Abstract:
Disengaged employees typically cost U.S. corporations $350 billion annually. The purpose of
this case study was to explore strategies that some communication business leaders use to
engage their employees. The target population consisted of four communication business
leaders in Jackson, Mississippi, who possessed at least 1 year of successful employee
engagement experience. The self-determination theory served as the study’s conceptual
framework. Semistructured interviews were conducted, and the participating company’s
archived documents were gathered. Patterns were identified through a rigorous process of
data familiarization, data coding, and theme development and revision. Interpretations from
the data were subjected to member-checking to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Based
on the methodological triangulation of the data collected, prominent themes emerged from
thematically analyzing the data: rewards and recognition, empowering employees, and
building a bond between leaders and employees.
