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Axios HQ, an AI-powered software that makes internal communications work, released its 2024 State of Internal Communications report. The report analyzes how effective business leaders are — or aren’t — at communicating with employees, the impact it’s having on their organizations, and how they can do better.
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Why it matters: Hybrid work, information overload, and quickly changing business priorities in a post-pandemic era are making it hard for leaders to keep their teams and stakeholders aligned, and even worse, many leaders don’t realize it. Mix that with a stabilizing economy and Presidential election year, and the premium on clear, effective workplace communication has never been higher.
Axios HQ’s third annual workplace communication report — a survey of more than 400 leaders and 1,000 full-time employees — highlights the areas of alignment and sweeping disconnect between how well leaders think they communicate essential information and how employees actually think they do.
Across organizations of all sizes, leaders are seeing:
- Salary waste: 55% of workers lose 30 minutes to two hours each day dealing with the impacts of ineffective communication — and that time cost only gets higher as people become more senior.
- Alignment breakdown: Only 14% of workers feel entirely aligned with business goals.
- Retention risk: 49% of workers who don’t feel aligned are planning to leave their jobs within two years.
- Political stress: Only 26% of workers say leaders define and accomplish an action plan when addressing tough issues.
- Executive distraction: 48% of C-level leaders have to get more involved in projects than they should.
Yes, but: The leaders who get it right are getting it really right. Among employees who do feel entirely aligned with their organization’s goals, 75% say the communications they receive from leadership are effective.
Axios HQ CEO Roy Schwartz: “Communication is like the Wild West. Organizations have no metrics, no templates, hardly any editing or best practices. I think in 10 years, we’re going to look back and think it’s unbelievable most organizations didn’t invest in understanding how to communicate more effectively, especially given the communication gaps created by remote work.”
The stress or success leaders face will be even higher in an election year. Every cycle brings sensitive issues, and the uncertainty of what policies and protections may change as a result can be deeply unsettling to staff.
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45% of leaders say they proactively engage in difficult topics and communicate a perspective — 23% of employees agree.
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44% of employees say their leaders try to avoid difficult topics or simply never engage in them — 20% of leaders agree.
Axios HQ COO Jordan Zaslav: "Right now, four or five different generations are all at work. The companies that prioritize effective communication and empower creative environments where these generations can build on each other will be the ones that succeed. And in an election year, the leaders who establish — and sustain — trust long before they need it will be the ones who can discuss difficult topics without dividing their workforce."
To learn more about the state of internal communications:
- Read Axios HQ’s full report
- Join Axios HQ’s virtual event on March 19, where they will deep dive into the report, its findings, and how leaders can improve their essential workplace communications.
