Today, unpredictability has become the norm. The world we anticipated, stable and progressive, has given way to a reality marked by unexpected challenges, causing us to be consistently navigating change.
Gallagher’s State of the Sector report, published last week, highlights that one of the top barriers that Internal Communicators currently face is ‘change fatigue’.
With 44% of respondents to their survey raising it as the most impactful barrier to their success, it’s clear that employees are tired of the overwhelming feeling of endless change they’re experiencing.
The Current State of Affairs
It’s safe to say there are numerous external factors that are contributing to this new normal of constant change that organisations and their people are finding themselves in. Change in the world of business is not new, but the speed and scale of organisations pivoting from previous commitments in light of these factors feels very 2025.
There’s a unique combination of challenges including:
– a cost of living crisis affecting households and businesses worldwide
– the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global economies
– anxiety over foreign policy initiatives, both in terms of funding and military deployment
– and a surprising retreat from environmental and social commitments by major corporations and government, including a strong push back on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programmes
These factors are forcing organisations to think about their ambitions and whether they have to adapt quickly to stay relevant.
Honest employee engagement when navigating change
In this climate of uncertainty, honesty is crucial. As internal communicators and employee engagement professionals, we must acknowledge the impact of external factors on our organisations. It’s not about having all the answers; it’s about being clear and transparent about the challenges we’re facing.
There is a lot of contradictory information that employees are able to consume immediately, most of it not trustworthy.
So controlling the narrative and positioning your organisation as a beacon of truth through clear and honest communications, will be helpful for those that don’t know what to trust in a time of increased uncertainty.
Values and Purpose: Guiding Principles
While the world around us may be in flux, organisational values and purpose should remain constant and steady.
This doesn’t mean being inflexible. But it does mean listening to your people and using your organisational purpose and values to guide decision making through navigating change. Whether that be a merger, acquisition or consolidation, a behaviour change campaign or a digital transformation.
Instead of following the herd, making bold decisions to realign your business with your purpose or building your own path and resisting the urge to scale back commitments if it doesn’t align with your purpose.
Your people joined you for a reason. And if it feels like the change you’re embarking on doesn’t match what you say about your organisation – they’ll vote with their feet.
Communicating Change Effectively
When communicating change, clarity is essential. Every message should answer three key questions:
- Why is this change necessary? (The rationale)
- How will it affect employees? (The relevance)
- What is the ultimate goal? (The end state)
These may be simple principles, but they are crucial to prevent change fatigue.
Setting the scene, and explaining the impact of the changes for both an organisation and its people will help your people understand and ultimately buy in to the changes as long as they ‘feel right’ for the business.
But there does need to be a well articulated ambition for an end-state.
One of the reasons that people are feeling fatigued by change is that it feels never ending. While we can’t control macro factors, defining the context, strategy and ambition for change can be the difference between your people feeling that the organisation is in control of its future, or not.
Change fatigue will only hamper ambitions of engagement, buy-in and trust from employees during transformation campaigns, that could otherwise be positioned as largely positive for organisations.
As one of the respondents to the State of the Sector survey put it “It’s gone beyond change fatigue. It’s change exhaustion; disconnection; denial.”
A Call to Action: Leading Through Change
It’s important we recognise our roles as strategic partners within the world of internal communications and employee engagement. And visibility of and clarity from senior leaders, as well as managers, through these times of navigating change is increasingly important.
39% of respondents in the State of the Sector report highlighted that they were highly impacted by a lack of direction at the top of their organisation, which will only negatively impact engagement, workplace productivity and trust in organisational communications going forward.
As leaders, we have the power to steer our organisations through times of change and transformation, guiding our people through anxiety and uncertainty.
By being honest, ensuring we stay true to our values, and providing clear communication, we can help our organisations not just survive, but thrive.
Change might be a constant in business, but our job is to make it easy to understand and manageable for our people.
Image by Linus Nylund.
