The internal communication paradox : balancing digital convenience with face-to-face satisfaction

Tkalac Verčič, Ana (author), Verčič, Dejan (author)

The digital transformation in the workplace means that an increasing proportion of interactions among employees and between employees and management that historically occurred face-to-face are being conducted online. While this transformation may bring advantages of convenience, it may also dampen employee satisfaction with internal communication. The present study investigates how strongly digital and face-to-face interactions influence such satisfaction, and how employee attitudes towards digital technology modulate that influence. Data were collected from 104 employees at a large telecommunications company during five consecutive workdays using the diary method. Participants recorded the frequency and quality of their digital and face-toface interactions, their levels of internal communication satisfaction, and their attitudes towards digital technology. Data were analyzed within the framework of the Media Affordances Perspective, Media Richness Theory, and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. In our sample, higher frequency of communication through individual face-to-face interaction was associated with significantly greater employee satisfaction with internal communication, whereas frequency of communication through group in-person meetings, telephone calls, emails, video calls or instant messaging did not significantly affect satisfaction. Attitudes towards digital technology did not moderate the relationship between frequency of digital or face-to-face communication and satisfaction. These findings underscore the importance of in-person interactions for employee satisfaction even as companies rely increasingly on digital communication channels. Organizations should balance the requirements of digital transformation against employee needs for face-to-face interactions to create and maintain engagement and satisfaction.

• Language: English
• Keywords: digital communication, employee satisfaction, face-to-face interaction, hybrid work, internal communication
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.09.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 1-10
• Numbering: Vol. 51, iss. 3, article no. 102587
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181112
• UDC: 316.77:331
• ISSN on article: 0363-8111
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2025.102587
• COBISS.SI-ID: 272996355
• Publication date in RUL: 25.03.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Public relations review
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0363-8111
• COBISS.SI-ID: 54537472

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: J5-4584-2022
• Name: KAKO DIGITALIZACIJA INTERNEGA KOMUNICIRANJA VPLIVA NA ZAVZETOST ZAPOSLENIH IN POSLEDIČNO NA NJIHOVO ZAZNAVANJE KAKOVOSTI ŽIVLJENJA

• Funder: HRZZ - Croatian Science Foundation
• Funding programme: Croatian Science Foundation (CSF)
• Project number: IPS-2022-02-4542
• Name: How digitalization of internal communication affects internal communication satisfaction, employee engagement and consequently perceived life satisfaction