Employee Communucations Report 2026

Employee Communucations Report 2026

The Employee Communications Report2026 by Ben Reynolds and the communications team at consultancy firm Gallagher is based on surveys of more than 1,300 communications and HR managers from around 40 countries. The report is published as part of the “Workforce Trends Report Series” and examines how internal communication is changing under conditions of permanent change, technological acceleration and rising expectations of the workforce.

The central observation is a growing readiness gap: a gap between the risks organizations face and the ability of their communication functions to manage them. Many teams aspire to a strategic role, but only a small proportion actually see themselves as having arrived there. An important difference between high-performing and less mature functions lies in their strategic anchoring. Teams with clearly formulated communication strategies that are known within the company are more likely to report higher impact, better measurability and greater influence on decisions. At the same time, the report shows that fundamental structures are often missing: Many organizations work without formal change communication approaches, systematic target group profiles or consistent measurement models.

A second pattern concerns the operational reality of communication. The study describes an environment with a high volume of messages, growing information overload and increasing exhaustion among the workforce. Risks such as burnout, a lack of management communication or a lack of strategic orientation are cited by many respondents as key challenges. At the same time, the data shows that target group-oriented approaches – such as segmentation, a personal approach or greater listening – can significantly reduce these risks.