Abstract
Internal marketing is one of the crucial themes for any company's organizational progress and is ultimately the foundation for optimizing organizations' human resources. Happiness at work and motivation play a significant role in the action of a contemporary organization, as it helps to broaden the skills and aptitudes of employees, helping them to perform better in their jobs. Human capital is, therefore, one of a company's most valuable assets, and it needs to be monitored because satisfied and committed employees perform better. The aim of this chapter is to study a number of aspects that affect employee relations and how internal marketing can influence organizational success, which in turn helps an organization to flourish in today's competitive labor market environment. From an interdisciplinary perspective, this chapter aims to present some insights into internal marketing, employee satisfaction, and business strategy.
TopBackground: Internal Marketing
People are increasingly able to create value for organisations due to their skills and competences, which is why employees are now considered to be one of the organisation's main resources, as they are fundamental to its success. Therefore, issues such as attracting, retaining and motivating employees are essential and are not only one of the most influential factors, but also one of the most effective approaches to human resource management (Bennett and Barkensjo, 2005; Marques et al., 2020; Mero et al. 2020). As such, internal marketing is considered one of the most important management tools and is gaining importance within organisations.
Bohnenberger et al. (2019) state that internal marketing promotes internal customer orientation in a systematic way by bringing together the areas of human resources and marketing in order to transform problems into possibilities for future improvement. In addition, internal marketing is a concept that is centred on an organisation's employees in order to strengthen the bond between them and consequently stimulate high levels of employee satisfaction and happiness, which in turn can lead to an improvement in the quality of service provided to external customers.
This whole process must be prioritised by an organisation's managers through different strategies and policies in order to develop a strong organisational culture (Sriphong et al., 2022). Employee performance is widely recognised as a “product” that can be shaped by managers and improved through quantifiable or intangible benefits (Soomro & Shah, 2019).
Due to the increase in organisational competitiveness, the literature points to the importance of employee orientation by organisations, through the practice of internal marketing programmes (Huang, 2020). That said, the main objective of internal marketing is to meet and satisfy the needs of its employees, and it is necessary to motivate them in order for the organisation to achieve success (Moreira Mero et al., 2020; Park & Tran, 2018).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Job Satisfaction: Refers to the degree of pleasure or happiness that an individual feels in their job. This can be influenced by a variety of factors, such as the nature of the work itself, the work environment, the company's culture, and the employee's relationships with their co-workers.
Employee Loyalty: Is when an employee remains with a company for a lengthy period because they feel valued, appreciated and believe in the company's overall mission. Employees who are loyal to a company are likely more invested in the company's success and work towards meeting organizational goals.
Internal Marketing: Is the promotion of a company's objectives, products and services to employees within the organization. The purpose is to increase employee engagement with the company's goals and foster brand advocacy.