THE ROLE OF MANAGEMENT STYLE OF OWNER OR MANAGER OF CULINARY SMES IN EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT THROUGH INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Abstract

Culinary business owners, especially those with small and medium-scale businesses, have entirely control over the company. Control of the owner of the company is very influential on all decisions regarding human resources in the company. Therefore, the owner or manager of SMEs management style influences the decision making in employee recruitment, human resource development, intrapersonal relationship and communication within the company. The purpose of this paper is to show the owner or manager of culinary SMEs influences to internal communication and its implication to employee engagement within the company. Qualitative research conducted, a total seven owner and one general manager of culinary SMEs in Bandung were interviewed. To collect data, the author conducted a semi-structured interview method. All interviews consist of 8 structured and recorded questions for transcription purposes. The findings of the study show that the management style of the owner or manager influences the internal communication within the company. The management style of the owner or manager influenced by the size of the company itself. Employee engagement could be achieved through internal communication, however, in the culinary business cannot be achieved fully only by the company's internal communication. Small business grasps employee engagement through informal communication with family-working culture and formal communication in medium business with team building and training.
Keywords: Employee engagement, Internal communication, Management style, SMEs