Engaging employees in China : The impact of communication channels, organizational transparency, and authenticity

Purpose – Academics and professionals across management and communication fields have increasingly recognized significant contributions of engaged employees to organizations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of communication channels, and communication attributes of transparency and authenticity on employee engagement in China. Design/methodology/approach – A web survey was conducted with 407 employees randomly selected from a variety of medium-sized and large corporations in China. Findings – The study results show that face-to-face interactions and social media are the most effective channels in building organizational transparency, authenticity, and engaging employees in China. Organizational transparency and authenticity demonstrate strong positive effects on employee engagement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Originality/value – This study was among the first empirical attempts to examine the impact of corporate communication channels on employee engagement in China. It also contributes to the growing literature on corporate transparency and authenticity, two of the major communication trends identified in the twenty-first century.