Committed employees, effective companies (Berceruelo & Estudio de Comunicación, 2020) is not only an enjoyable and interesting volume, but also a very useful tool for professionals in the field of communication, human resources, business management or public relations, as well as for researchers and academics. This is due to the fact that it tackles internal communication from a strategic perspective to make the organizational culture and values of an entity evolve, with the aim of reflecting internal audiences and promoting their sense of belonging by constituting the link between all of them at an individual level
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.
The health and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has affected the totality of the population, companies and institutions. One of the most affected sectors by this crisis is Culture, especially in the performing arts and, above all, in the live music sub-sector, where it is having the greatest impact. During these months of health emergency, restrictions on venues and mobility have caused live music to almost paralyse all its activity completely. Particularly significant, due to the great repercussions of the pandemic, is the music festival sub-sector, mainly large-scale festivals, which have had to postpone their editions to future years. Thus, 17% of the promoters of this type of event cancelled their edition, 56% postponed it, 21% were held on their dates and 6% took place, but the dates were modified, although they did not take place in the traditional way, neither in terms of programming nor in terms of capacity (BIME, 2020). But, despite this situation, the big Spanish festivals - and the smaller ones - have managed to keep some activity, either by organising smaller events, adjusted to health conditions, or through initiatives that are more distant from the live music activity itself. This article, through a case study, offers an analysis of how the management of public relations can enhance the reputation and survival prospects of music festivals. For this reason, we have focused on Bilbao BBK Live, a modern music festival which has seen its business activity almost completely paralysed. In this way, we aim to offer an analysis of the main public relations actions developed in 2020 and provide some proposals for the other festival sector on which the current pandemic has had such an impact. To do so, we conducted an in-depth interview with the communications manager of the promoter of the event, Last Tour, and studied the Instagram posts published and news from the website by the initiatives launched, through a content analysis. These activities have been targeting different audiences, from all kinds of suppliers to general attendees and sponsors. The results confirm the importance of public relations management as an essential tool in business strategy, even in times of pandemic and with business almost at a standstill. Thus, the different campaigns developed during the pandemic have managed to keep and strengthen the relationships with the different stakeholders of the event: attendees, sponsors, city of Bilbao public administrations and the mass media, although it has also focused special attention on suppliers and collaborators, vulnerable communities in its environment and other bodies in the sector that, for the last few months, have been joining forces to exert pressure on the authorities to demand a return to activity. In the same way, and thanks to the work developed by the communication departments of the festival and its promoter, Last Tour, Instagram has become a key tool in the work of marketing these activities, as well as to improve the engagement of its audience, according with the results obtained in previous research (Klara, 2019; Castro-Martínez, Pérez-Ordoñez, y Torres-Martín, 2020).
