Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Karen Mae

Abstract

Managing employee engagement is critical to the success of an organization, but 85% of managers struggle with engaging employees. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore effective communication strategies within an organization and determine how managers used these strategies to increase employee engagement, productivity, and organizational effectiveness. Data were collected from organizational documents, observations, and semistructured interviews with 6 managers of a corporation located in the midwestern United States. All participants were working full-time for at least 3 years, had a managerial title, and were responsible for departmental communication. Moustakas's modified van Kaam method was used for data analysis. Communication theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. Three themes that emerged from the participants' interviews, observations, and data analysis were coaching employees, motivation, and consistency in communication. The findings of this study may impact positive social change by improving the organizational competitive environment through engagement in the community and society. The implications for positive social change include the potential for managers with direct reports to improve their understanding of the causes of engagement and disengagement, internal communication strategies that cause disengagement, and the benefits of implementing engagement strategies. The results of this study may provide managers with knowledge about employee engagement strategies used to improve productivity and organizational effectiveness within the industry. Community relationships could also improve as a result of effective communication.

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