Being socially responsible, betting on an emotional bond and communicating internally: A possible path to stimulate employees engaged with work

• Autor(a) principal: Lopes, Joana Filipa Canento
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/26416
• topic: Responsabilidade social das empresas -- Corporate social responsibility; Work engagement; Affective commitment; Internal communication; Envolvimento no trabalho; Compromisso afetivo; Comunicação interna

Recent times have forced organisations to adapt to a new context caused by Covid-19 that made the economic agents more demanding, with a growing importance on the people who form an organisation. Tools that generate positive results are needed, and this study positions Corporate Social Responsibility as a tool that should be part of the strategic decisions of organisations, giving rise to employees with higher levels of engagement with work. The study also defends the importance of employee’s affective commitment and of internal communication, both of which reinforce a positive perception of responsible practices and engagement. A sample of 165 participants from seven organisations gave opinion in an online and face-to-face questionnaire, with two distinct moments of response, comprising measures on the constructs in question. The results support the importance of the existence of socially responsible practices within an organisation on employees’ engagement with work, as well as supporting the relevance of generating affective commitment in this first relationship. Furthermore, results show that communicating internally makes such practices contribute even more significantly to obtaining employees with a greater emotional bond, but that communicating through committed employees does not positively moderate the first relationship built. The present study contributes to reinforce the importance of investing in socially responsible practices, which should be seen as a tool to engage employees with their work. Affective commitment and internal communication are present to highlight their potential in promoting positive work behaviours.