Internal communication and employee happiness: exploring engagement and gender differences in the workplace

This study analyses the relationships among perceived internal communication effectiveness, work engagement, and happiness at work, incorporating gender through a multigroup structural model. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used with 375 economically active employees from Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, and the United States. Covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) was conducted in Jamovi, including confirmatory factor analysis, mediation testing, measurement invariance, and multigroup analysis. Results show that perceived internal communication effectiveness is positively and significantly associated with both work engagement and happiness at work, while work engagement is positively associated with happiness at work. The significant indirect association through work engagement, together with the significant direct association, is consistent with a partial-mediation pattern under model-based inference. Although some subgroup-specific effects were significant only among men, formal coefficient comparisons showed no statistically significant differences between women and men; therefore, these gender patterns are descriptive rather than evidence of structural moderation. The findings extend the Job Demands–Resources perspective by positioning perceived internal communication effectiveness as a relevant communicational resource associated with employee motivation and well-being, highlighting the value of inclusive and flexible communication strategies in digitally mediated workplaces.