Storytelling and employee engagement from the CCO perspective: A case study in a nonprofit organization

Abstract: Employee engagement has become more of an important issue for nonprofit organizations as they have to maintain an unprofitable social mission with often stringent resources. This study problematizes that most research about employee engagement is from a managerial approach, while research from the “communication constitutes organization” (CCO) perspective recognizes the close link between communication and engagement. This study aims to develop a better understanding of employee engagement from the CCO perspective by examining how storytelling as a form of communication is practiced and relates to engagement in nonprofit organizations. A qualitative case study containing interviews and observations was conducted in a Danish non-governmental organization. Analyzing the findings with sensemaking, organizational identification and socialization theories, this study shows that not only communication but also the process of sensemaking are vital to employee engagement. The result indicates that when storytelling is practiced both as organizational strategy and culture, employee engagement is constructed as: reflective dialogue partners in relation to strategies, active communicators in relation to critical voices, and organizational ambassadors, which are characterized by value identification and trust. Additionally, this study also discusses potential negative sides of employee engagement.