Most of the employee engagement literature in public relations centers around the corporate sector. In addition, religious public relations is a growing stream of scholarship with more opportunities for research. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how employees perceive engagement and disengagement within faith-based nonprofit organizations and how communication and religious identity might shape those experiences.
Despite their prevalence and societal importance, we know relatively little about how faith-based nonprofit organizations function as communication environments, particularly in terms of how religious identity might shape organizational experiences and relationships. Therefore, in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 individuals who work for faith-based nonprofit organizations.
The participants in this study perceived employee engagement as being tied to faith-based activities and religious identity. In addition, participating in the mission of the organization as well as its programs and services contributed to employee engagement. Storytelling and saying thank you were identified as critical forms of communication. Last, building relationships with donors had a meaningful impact on employee engagement. To combat disengagement, faith-based activities, religious identity, and participating in the organization's programing were essential. Open communication with personal check-ins is vital to addressing moments of being overwhelmed.
This study offers three key theoretical implications. First, stakeholder relationships influence organizational outcomes as well as employees' experiences of engagement and disengagement. Second, mission participation functions as a communicative process through which employees construct meaning and connection to their work. Last, this study illustrates the importance of religious identity and faith-based practices in shaping employee experiences within faith-based nonprofit organizations. Taken together, these findings suggest that faith-based nonprofit organizations represent a distinct communicative environment when stakeholder relationships, organizational mission and religious identity are deeply intertwined.
