The rate of change has never been greater than it is today, and with it comes new opportunities and new challenges. 

Organizations must rapidly adapt, change, and transform to compete. Those that do it successfully gain a significant advantage over their competitors.

only a third of change initiatives succeed

, and the primary reason for failure is poor communication.

When implementing organizational change, management has to deal with two challenges: technical challenges, and human challenges. 

Technical challenges are often easier to deal with because they involve visible aspects of the workplace, whereas human challenges are not simple and often require changes to the organization's culture. 

If organizations don't deal with the human challenge or don't deal with it well, the technical changes can't work—even if implemented excellently.

The key to overcoming these challenges is to have a compelling change story and communicate it clearly. 

If you want to deep dive into how to create a Change Story, plus learn other strategies for successfully driving change, check out our 

Ultimate Guide to Change Management Communication

The eight tips below should help you come up with a compelling change story for employee buy-in.

For a smooth change and faster decision-making during implementation, you need to include all the stakeholders to clarify everything and build trust between employees and management.

Most people fear the unknown, and organizational change can have many unknown outcomes. Humans react to change in various ways, but the fear of the unknown often leads to resistance to change. Leaders must understand the human dimension and address the root cause of these reactions to get employee buy-in.

3. Inform Employees Why Change is Needed Before They Ask

To fuel change and minimize resistance, all stakeholders need to understand why they need to change their ways of doing things. Clear communication is essential to ensure employees areall on board.

4. Explain the Compelling Business Reasons for the Required Change

To get all stakeholders on board, you must explain the organizational and business reasons for implementing change. These might include sustained loss of market share, new competitors, implementation of new tech to improve productivity, process inefficiency issues, and talent acquisition and retention challenges.

5. Be Specific About What Needs to Change—And Get Leaders Visibly Backing it

To align efforts and ensure the responsibilities are clear, what needs to change should be documented and articulated in detail. Once everyone is on the same page, leaders must take responsibility and lead the way instead of delegating. Doing so shows they believe in the change and could inspire their employees.

6. Involve Your People Throughout the Transformation

Involve your people every step of the way as you implement the change. Inclusion and their voices being heard empower them, making them work harder toward the change. They should be involved in open conversations about the change and be allowed to make some decisions.

7. Connect with Your People on a Personal Level

Ensure your people understand what the change means to them personally, and how they will benefit from it. However, you need proper communication tools and strategies to connect with them effectively.

8. Use the Communication Channels Your People Prefer

Communicating with your people through their preferred channels certainly enhances the employee experience—and that requires a robust omnichannel communications platform. 

allow you to personalize content and give employees a choice in how they receive comms. They can effortlessly move between different channels for a more integrated experience.

The Ultimate Guide to Change Management Communication

Understand Who Will be Impacted—For Better or Worse

With most organizational transformations, there are winners and losers. How you relay the information to employees is more important than what you relay, and determines whether employees will resist the change. 

With the right employee comms platform, you can share your messages on a variety of channels and invite feedback. 

You can monitor your people's reactions to changes and identify any issues or misunderstandings that need to be addressed.

No organizational change can be successful without good communication. Good communication is not just about the message reaching its destination—it’s also about personalizing the message, engaging your people on their terms, and using data to drive outcomes.

Superior communication ability amplifies the efforts of change leaders, empowers managers, and strengthens employee connections. 

How to Drive Change with Communications Tools

Digital tools are invaluable resources when introducing change. According to 

, digitizing the five areas below can enhance change efforts and increase the likelihood of success.

Just-in-time feedback allows employees to adjust their behavior and to witness the impact of the adjustments on performance.

Personalization involves making the information as uniquely relevant to the receiver as possible. It also involves showing them how their role contributes toward a greater goal. 

The right comms platform should provide powerful personalization and analytics capabilities that ensure people get the information that’s relevant to them.

Sidestepping cumbersome hierarchical protocols shortens the time your people take to get things done. The direct and instant connections allow easy information, advice, and insights sharing.

4. Build Empathy, Community, and Shared Purpose

Provide an outlet for your people to share and see information about a certain task. The information could include informal commentary and task progress to create an esprit de corps.

Constantly communicate progress toward change to make it feel more urgent and real. If you can access sophisticated tools and platforms, your employees can see their individual contributions toward the ultimate goal, giving them greater motivation.

Managing change is a constant challenge for every organization, and one of the best strategies for overcoming this challenge is putting employee communication at the forefront of every transformation initiative.

What You Need to Know About Change Management Communication

 is the process in which employees, with the help of their employer, undergo professional training and learning to grow their knowledge and further develop their skills and careers.

When done right, employee development, also referred to as professional development or staff development, requires time, effort, and financing from the company. However, these investments will pay off significantly in the long run.

Certain types of employee development take place on-site, with a manager or experienced team member leading the training and learning activities. Other times, employees will attend training facilities away from the office. Online training methods have also become an extremely popular option.

There is no doubt employee development is important. Research from 

 found that 94% of employees would stay with a firm for longer if it invested in their learning and development.

3 Ways to Make Your Employee Communications World-Class

 - Investing in employee training and development means workers are fully equipped with the valuable skills they need to carry out their jobs effectively and productively.

 of millennials agree opportunities to learn and grow are extremely important to them when applying for a job.

 - Regular development initiatives help keep 

 along with preventing workplace idleness.

 - Training high potential staff members for a future leading position is a wise investment for businesses to make.

 - All humans crave progress and growth. This is why employee training and development is essential to keep workers satisfied and content within their roles.

- Providing opportunities for employees to explore new topics helps them bond with their team members as they tackle new challenges together.


Soft skills are core skills that are applicable to all professions. They include critical thinking, problem solving, public speaking, listening, teamwork and digital literacy. Soft skills are among the top skills employers seek in the candidates they hire.

Managers must understand that their workers need more than technical skills to truly prosper in their careers. If they wish for their workers to be valuable members of the company, then they must help them 

. This can be easily achieved through personalized training that aids employees in unlocking the true potential of their abilities.

 employees are unhappy with the frequency of feedback they receive from their direct manager. Constructive feedback is a critical element when it comes to employees’ growth and development.

By offering their employees feedback, managers help them learn from their mistakes and build confidence. Positive feedback is also beneficial to employees. Managers should take the time to congratulate their workers on a job well done.

Training is one of the more well-known employee development methods, but this does not mean it should be overlooked by managers. Through a combination of assignments, team projects, exams, lectures and hands-on-exercises, job training can effectively help employees develop both their soft and hard skills.

Coaching helps workers refine their skillset. This method of skills development typically involves senior team members working one-on-one with less experienced staff. It is a very hands-on approach that can fast track an employee’s development of technical and analytical skills.

Mentoring is another of the useful learning and development methods managers should be aware of. In the workplace, mentoring usually entails a senior and more experienced employee offering advice and support to a younger or newly hired worker.

Effective mentoring programs do the following:

Match mentors and mentees based on skills and development needs.

 is a technique in which employers rotate their employees' assigned jobs throughout their employment. The process is a fantastic way to orient new employees, train existing employees and enhance career development.

Managers can ask their employees to contribute to different departments on a temporary basis. By doing so, the employee will build new skills and capabilities that enable them to contribute more effectively to the goals of their organization.

Stretch assignments are an additional employee development activities example. These assignments refer to a project or task that is currently beyond the participant’s level of knowledge or skill. 

It has the intention of literally “stretching” an employee’s capabilities. 

 can be anything from leading a team meeting to implementing new technology in the workplace.

 Online training allows organizations and managers to teach their staff skills and knowledge over the internet via a computer, smartphone, or tablet. The main benefit of online training is that each employee is given the freedom to learn at their own pace at a time that suits them best.

are voluntary meetings, training sessions, or presentations that take place during employee lunch breaks with food provided by the company. The informal setting is a suitable place for leaders to bring in an expert speaker or knowledgeable staff member to chat with the team. 

The expert can present to the group who will then have the opportunity to engage directly with the speaker and create a discussion around the topic.

There is no better way to fast-track employee development than with a promotion. When a manager feels like an experienced and capable employee is ready to take the next step in their career, then offering a promotion is the way to go. 

It is important to make sure that the newly promoted worker is set up with coaching and mentoring sessions, so they feel supported and prepared for the move.

Well-thought-out employee development strategies provide employees with valuable opportunities and clear direction when it comes to increasing their skillset and advancing in their careers. When employers invest in their employees’ learning and development, it is a solution where everyone benefits. 

Employees hone their skills which adds more value to their company. An organization with a team of highly developed workers will have improved business outcomes and a leading competitive advantage over other companies.

10 Employee Development Strategies Every Manager Needs to Know

Operations management is defined as the administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible within the company. It revolves around converting materials and labor into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization.

In order to plan, analyze, and execute a company’s operations, a 

 is essential. An operations strategy is implemented by employers as a way to execute cost-effective processes for creating and distributing products and services.

This means, an operations management strategy is delivery-focused and is put in place as a way for businesses to effectively convert inputs to outputs. The inputs in question can refer to anything from materials, equipment and technology to human resources such as staff or workers.


Ultimate Guide - How Great Communication Fuels Transformation at Speed

 - Corporate strategy concerns itself with the entirety of the organization, where decisions are made with regard to the overall growth and direction of a company.

A customer-driven strategy prioritizes the customer experience above all else and uses customer needs to guide every facet of operations, from the marketing plan to product development.

A supply chain strategy is a formal approach to managing the network between an organization and its suppliers.

Product development strategy enables product organizations to create a stream of innovative offerings that disrupt the competition and delight customers.

Cost-based strategies relate to the business decision to base the price of a product on the costs of production rather than external factors such as competition or the economic environment.

What are the benefits of having an operations strategy?

There are several benefits to having an operations strategy within a company. These include:

Having an operations strategy in place ensures that both organization leaders and employees understand what they are working towards as it outlines the objectives of different company departments.

It also allows employers to identify which departments are 

 and those which may need to work harder in order to see good results. In this way, operations strategy helps ensure that any employee contributing to an operation makes use of their time and skills productively and reliably.

An operations strategy details how different departments within a business work side by side. It’s important to understand that 

 and collaborations involve more than simply cooperating with other teams.

It is about fostering a shared vision,  mutual respect, and in-depth understanding of each other's roles. With this knowledge, each department gains an understanding of the part they, along with other departments in the company, play in helping the business reach its goals and expectations.

In the long run, having an operations management strategy in place leads to 

 When operations run smoothly, employers have more time to focus on cultivating new ideas and apply them to increase company sales.

Furthermore, with experienced leaders in place, the monitoring of revenue and expenses is much more straightforward. When company profitability is well managed, it becomes easier to understand revenue.

Keeping existing customers happy should be a priority for every organization. Customer satisfaction is important because it hugely increases the chances of a consumer returning to avail of more products and services.

Customer expectations can be met when a quality management program is put in place that helps maintain high standards while ensuring efficiency. Remember when customer expectations are met, satisfaction levels can increase, which can also lead to better retention and increased referrals.

One of the biggest productivity challenges of an

. When a firm does not have an adequate standard of internal communication, its customers end up suffering from the lack of standardization and delays.


Steps to improve communication across company operations:

Improve relations amongst company leaders

Conflict between department heads can damage relationships across different sectors of the organization. As a result of these poor relations, it becomes difficult for employees within the departments to communicate effectively.

Utilizing team-building exercises is a great way to build camaraderie amongst department heads and is a proven way to strengthen relationships and improve communication. When leaders find a way to work side by side, it will set a positive example for employees within each department.

Many organizations fail to outline the procedures for interdepartmental communication, which leaves interaction between departments up to the employees’ discretion. This can create friction and slow down workflows.


Make a list of your communication channels

among staff members can be impacted by physical distance. Finding ways to bridge the gap between employees who may be working on different floors, in separate buildings, or even in other continents is essential.

This means it is difficult to communicate in a singular way that meets all employees’ needs. That’s why a multi-faceted approach that takes different styles and methods into account is needed.


Identify the vital information always needed

If information concerns employees and their work, they have a right to know. Either the information helps them work more efficiently or it gives them a perspective on how their work should be done. Each operational unit needs to create a list of the missing details from other operational units and their routine expectations.


To operate productively businesses must use the least amount of resources needed and strive to meet the customer's requirements to the highest possible standard. An operations strategy can take on different roles depending on company size and the product. 

Operational strategies focus on the goals and aspirations of the company, as well as the actual plans for getting the business to achieve their goals. Strategic plans should include not only the identification of existing processes and technologies, but also considerations around the supply chain, their customers, their competitors, their own strengths and weaknesses, and the business facilities.

Operations Management Strategy

What's in store for workplace communication in 2022 after another year dominated by the epochal fall-out from Covid-19? And how can employee comms be deployed more effectively to meet the challenges organizations face over the next 12 months?

We put these questions to a stellar line-up of communication experts: Abhinav Kumar, Callie Baumann, Shel Holtz, Tchicaya Ellis Robertson

Bill Quirke, Victoria Dew, Katie Macaulay, Elizabeth Williams, Sinéad Bell, Megan Thomas, David Grossman, and Steve Crescenzo. Enjoy the read! 

Chief Marketing & Communications Officer - Global Markets, Tata Consultancy Services

One of the most significant opportunities that the pandemic presented was for companies to completely redefine internal communications, assisting the wellbeing of their employees and keeping them engaged. But I feel this has been one of the most significant points of failure for the business world at large.

Last March, a Microsoft survey of 30,000 workers in 31 countries, indicated that 41% are considering leaving their employers based on their experiences during the pandemic. While this indicates a larger broad-based leadership failure, clearly the increased efforts in internal communications have not created the intended mitigating impact.

The rapid increases in attrition that many companies experienced in the latter part of 2021, continue to demonstrate this growing disengagement. I am not sure if there is a magic wand to fix this in 2022. Clearly, companies need to rethink their leadership approaches, culture building, and how they execute internal communications.

This does not mean creating even more channels and tools to overload already overburdened employees with more information, but what it needs is a genuine and empathetic understanding of what each individual employee needs at a point in time and delivering on that.

For example, as Europe reopened in Summer, one of our business leaders was advised by his HR/internal comms teams to travel and reconnect with disengaged employees in multiple cities, by doing town halls.

He chose to do something different. Instead of a town hall at every city office, when he went to meet his extended teams, he ended up doing a social activity with them instead: cycling together, taking a hike, just having drinks, etc. and this was highly appreciated and successful.

Of course, with large, distributed, and now working from home, workforces these direct actions are not always possible, so using good digital tools that inform employees without forcing them into even more screen time, could be the need for the hour. A voice-only CEO podcast instead of a CEO zoom townhall, perhaps?

How to Build a Communication Plan For a Hybrid Workplace

Vice President, Digital Workplace Experience, Humana

Work has fundamentally changed and I don’t believe we fully understand the implications just yet. What I do believe is here to stay, however, is the employee economy; work that fits around peoples’ lives versus bending/molding/forcing life around work. Because companies need to differentiate themselves and retain talent, I think we’ll continue to see a shift toward experience design to drive human-centered, people-first innovation in the workplace.

Humana’s workforce spans from clinicians delivering in-home care, to telephonic nurses, to corporate professionals who formerly collaborated in our offices. So there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to employee communication, technology needs, and workspaces. Just as marketers or experience designers would for external customers, doing the proper research to identify employees’ (human) needs and preferences, and then segmenting employee personas, will be critical as the way we work continues to evolve.

Forging partnerships between internal communications, technology, facilities, and HR to architect holistic journeys - -

We’ve seen the benefits of focusing on different phases of the employee journey (versus building or sourcing one-off widgets). By looking at moments that matter (i.e. onboarding, service, conferencing, etc.), you naturally begin to build a product catalogue or see ways to bundle solutions that are more holistic and meaningful to the end-user.

Leveraging data to create a more engaged, healthy workforce - 

Let’s face it, while working at home and in hybrid ways is here to stay, it doesn’t mean that we’ve got it all figured out. The boundaries between work and life are blurred and burnout is a real risk. The data exhaust we’re seeing from new work patterns will be used to create personalized insights, to carve out working (and non-working) time, or to help manage calendars.

While this is our new normal, we have an opportunity to use data to create a different, more healthy, normal.

Using the intersection of experience design and technology can drive transformation. While applying these techniques 

 of companies is in its infancy in many places, we believe it offers a significant strategic advantage.

Sr. Director of Internal Communications at Webcor

In the midst of the Great Resignation -- which shows no sign of abating in 2022 -- leaders will call on internal communicators to assist in the effort to retain employees, especially high performers.

Several other trends for 2022 emerge from the pressing need to retain people, including the Employee Experience and recognition.

For those communicating in organizations that will accommodate some workers' preference to work from home while requiring others to be in the office – a rethinking of communication strategy and channels will be a requirement.

Comms strategies must accommodate both sets of workers, which may require new employee profiles, new sets of objectives, and greater variety in the channels we use to reach and engage with workers.

Employee wellbeing has skyrocketed into prominence during the pandemic. Companies need to do more than pay lip service to wellbeing. (That is, "We have a great Employee Assistance Program" is no longer an adequate approach to wellbeing.) The focus on mental health — which should include psychological safety —should be a particular priority as the pandemic and working from home has weighed heavily on workers

Companies that failed to listen to employee preferences and concerns before announcing their return-to-the-workplace policies have fallen under heavy criticism. Listening will play a key role in how companies retain employees. Especially with a contingent of workers in remote situations, it is more important than ever that leaders listen closely to employees.

Communicators need to identify a collection of channels and establish a matrix that helps determine which ones should be employed for each internal audience and each category of communication – and will need to be more adept at repurposing content for multiple channels.

See the full version of Shel Holtz's contribution 

After another roller-coaster year, when we look ahead to 2022 one thing is certain: communication will remain front and center in relation to managing people at work, whether it’s in a hybrid environment or remote — wherever.

While the future of work debate rages on, whether it’s about flexibility, location, or inclusion, communications will be at the heart of it all.

I had the privilege earlier this year to add to the inclusion and belonging conversation as lead of Accenture’s 

What we learned gives organizations a clear priority path to foster and nurture belonging among their people. Our research identified 10 levers that ultimately lead to belonging, with transparent and empathetic communications landing toward the top of the list.

We found that communication was one of four essential people skills, among the list of experience levers that helps to drive human potential. When tech-enabled platforms are used to build community among workers, leaders will gain the trust needed to drive change in today’s organizational climate.

Taken together, all 10 levers we identified: Empowerment, Communication, Diversity, Customer-Centricity, Skilling, Dependence, Governance, Technology, Self-Efficacy, and having a growth mindset are drivers of human potential.

And where there’s maximum human potential, there is belonging. As we arm ourselves with insights to help tackle the problems of 2022, meaningful communication must be part of the equation.

Next year internal communicators need to build on what they’ve achieved, before the sands start shifting again beneath their feet.

During the pandemic, the aspirations of internal communicators and leaders’ expediency were aligned, but that alignment will now shift. During any crisis, internal communication is recognized as important, but history shows that recognition fades as the leadership tries to move on to business as usual.

Internal communicators need to be all the more ready for the challenges that brings, because “business as usual” will be more complicated this time.

Individuals are rethinking what they want from work, and what is important to them, shifting the relationship – and the negotiating power – between employee and employer.

Organizations have an increasingly diverse range of audiences from those who can work from home to those driving the delivery vans. Global organizations have wider national cultural differences, with workforces facing very different national situations.

The pandemic showed how important a sense of cause and higher purpose is to people’s jobs. Employee activism is testing companies’ avowed values and championing their own values in the interests of social justice.

The pandemic also showed how important a sense of community is to employees – and virtual working, hybrid life at the office, or working independently from local coffee shops or shared work spaces is going to weaken traditional loyalties to an employer.

While employees contemplate joining the “great resignation”, companies may be embracing “skimpification” - clawing back missed profits from customers, increasing prices, and reducing the level of service or goods that customers receive. The possibility of mixed messages, confusion and perceived hypocrisy, is high.

Internal communicators need to get involved in helping leaders understand the changing dynamics within their organizations. They need to clarify leaders’ thinking and help them articulate what they mean, track the attitudes of all their audiences, anticipate issues, and mediate between different views and priorities,

While helping to win the war, internal communicators should prepare to win the peace.

Insights Report: The New Rules of Employee Experience & Communications in 2022

, in which we examine the latest trends, best practices and innovative approaches companies are implementing currently.

We interviewed dozens of business leaders, from diverse industries and sectors, representing different sizes, stages, and geographies, with employee numbers ranging from 10 to 175,000.

Traditionally, companies have focused on communicating ‘to’ employees, and much less on ‘with’ them. Increased listening helps to ensure a two-way dialogue that encourages engagement, connection, co-creation, innovation, and cross-functional collaboration. Companies are getting creative in how they create these meaningful connections.

Manager engagement and activation is everything - 

Managers were seen as being critical not only for their role in connecting with, and influencing teams and cohorts, but as a communication channel able to frame, contextualize, and localize organization-wide messaging and information. While many organizations are still wrestling with how to be more systemic in their approach to communicating with and engaging managers as both audience and influencer, there was widespread consensus that getting this piece right was critical to successful employee experience.

Employee Communications skill sets need a radical re-think - 

Perhaps accelerated by ‘life-on-video-call,’ several companies we spoke to shared that they were investing heavily in internal communications resources that extended far beyond the written word. Recognizing TL;DR culture, new roles being added to EX and internal communications teams include video producers, editors, graphic designers, copywriters, and events managers. This trend highlights an increased focus on meeting employees where they are; creating compelling, relevant, 'sticky' content that requests, and does not assume the privilege of demanding, employees’ attention to corporate messaging.

Managing Director of AB and host of The Internal Comms Podcast

Four percent of the US workforce resigned in September 2021. According to 

, more than 40% of the global workforce is considering leaving their employer within a year. Media pundits are calling it the Great Resignation or Big Reprioritisation, but whatever the label, attracting and retaining talent will be a priority in 2022.

This is undoubtedly a challenge for our colleagues in HR, but IC teams must play their part. Research from 

 suggests high attrition rates are driven by more than a dissatisfaction with compensation and benefits.

Deeper, more profound issues are at play – and always have been. I recently 

, who coined the term ‘employee engagement’ back in 1990. His research showed we are more likely to invest our whole self in work when we find it meaningful

 found nine out of ten US workers were willing to give up an average of 23 per cent of their lifetime earnings in exchange for always having a meaningful job.

So, how can IC teams help employees find meaning in their work?

 – we must demonstrate the significance of employees’ day-to-day work, showing how it contributes to a higher goal or mission.

 – we must showcase how our employees are expressing their true and best selves at work, how they are achieving their potential, and are trusted and empowered.

 – we must expound on our organization’s purpose, illustrating the contribution it is making – and seeks to make – to society.

In short, your role is not to communicate the weekend closure of the office car park. Instead, it is to help employees understand why they should care, contribute, and commit.

President, Candler Chase Inc. and Co-Founder of the Academy of Business Communications

For some months I have had a little scrap of paper on my desk on which is written: “What you want to say is not the same thing as other people want to hear.”

As communicators, we spend a lot of our time transcribing the endless discourse of the C-suite for consumption by the mortals beyond. 

But how often do we consider the dissonance between what we’re shoving into the ether and what the people consuming it are actually looking for? The technical term for that irrelevant noise is 

In 2022 we need to be the Twaddle Prevention Department. This means thinking more critically about the information we’re asked to share. And this begins with listening. 

Not the theatrics that attend the dismal annual survey but 

 listening to the side chatter before meetings, to the conversations in elevators, to the posts on sites such as Glassdoor.

I’m betting there is a disconnect. Leaders I work with are talking about alignment, but their employees are asking questions about the return to the office plan. 

Others are clapping on about recovery, but hourly employees are nervous about whether their salaries will keep up with inflation. 

Some CEOs are making noises about growth, yet customers are chattering on Instagram about sustainability.

So here are the five resolutions I’ve made for myself for next year:

Challenge leaders to consider whether they are addressing the right things

Do a better job of being the voice of employees and frontline managers

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