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The Power of Employees for Legitimate and Effective Crisis Communication

Falkheimer, Jesper LU ; Heide, Mats LU orcid and Zhao, Hui (2026)
Abstract
The chapter argues that employees play a central yet historically overlooked role in organizational crisis communication. Traditional crisis communication has emphasized external stakeholders and managerial control, but this chapter highlights internal communication as a continuous, relational, and sensemaking process that shapes organizational legitimacy. Employees are portrayed as active sensemakers, emotional actors, and communicative agents who detect early signals, interpret crises, and influence responses across internal and external boundaries. Emotional dynamics strongly affect trust, engagement, and voice, positioning communication as essential for psychological safety and resilience. The chapter further emphasizes leadership’s... (More)
The chapter argues that employees play a central yet historically overlooked role in organizational crisis communication. Traditional crisis communication has emphasized external stakeholders and managerial control, but this chapter highlights internal communication as a continuous, relational, and sensemaking process that shapes organizational legitimacy. Employees are portrayed as active sensemakers, emotional actors, and communicative agents who detect early signals, interpret crises, and influence responses across internal and external boundaries. Emotional dynamics strongly affect trust, engagement, and voice, positioning communication as essential for psychological safety and resilience. The chapter further emphasizes leadership’s role in enabling collective sensemaking and strategic improvisation rather than relying solely on top‑down control. Improvisation is presented as critical for organizational adaptability. Overall, the chapter calls for recognizing employees as co‑creators of crisis responses, stressing trust building, dialogic communication, and collaborative organizational practices as foundations for effective crisis management. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
submitted
subject
host publication
Research Handbook of the Management of Risk and Crisis Communication
editor
Diers-Lawson, Audra and Björck, Albena
publisher
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ff461512-19e6-4772-9592-0fc5f3ecf862
date added to LUP
2026-03-18 10:46:34
date last changed
2026-03-30 15:38:47
@inbook{ff461512-19e6-4772-9592-0fc5f3ecf862,
  abstract     = {{The chapter argues that employees play a central yet historically overlooked role in organizational crisis communication. Traditional crisis communication has emphasized external stakeholders and managerial control, but this chapter highlights internal communication as a continuous, relational, and sensemaking process that shapes organizational legitimacy. Employees are portrayed as active sensemakers, emotional actors, and communicative agents who detect early signals, interpret crises, and influence responses across internal and external boundaries. Emotional dynamics strongly affect trust, engagement, and voice, positioning communication as essential for psychological safety and resilience. The chapter further emphasizes leadership’s role in enabling collective sensemaking and strategic improvisation rather than relying solely on top‑down control. Improvisation is presented as critical for organizational adaptability. Overall, the chapter calls for recognizing employees as co‑creators of crisis responses, stressing trust building, dialogic communication, and collaborative organizational practices as foundations for effective crisis management.}},
  author       = {{Falkheimer, Jesper and Heide, Mats and Zhao, Hui}},
  booktitle    = {{Research Handbook of the Management of Risk and Crisis Communication}},
  editor       = {{Diers-Lawson, Audra and Björck, Albena}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.}},
  title        = {{The Power of Employees for Legitimate and Effective Crisis Communication}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}