One definition of employee engagement is that it is the ability to harness the personal enthusiasm of the employees to their work roles (Kahn).

Traditionally employee engagement has been perceived to be the responsibility of HR but now it has been recognized as a part of internal communication. Internal communication is communication between organization leaders and employees (Dolphin).

Karen Mishra, Lois Boyton and Aneil Mishra, the writers of an article called Driving Employee Engagement: The Expanded role of Internal Communications see that communications professionals and supervisors have been more focused on external stakeholders than employees. This is due to the emphasis on external communication and marketing communication such as advertising. Now organization leaders and communication practitioners have awakened to see the importance of employee communication. Internal communication increases both productivity and profitability.

The ownership of internal communication has been an issue. Is it part of the strategic communication or organizational communication? Academia has advocated the integration of external and internal communication so that there would be a more consistent message to all stakeholders. Practitioners have been slower to embrace this in their organizations. According to Mishra, Boyton and Mishra communication can´t be created in silos so the external and internal communication must be integrated in order to be most effective.

Internal communication between managers and employees enhances  the trust between them and leads to greater employee engagement with the company. Honest and transparent internal communication is best received when it comes from a direct manager. Internal communication promotes a sense of belonging and commitment and helps employees better understand the goals of the organization. The stronger the employee engagement is, the more likely the employee will act in the interest of the employer.  An employee may even become an ambassador or advocate for a firm.

The efforts to engage employees are especially important in the early stages of employees´ tenure. There are research results that show how the employee engagement of a newcomer starts high but it can drop from the first year up to five years of entry. That is why it is important that communication professionals get involved in orientation. Corporate communications function can also use internal communication to inform employees about corporate changes or crises.

When an organization builds trust through dialogue with key audiences it doesn´t only engage employees but harnesses them in a role that resembles a spokesperson of the company. Employees will give good word-of-mouth information and so participate in the work of managing reputation. They can then also give better service to customers who in turn can spread information about the service experience the organization gives. In doing so employees can use the information given by their superiors for instance face-to-face.

Even though the corporate communication professionals have a vast array of communication channels (on-line and off-line) in disseminating messages to employees  they prefer to recommend face-to-face communication to leaders. Face-to-face communication is the richest form of communication which diminishes ambiguity and uncertainty.  It is a combination of information and interaction. It includes verbal cues such as tone of voice and nonverbal cues such as body language and facial expressions. This two-way communication or behavioral communication is a great way to make sure that you will be understood because it gives the opportunity to ask clarifying questions.

Two-way communication serves a dual purpose: it keeps employees informed and helps them feel secure about their place in the company because they are getting information directly from their boss. Still many managers prefer to send memos because they shy away from face-to-face communications. They might not be well equipped to handle such personal interactions. Luckily PR professionals can help supervisors to communicate more closely with their employees. Listening and giving feedback are essential elements of two-way communication that can be taught.

However face-to-face communication is not suited for every occasion. One of the communication professional´s task is to determine which communication channel to use, when and for what purpose. Employees will be more likely to respond and engage when they receive information in a form and channel they prefer. So it is wise to ask them their preferred information channel for receiving information on important issues. For example employees want to have information on their company benefits in writing because they can take it home to read and digest the details.

In brief employees who are engaged are more likely to contribute to a high-performance organization. They are more likely to talk positively about the organization, remain with the organization and help their organization perform more effectively every day. When companies apply principles such as “practice radical transparency” which means talking to employees first they create the foundations for mutual trust and engagement. The triggering factors according to the Edelman Trust Barometer are communicating frequently and honestly in a transparent and open business culture.