Even as employees hear more from their companies in a constantly shifting work landscape, they still need communicators to help them translate what it all actually means.
In The Institute for Internal Communications’ recent IC Index 2026 report, employees rating their organization’s communication as excellent dropped 9 points from the previous year’s edition of the report. The data was sourced from a survey of 5,000 British workers at companies with 500 or more employees, and it also showed a drop in employees who would recommend their organization as a place to work to 56%.
This data doesn’t necessarily mean that internal comms pros are doing their jobs less effectively. Communicators tasked with navigating AI adoption, layoffs, restructures, and more in short windows of time face an uphill battle to explain and earn trust, no matter how good their messaging.
The report stated that just 49% of employees said the reasons for changes in their organization are clearly communicated, down 7 points from 2023. In addition, 42% of employees said their organization is good at helping employees adapt to change, while 31% disagreed.
Explaining the why behind changes is just the first step in the comms process. Employees need to know how changes will affect their work and where they can go when questions crop up. Internal comms pros need to give them the “what” of a change message, but the “why this matters” and “how we’ll help you adapt” need to be in there too.
Managers need tools they can actually put into use
The data also showed that employees trust their direct managers much more than their senior leaders, with 73% of respondents stating they trust their manager compared to 50% that reported trusting senior leadership. But the report also showed that while manager communication is incredibly valuable, managers aren’t always able to invest a great deal of time into communicating with their reports. The data stated that 14% spend less than 15 minutes a day communicating with their teams, while another 39% spend just 15 to 30 minutes. Just 16% of managers reported more than an hour of communication with their teams.
If managers are a major source of employee trust but most only have short windows to communicate, they need tools built for quick conversations. These can include two or three talking points to reinforce, what an organizational update means for the team in quick and simple terms and the answers to anticipated FAQs — all things internal communications can help provide.
Because they’ve only got a little bit of time in many cases, managers should spend that time figuring out how to apply the message to their teams. Internal communicators can give them the context and paths to escalate any questions that crop up along the way.
Bridging AI clarity gaps
AI remains one of the most serious clarity pain points. According to the data, 35% of employees reported that their companies are using AI to solve the right issues, and just 32% stated that their employers have clearly communicated how they’re supposed to use AI on the job.
These figures show that broad and vague messaging about AI isn’t going to cut it. Employees need AI comms that are going to answer more pointed questions. Those can include:
- What tools are approved for use?
- What tasks can AI help with?
- What guardrails exist?
- Where does human judgement still need to take precedence?
Internal communicators can help address AI-related comms gaps by creating messaging that’s directly relatable to employees’ daily use of AI rather than through big-picture or dense tech terms that aren’t easy to understand. The best messaging should include examples of proper and effective AI use and clear guardrails. That can help employees come to grips with how automation relates to their role and get adjusted to it going forward.
Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications.
