Influence of Communication Satisfaction and CSR Association on Job Satisfaction & Work Alienation

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has restricted mobility and made remote working a norm. Many scholars and practitioners have raised concerns that remote working can lead to feelings of isolation and alienation among employees. The study explores this issue by examining the influence of remote communication satisfaction and the organization’s CSR association on employee alienation and job satisfaction. Sensemaking theory serves as the basis for hypotheses formulation in this study. Primary data has been collected from 418 employees working in various Indian organizations and analyzed through AMOS and Hayes’ PROCESS macro for SPSS. Results indicate that remote communication satisfaction negatively influences work alienation, thereby improves employee satisfaction. Also, organizations that are perceived to have higher CSR association experience lesser work alienation than those who have a lower CSR association.This study extends the sensemaking theory by introducing new work-related (internal communication) and non-work-related (CSR associations) cues and explains how employees use them to ‘make sense’ of the organization’s philosophy and continuity. Secondly, this study is a pioneer in exploring the relationship between communication satisfaction and work alienation. The results of this study translate into two significant recommendations for organizations. One, organizations should adopt a proactive communication strategy and provide work-related information to employees expeditiously. Two, since the organization’s CSR involvement and its regular communication to employees bolsters their job satisfaction and reduces the development of negative attitudes (like alienation), organizations must ennunciate their position on CSR issues on a regular basis.