Comunicación interna, bienestar y felicidad organizacional en instituciones hospitalarias españolas durante la crisis de la COVID-19 / Internal communication, wellbeing and happiness at work in Spanish hospital institutions during the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

La comunicación es un elemento prioritario en la gestión de las organizaciones, especialmente en épocas de crisis. Este trabajo plantea que las instituciones hospitalarias españolas potenciaron su comunicación interna durante la crisis de la COVID-19 como un factor clave para afrontar la situación, pese a que la felicidad y el bienestar organizacional son aspectos aún poco desarrollados en estas entidades. A través de la revisión documental y de un cuestionario semiestructurado en el que participaron 17 hospitales españoles, la presente investigación pretende determinar el papel de la comunicación interna en estos centros durante la pandemia, así como describir las políticas de bienestar y fomento de la felicidad corporativa que se han producido en este tiempo en las organizaciones estudiadas. Los resultados indican que los hospitales se vieron obligados a potenciar su comunicación interna para mantener el control de la situación, implementando herramientas y fomentando la comunicación con los líderes y directivos. Sin embargo, queda patente la falta de gestión formal del bienestar y felicidad de las plantillas en la mayoría de estas instituciones. Pese a los problemas de salud mental y física de los sanitarios durante la pandemia señalados por la literatura, las medidas desarrolladas aún son escasas y no suelen tener un presupuesto determinado. Este trabajo demuestra que se han producido avances en el terreno de la comunicación interna en los centros hospitalarios en los últimos tiempos, especialmente a raíz de la pandemia de la COVID-19, pero que, no obstante, continúa siendo un campo con multitud de posibilidades por explotar.

Palabras claves: comunicación interna, bienestar, felicidad laboral, hospitales, COVID-19.

Abstract

Communication is a priority element in the management of organisations, especially in times of crisis, as both internally and externally it can facilitate its containment. In the case of COVID-19, given the rapid spread of the pandemic, the impact was global in a very short period of time, so that organisations were forced to adapt to an unprecedented situation. One of the elements that became important in this adaptation process was internal communication, which helped to maintain cohesion between members of the organisation in a period when physical distance and isolation were widespread. Aspects such as managing remote working, loyalty, keeping staff aligned with corporate objectives and the mental health of employees became important issues. In the case of the health sector, whose work has been essential in this period of time, aspects such as communication with employees, effective and decisive leadership, prevention of stress, burnout and compassion fatigue, self-care, people management, promotion of training and knowledge or support in decision-making became particularly important.

This work is framed within the area of study of organisational communication aimed at internal audiences, specifically in its relationship with organisational wellbeing and happiness in the field of healthcare institutions. It argues that Spanish hospital institutions strengthened their internal communication during the COVID-19 crisis as a key factor in dealing with the situation, despite the fact that organisational happiness and well-being are aspects that are still underdeveloped in these institutions. Two general objectives are established: to determine the role of internal communication in Spanish hospitals during the pandemic and to describe the policies of well-being and promotion of corporate happiness that have taken place during this time in the organisations studied. The secondary objectives are to identify the internal communication policies that have been developed, to establish the tools and channels used during this period, to study the role that the promotion of the well-being and happiness of the staff plays in the organisations and to describe the policies that have been implemented in this area. Through a document review and a semi-structured questionnaire in which 17 Spanish hospitals, mostly privately owned, participated, this research aims to determine the role of internal communication in these centres during the pandemic, as well as to describe the policies of well-being and promotion of corporate happiness that have taken place during this time in the organisations studied.

The results indicate that the hospitals were forced to strengthen their internal communication to maintain control of the situation, implementing tools and encouraging communication with leaders and managers. However, the lack of formal management of staff wellbeing and happiness is evident in most of these institutions, as the organisational charts of these institutions lack specific departments or directorates for this purpose, resulting in scarce financial resources being allocated to these issues. Despite the mental and physical health problems of healthcare workers during the pandemic reported in the literature, the measures developed are still limited and often lack a specific budget. This work shows that there has been progress in the field of internal communication in hospitals in recent times, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that it is still a field with a lot of potential to be exploited, especially with regard to new technologies and social platforms.

Keywords: internal communication, wellbeing, happiness at work, hospitals, COVID-19.