Examining the mediating role of employee-organization relationship in the relationship between internal public relations practices, organizational culture and online communication behaviours during crisis

Within the framework of online public relations, the significance of online employee communication behaviours is underscored by the understanding that employees are not just the workforce but intrinsic assets. Hence, examining the factors that could potentially affect their online communication behaviours becomes pivotal, especially during crisis. Grounded from the relationship management theory, this study is undertaken to determine factors that could potentially affect online employee communication behaviours during a crisis. The conceptual model was developed by incorporating communication constructs namely symmetrical communication, transparent communication, organizational culture, and employee-organization relationships as the antecedents in this study. Specifically, this study aims to examine the mediating role of employee-organization relationships in the relationship between symmetrical communication, transparent communication, and organizational culture toward online employee communication behaviours. Subsequently, 10 hypotheses were put forward to validate the model of the study. Using the stratified random sampling, a total of 392 nurses from three major public hospitals in Jordan participated in this study. Data was collected via distribution of online questionnaires. The PLS- SEM was used to analyze the data and to test the research hypotheses. The findings reveal that there is a positive relationship between transparent communication and online employee communication behaviours. However, no empirical support found to prove the relationship between symmetrical communication and organizational culture with online employee communication behaviours. The findings also indicated that employee-organization relationships fully mediated the relationship between symmetrical communication, transparent communication, organizational culture, and online employee communication behaviours. Finally, theoretical, and practical contributions, managerial implications, and recommendations for future research are discussed at the end of the study. Apart from enriching the literature, the research contributes to extend and strengthen the relationship management theory by incorporating significant communication constructs into its existing theoretical framework. The implication of the study benefits the employees of the healthcare sector by providing them guidelines to communicate online during crisis.