Leaders, are you listening?

Text: IC Index 2025

The Institute of Internal Communications Index 2025 is out today and it contains a loud and clear message for leaders: your visibility, availability and authenticity has a direct impact on your business. 

The survey, carried out by Ipsos Karian and Box and completed by 5,000 employees across the UK, dug into what leads employees to rate their organisations 10 out of 10 for internal comms. Why is this important? Because good communication leads to higher employee engagement, trust in leadership, and stronger advocacy.

In fact, when internal comms is seen as excellent by employees, engagement is at 73%. This drops to just 34% when it’s rated as good. 

Only 13% of orgs were rated as 10/10, but for those that were, leader communication plays a major role in employees feeling seen, heard and valued. 

Employees who rate their orgs as 10/10:

• Describe their CEO / senior leader as: inspiring, clear, authentic, approachable and tells it like it is

• Hear from their CEO / leader at least every few weeks and their department / senior leader every few days 

• Feel that leaders understand the problems they face and that their feedback is used to help inform decisions and actions

• Receive communication about business priorities from their CEO / most senior leader

So, what do employees want from their leaders?

Talk often, listen genuinely and show empathy

Trust among employees is highest when their leader’s tone is inspiring, authentic, approachable and caring. They want personal and real, not slick and edited. It’s not good enough to broadcast — leaders must find opportunities to speak regularly, listen genuinely and show empathy. 

This is a great opportunity for comms teams to coach leaders to be better communicators. Although, don’t expect the door to always be open as 94% of senior leaders say they have the skills they need to effectively communicate with their teams. But the data doesn’t back this up and the bigger the organisation, the less likely employees feel heard and understood. 

Seek feedback and show you’ve acted on it 

60% of employees say their org welcomes open and honest feedback (this drops to 43% for orgs with more than 10,000 people) but only 53% say their leaders use it to help inform decisions and actions. 

The most common ways leaders listen are online and in-person large events and Q&A, and site visits. But in the 10/10 orgs, this shifts to discussions on internal social media, 1-1 sessions with employees, and reverse mentoring. 

Once you’ve listened, use real life success stories to show what’s changed and decide on and implement iconic actions. One example given was an airline that scrapped gender-based uniforms based on employee feedback, showing they not only listened but were willing to make significant changes based on employees’ views. 

Lead on strategic comms

Employees have the highest understanding of strategy when it comes from the CEO, with 82% saying hearing from the CEO meant they were clear on the company plan. Although less than six in 10 employees believe their org’s strategy is the right one for success. This backs up the need for senior leaders to not only share the plan but demonstrate evidence of it working.

Communicate change with care 

Only 56% of employees feel that difficult changes such as restructures and redundancies are communicated with care. Unsurprisingly, this has a direct effect on how valued employees feel. 83% of those who say change comms are communicated with care feel valued, compared to 32% of those who don't. This also impacts advocacy, with 84% of employees who felt that change was communicated with care saying they would recommend their employer as a great place to work. 

This survey backs up what we already know: leadership communication has a direct impact on business success. And yet, it’s still common for leaders to dedicate very little time to employee comms.

But leaders who talk often, listen genuinely, show they care and take feedback on board have more loyal employees who are far more likely to recommend their org as a great place to work.

If you need help with your comms, whether that’s style, tone, messaging or channels, get in touch. We’d love to help.