“Fostering Employee Engagement and Sense of Belonging: The Good of Corporate Heritage in Italian Cases”

Organizations interpret and use history to create and manage their identity and to sustain the identification process of stakeholders, including employees. This chapter deepens how organizations can leverage corporate heritage in their internal communication strategy to sustain the identification, sense of belonging, and engagement of employees. In particular, it offers a theoretical framework regarding the relationship between corporate heritage and corporate identity, and describes how corporate heritage can be valued for internal communication through multiple activities and tools. Following this, it proposes six case histories that show different internal communication strategies and initiatives to leverage corporate heritage to foster the sense of identification of employees and their engagement. They are illustrated as the personal narratives of professionals operating in Campari, Edison, Eni, MM, Sella, and Versace.