Empathy and human connection have been touted as key ingredients in effective internal communication, according to findings from the Institute of Internal Communication, but few leaders convey these traits in their communications with employees.
The institute’s IC 2025 Index, which surveyed 4,939 UK workers, found that while 63 per cent chose ‘positive’ words to describe their CEO’s communication style, just 13 per cent (643) of UK employees rated their organisation’s internal communication as 10 out of 10. More than 26 per cent of respondents reported feeling ‘deeply disconnected’ from their CEO or leadership team due to their communication style. This group was nearly three times as likely as the average employee to describe their leaders’ communication style as ‘not communicating openly’.
The index delves deeper into what makes for successful internal leadership communication. While communication channels or organisational strategy are ‘crucial foundations’ to internal comms, they weren’t deemed as important as ‘making the effort to speak regularly, genuinely listening, showing empathy’.
Only 51 per cent of UK employees feel leaders understand the challenges they face. This drops to less than four in 10 for employees who are not managers. A little over half (56 per cent) of employees feel that difficult changes affecting people (such as restructures or redundancies) are communicated with care in their organisation.
Two-way process
Those 643 UK workers who rated their organisations’ internal communication as a 10 out of 10 not only reported hearing regularly from leaders, but also felt that leaders understood their challenges and were approachable and authentic. More than 90 per cent of this cohort feel that leaders understand the challenges employees face, compared to 45 per cent of other employees. More than 70 per cent hear from their CEO/most senior leader at least every few weeks and 88 per cent feel the volume of communication is just right.
The IoIC believes that internal communication professionals, who often sit in the space between the organisation and the employee, can help leaders communicate more effectively by building ‘two-way communication and understanding’. Leader responsibilities such as listening to the views of employees, ensuring the company’s strategy is easy to understand, and acting on feedback are all areas where internal comms can provide support, either by providing them with information and guidance, tools and training that helps them tackle their communication responsibilities, or communities that allow them to share experiences and best practice with each other.
Almost 95 per cent of senior leaders said they have the skills they need to effectively communicate with their team, suggesting that many perhaps overestimate their communication skills. The IoIC argues that as communication is a high driver for trust, internal comms professionals must provide leaders with the information to support their communication, and also ensure they understand all their responsibilities and what makes for excellent communication. This also helps manage risk: the IoIC believes that when people feel poorly informed, more questions and issues are likely to follow. When change is communicated well, it becomes clear how it protects trust and key organisational outcomes.