Internal communication and happiness and wellbeing management in Spanish companies

Abstract

The management of internal communication in organizations has undergone extensive development in recent years through the use of various tools, many of them associated with technological advances. However, in many organizations, it continues to be linked to human resources departments, based on the understanding that it is linked to the relationship with workers. In this context, characterized by the tendency to promote the experience of employees in order to increase their involvement and enable management change, the concepts of staff happiness and well-being have been introduced into organizations. This work delves into the relationship between internal communication and the happiness and well-being of employees using a questionnaire completed by internal communication managers in 82 Spanish companies that have been recognized for their actions in this area by the Great Place to Work consultancy firm and by the Internal Communication Observatory. The results indicate that the link between happiness and internal communication is strong, despite the fact that happiness management is implemented very little in Spanish organizations and in most cases is the responsibility of human resources. In Spain, the term most commonly used to designate this position is that of Wellbeing Director, followed by that of Happiness Director and less so Chief happiness officer, as occurs in other countries.