Employee Communication Behaviour during a Crisis: The Role of Internal Communication and Relationship Quality

Purpose – To understand how internal communication and the quality of relationships influence employee communicative actions in crisis situations. Methodology – A literature review to shed light on the reactions of employees to a crisis and a case study of TenarisDalmine. Findings – The case study shows that positive employee communicative actions during a crisis result from good quality relationships. These positive relationships, in turn, are based on the creation of a safe environment and continuous investment in internal communication. Originality – The paper illustrates the correlation between quality of relationships and employee communicative actions in a crisis situation. Key words – Internal crisis communication, communicative actions, communication behaviours. Category: Research paper.