-year college degree or higher. Over 42% (42.7%) of them held positions in the organization as middle-level management, followed by non-management (34.6%), lower-level management (18.8%), and upper-level management (3.8%). More than half of respondents (58.3%) had been working in their organization for more than five years. Information technology (26.0%), manufacturing (12.0%), and healthcare and social assistance (8.9%) were the top three industries. Regarding the size of the organization, 28.5% of respondents worked in small-size organizations with less than 100 people, 43% in medium-size organizations with 100 to 499 people, and 28.5% in large-size organizations with more than 500 people. In addition, most of the respondents (81.7%) were working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Measures

Seven-point Likert scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) were implemented to measure focal variables. All measurement items were adopted from previous literature and were adapted to fit in the pandemic context. Specifically, corporate symmetrical communication was measured by seven items adopted from Dozier et al. (1995) (e.g., “My organization encourages difference of opinions during the pandemic,” α = .85). Supportive peer communication was assessed by six items adopted from Kramer (1995) (e.g., “My peers provide me with recognition during the pandemic,” α = .87). Organizational trust was measured by six items adopted from Hon and Gruning (1999) (e.g., “My organization can be relied on to keep its promises during the pandemic,” α = .92). To operationalize employee psychological well-being, this study adopted six items from the General Health Questionnaire proposed by Goldberg and Williams (1988), which has been widely used to measure employee psychological well-being in organizational contexts (e.g., Shantz et al., 2016; Wood et al., 2016) (e.g., “I am able to face up to problems during the pandemic,” α = .84).

Results

The descriptive analysis showed respondents in this study reported a moderate to relatively high level of all of the focal variables (perceived corporate symmetrical communication: M = 4.98, SD = 1.09; supportive peer communication: M = 5.02, SD = 1.07; organizational trust: M = 4.92, SD = 1.24; psychological well-being: M = 4.93, SD = 1.06). A series of regression analyses found that employee age (β = .14, t = 2.44, p < .05) and level of position (β = .16, t = 2.74, p < .05) had significant effects on organizational trust. Specifically, respondents who were older or held higher level positions tended to report higher levels of organizational trust. Subsequently, age and level of position were controlled in the hypotheses testing.

Hypotheses Testing

Path analysis was conducted in AMOS 26.0 to analyze the proposed model (see Figure 1). All the focal variables (i.e., corporate symmetrical communication, supportive peer communication, organizational trust, and employee psychological well-being) are unidimensional and were treated as observed variables in the analysis.

Figure 1.

The hypothesized model.

Direct effects

H1 and H2 predicted the positive effects of corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication on employee psychological well-being. Results showed that the direct effect of corporate symmetrical communication on employee psychological well-being was not statistically significant (β = .09, p = .14). However, supportive peer communication showed a positive effect on employee psychological well-being (β = .28, p < .001). Therefore, hypothesis 1 was rejected, but hypothesis 2 was supported. In other words, while corporate symmetrical communication did not directly affect employee psychological wellness during the pandemic, employees were more likely to develop a healthy psychological state when they perceived the peer communication to be supportive.

H3 and H4 predicted the positive effects of corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication on organizational trust, both of which were supported (H3: β = .64, p < .001; H4: β = .19, p < .001). Specifically, corporate symmetrical communication showed stronger positive effects on organizational trust than supportive peer communication, thus indicating the more important role of corporate-level symmetrical communication in cultivating employee organizational trust during the pandemic.

H5 posited that organizational trust is positively related to employee psychological well-being, which was also supported by data (β = .38, p < .001) (see Figure 2). The result suggested that employees were more likely to maintain a positive psychological state when they trusted the organization more during the pandemic.

Figure 2.

The hypothesized model with standardized path coefficients.

Indirect (mediation) effects

H6 posited that employee organizational trust mediated the positive effects of corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication on employee psychological well-being. To test the mediation effects, a bias-corrected bootstrapping procedure with 5,000 samples and 95% confidence intervals was conducted. Results revealed significant indirect effects in paths from both corporate symmetrical communication (β = .25, p < .001 [95% CI: .16–.34]) and supportive peer communication (β = .07, p < .05 [95% CI: .03–.13]) to employee psychological well-being via cultivating organizational trust. Therefore, H6a-b were supported. Specifically, organizational trustfully mediated the effect of corporate symmetrical communication on employee psychological well-being, but partially mediated the relationship between supportive peer communication and employee psychological well-being.

Discussion

The Role of Internal Communication in Cultivating Employee Psychological Well-being during the Pandemic

Although this study did not show a direct relationship between corporate symmetrical communication and employee psychological well-being, it is important to note that the insignificant direct effect did not indicate that corporate symmetrical communication was not important for employee mental health. Considering previous studies have suggested that organizational practices, including effective internal communication, can greatly affect employee psychological wellness (Goldberg & Williams, 1988; Salanova et al., 2021), the findings of this study add and enhance previous knowledge by providing an explanation of how corporate symmetrical communication may influence employee psychological well-being. The findings showed that organizational trustfully mediated the relationship between corporate symmetrical communication and employee psychological well-being, which demonstrated the critical value of organizational trust in ensuring employee mental health at work. In other words, corporate symmetrical communication could indirectly promote employee psychological well-being by first and foremost cultivating a trusting relationship with employees. Therefore, compared to peer-level supportive communication that can directly benefit mental health (more on this in the following section), corporate symmetrical communication was directly associated with employee organizational trust, which ultimately was beneficial in promoting employee psychological well-being during the pandemic.

Moreover, employees interact with co-workers on a daily basis, and the quality of peer interaction can greatly influence employee emotions at work (Colbert et al., 2016). As the findings of this study revealed, supportive peer communication that provides recognition, information, advice, and assistance among co-workers increased employee psychological well-being. When employees receive assistance, emotional support, and perceive collaboration from coworkers, negative feelings such as emotional exhaustion and isolation will be decreased. The findings demonstrated the importance of peer support in maintaining employee psychological well-being. Typically, employees feel more comfortable revealing their feelings with, voicing concerns to, and looking for support from co-workers in dealing with work-related stress as they share a common bond and have a closer connection in the workplace (Sollitto & Myers, 2015). Therefore, this study showed that supportive peer communication was a direct and proximal predictor of employee psychological well-being. Especially during the pandemic, when employees are willing to share information and feelings with co-workers since they are experiencing similar challenges, employees may feel they are not alone and are supported amidst the challenges caused by the pandemic.

Employee Organizational Trust: The Facilitator of Internal Communication during the Pandemic

This study demonstrated that both types of internal communication (i.e., corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication) play a vital role in cultivating employee organizational trust. First, corporate symmetrical communication was found to be positively associated with employee trust towards the organization, which is consistent with the findings of previous studies (e.g., Kang & Sung, 2017; Men, 2014). Corporate symmetrical communication characterized by openness, understanding, responsiveness, and two-way communication not only enables employees to be informed about what is going on in the organization and freely express their thoughts (Men, 2014), but also facilitates organizations to take employee input into decision-making, all of which contribute to a trusting relationship between employees and the organization. Consistent with social exchange theory, which emphasizes reciprocity in social interactions (Gergen, 2012), this study showed that when employees benefit from corporate symmetrical communication, they were more willing to repay the organization by cultivating organizational trust, an important indicator of a quality relationship with the organization. Such effects may become more evident in the unique pandemic context as employees are anxious to be informed about what is going on to navigate through a highly uncertain situation. When employees feel the organization’s sincerity in listening to their concerns, addressing their problems, and involving them in the process of decision-making, employees are more willing to trust the organization’s genuine intention to treat them fairly and the competence of getting through the challenging times.

Regarding supportive peer communication, this study found that it was positively associated with employee organizational trust. Given that organizations have become flatter and more team focused (Salanova et al., 2021), interactions among co-workers may be more closely associated with employee attitudes and behaviors. Essentially, social resource, which is an important factor in influencing people’s perceptions of trust, is strongly related to the interaction among co-workers and constitutes a valuable component of the social climate within the organization. When employees feel that they benefit from such social resources as fellowship, assistance, recognition, and collaboration, they are more willing to maintain the positive relationship and develop a trusting attitude towards the organization. The findings thus indicated that organizational trust can be cultivated by the feelings of supportive communication at work, and such emotional resources exhibited by co-workers are highly valued and appreciated by employees who are facing unexpected changes and anxieties during the pandemic.

In addition, this study demonstrated that the trusting relationship employees develop with the organization is beneficial in promoting a positive psychological state. When organizational trust is promoted via effective internal communications, employees may develop a sense of belonging, meaningfulness, and competence at work (Yue et al., 2021). Employee-centered symmetrical communication makes employees feel that their concerns and interests are valued by the organization, which can improve their feelings of self-efficacy at work and trust toward the organization, which further promote their psychological well-being. In addition, organizational trust can be generated when employees receive social resources from co-workers, and the sense of connectedness strengthened by supportive peer communication may in turn promote positive emotions and build confidence in dealing with problems during the pandemic. In sum, corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication nurture employee trust toward the organization, which ultimately helps them maintain a healthy psychological state.

Theoretical and Practical Implications

As one of the earliest empirical attempts to examine the connection between internal communication, organizational trust, and employee psychological well-being, the findings of this study provide important theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, first, this study extends the growing body of knowledge on internal communication by examining it as an integrated system composed of vertical levels of corporate communication and horizontal levels of peer communication, both of which play a significant role in creating an effective communication climate within the organization. This study further compares these two types of internal communication with regard to their effects on organizational trust and employee psychological well-being, thus providing a holistic understanding of formal organizational and informal peer communication interplay to affect employee outcomes.

From the perspective of relationship management, this study advances understanding that internal communication is fundamental to the cultivation of employee psychological outcomes including organizational trust and psychological wellness. Specifically, the significant association between supportive peer communication and employee psychological well-being supports the notion that the way employees interact with co-workers is an important antecedent of mental wellness. In addition, previous studies primarily focused on the role of corporate-level communication in fostering employee health outcomes (e.g., Biggio & Cortese, 2013; Gondlekar & Kamat, 2016). However, this study indicates that supportive peer communication characterized by mutual support, fellowship, and recognition can also exert a profound impact on employee psychological well-being. Moreover, this study fills a research gap by highlighting the mediating function of organizational trust in the linkage between internal communication and employee psychological well-being. Informed by social exchange theory, which emphasizes reciprocity in social interactions (Gergen, 2012), this study demonstrates the effects of corporate symmetrical communication and supportive peer communication in cultivating employee organizational trust, which ultimately helps maintain a positive psychological state at work. To this end, this study provides empirical evidence regarding the critical function of organizational trust in promoting mental health. More importantly, in the current societal context, with erosion of trust and the global pandemic, this study provides new directions of examining employee organizational trust through an integrated strategic internal communication perspective.

From a practical standpoint, this study provides implications on how organizational leaders and communication management practitioners should create an effective communication environment within the organization to cultivate employee organizational trust and psychological wellbeing. First, organizations should invest resources, technologies, and training to build a symmetrical communication system which encourages openness, listening, reciprocity, and participation within the organization. Such two-way and employee-centered communication helps enable employees to be informed about organization-related information, decisions, and changes in a timely manner, which becomes more important during a pandemic when employees are facing dramatic life and work changes. In this regard, organizations and communication practitioners should provide timely and relevant information to reduce ambiguity, discuss new high impact problems to help employees understand how the organization is adapting, and have genuine conversations with employees to not only check in on work but also care about their concerns and welfare.

Moreover, the importance of peer-level communication cannot be neglected as organizations will thrive when employees build intimate connection with one another. Communication management practitioners should empower employees to build close peer relationships and create a supportive communication environment in which co-workers can seek or provide information, advice, and assistance to each other to help raise employee morale and build a collaborative workplace. During times of change such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of peer communication should be further emphasized, particularly as many organizations have implemented a work from home policy, and interactions among co-workers are reduced in the virtual work environment. In this regard, communication practitioners should develop strategies such as regular online group meetings and virtual happy hours to keep employees stay connected and enhance their feelings of relatedness. Such supportive peer communication can provide employees critical emotional support to help them get through challenging times. Last but not least, organizations and communication practitioners should be devoted to cultivating organizational trust by strategically leveraging different levels of communication to build employee confidence that their organization is able to deal with new challenges and will protect employee welfare. The belief in the organization’s competence and genuine intentions will eventually contribute to employee psychological wellness.

Limitations and Directions for Future Research

Despite the above-mentioned contributions, this study also comes with several limitations that need to be addressed in future studies. First, this study only collected self-reported data from employees without considering the perspectives of leadership, thus limiting its ability to provide a holistic view of the function of internal communication during the pandemic. Future research can take senior leadership insight into consideration as they normally set the tone of internal communication (Men & Bowen, 2017), which could provide a more holistic understanding of how to strategically utilize different levels of internal communication to cultivate organizational trust and employee mental health during turbulent times such as the pandemic. Second, this study used a cross-sectional survey which is difficult to draw causal relationships between variables. Scholars can conduct experimental and longitudinal research to investigate the causality between internal communication and employee psychological well-being. Last but not least, future studies may further investigate the impacts of other communication factors (e.g., transparent organizational communication, authentic leadership communication, leaders’ use of motivating language) and use of various communication channels (e.g., intranet, email, messaging, virtual meetings) in influencing employee attitudes and emotions during the pandemic. Given that the work-related issues caused by COVID-19 may linger post-pandemic, more research is thus called for to examine the role of internal communication in maintaining employee well-being and cultivating win-win relationships between organizations and their employees.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The findings reported in the manuscript are original and have not been published previously. Authors have complied with American Psychological Association ethical standards in the treatment of our samples.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Yufan Sunny Qin

Notes

Author Biographies

Yufan Sunny Qin is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Public Relations at the University of Florida. Her research interests include internal communication, employee engagement, leadership communication, purpose, and corporate social advocacy. She serves as the Research Editor of the Digital Media Research Center at the Institute for Public Relations.

Linjuan Rita Men, PhD, APR, is an associate professor in the Department of Public Relations at the University of Florida. Men’s background is based primarily in corporate communication research and consulting. Her research interests include internal communication, leadership communication, measurement and evaluation, relationship/reputation management, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurial communications.

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