Internal communication has evolved far beyond simply pushing messages through channels. In 2025, the gold standard for communication is rooted in human connection—employees want to feel understood, valued, and connected to their leaders. Yet, only 13% of UK employees rate their organisation’s communication as 10/10, according to the IC Index 2025. This signals a huge opportunity for internal communicators to work with leaders to raise the bar.
The IoIC’s 2025 IC Index is clear: leadership communication is the single biggest differentiator between good and great internal communication.
In this article, CAKE Communications Associate Chrissi Harcourt-Wood takes a closer look at the top takeaways from the research, to enable meaningful employee experiences in 2026 and beyond.
1 Leadership visibility, connection and authenticity are critical
“It’s notable how many of these ingredients relate directly to leaders.”
Employees who rate communication as excellent overwhelmingly say leaders understand their challenges (93%). They also hear regularly from their CEO and senior leaders, and describe their tone as open, inspiring, and clear. People want leaders to communicate regularly and connect on a personal level, with empathy, which takes both self-awareness and self-leadership. The more we understand ourselves and our own human responses – the more we can understand others’ personal needs, challenges and struggles. This doesn’t need to look like formal Townhalls or monthly email either, but more authentic, light touch, and immediate ways of getting messages out in a way which makes employees feel in touch with the day to day work of doing business.
“Employees who rate communication as excellent overwhelmingly say leaders understand their challenges (93%).”
Key Stat: 82% of employees say they have clarity on strategy when it comes directly from the CEO.
2 Human connection is important
We need to keep the ‘humanity’ in our communications, especially in times of change. In a sea of stories about robots taking over the world (more on AI below), we need to remember after all, that businesses and organisations are created by humans, for humans.
For IC professionals and leaders, it means we need to really get under the skin of what it is to be human – what makes people tick and what ticks them off?
It helps us keep communications ‘real’ and provides people with meaningful messages they can trust and believe in, along with providing the support they need. This is echoed in a recent article by Levick Stanley Recruitment’s Change Makers, who say ‘the most effective leaders combine strategic clarity with emotional intelligence. They connect what the system needs with what people care about.’
The first rule of change, or indeed any performance goal, is to ‘make it matter’. To do that you need to know what matters to your people, which brings us to ‘listening’.
3 Listening and acting on feedback drives advocacy
Organisations that ‘close the loop’—both listening and showing how feedback informs decisions—see advocacy levels soar to 90%, compared to just 23% where feedback is ignored. We talk all the time about ‘you said, we did’ communications but hearing, and acting on employees feedback has never been more important.
“Closing the feedback loop is the fastest route to building trust and advocacy.”
Recent research by Edelman’s Gen Z Lab has also found that the need to trust the info they receive, to have a voice and be heard is amplified amongst the Gen Z population. Edelman’s Project Lead, Jackie Cooper explains in this podcast, Gen Z’s have been shaped by recessions, the pandemic, geopolitical instability, not to mention financial insecurity and world changing technology. This experience drives a visceral need to feel safe – and respond to fear by asking questions and wanting to be heard.
The IoIC’s report notes that a mix of smaller interactions with leaders such as internal social media and drop-in sessions have the greatest impact on employee advocacy. And three of these more close-knit activities (vs large scale Q&A) seem to be the magic number in terms of return on the investment of leaders’ time.
4. Communicating change with care protects trust
Only 56% of employees feel difficult changes are communicated with care. When organisations get this right, employees are 51 points more likely to feel valued and 47 points more likely to recommend their employer.
Change is an emotive thing – and provokes a range of different reactions and responses. Understanding not just the process of change but – how your people are likely to respond to change and what they might need will help create a better change experience. Which suggests why the growing desire for communications managers to have a good understanding in psychology and behavioural science is so important given the constant wave of change happening throughout business today.
That includes leaders. It can be easy to expect them to be our superheroes, unwavering their conviction and energy to lift others up and coach them on the journey.
A recent HBR article ‘Manage the Emotional Toll of Leading Change’ provides guidance for leaders on how to find the emotional strength to lead through change – finding the balance between inspiring and guiding others, whilst navigating their own responses to change. Back to point 1, leadership with authenticity sometimes means acknowledging the difficulty that everyone, leadership included, is experiencing.
5. Clarity on AI is essential
The last of the key takeaways from the IC Index 2025 brings us to today’s hot topic – AI. Nearly half of employees worry about job losses due to AI, and only 41% say their employer has clearly communicated responsible AI use. Comfort with AI in communications jumps to 70% when clarity is provided. Whilst it would be unreasonable to expect IC professionals to be the experts on AI, they can expertly communicate an organisation’s position and direction on AI – even if that is still unfolding. Saying nothing leaves the door wide open to speculation and rumours that will only serve to amplify employees’ concerns and erode trust. Getting the AI discussion on the 2026 plan should be top of your list as an IC professional (as should continuing to build your own skills in AI so that you can support employees from a position of strength).
Many of these topics are not new news but they do allow us to refocus on what is important year on year, and how we need to be aware of how a changing workforce dynamic, increased technology changes and changing societal demands shape the way the Internal Communications community should think and act. If there’s one thing that’s certain, the pace of change doesn’t look like it will slow any time soon, and providing a 10/10 IC experience requires attention in all the above areas.
If you want to review your Internal Communications or need support with an upcoming change, get in touch with the team today.
Find out more about Chrissi and the CAKE Communications team here >
Context, Credit & About This Post:
This post reflects our own interpretation and analysis of the IoIC 2025 IC Index. It’s intended to share insights and spark discussion, not to represent official advice or the views of the IoIC or any other organisation. This commentary is based on publicly available information and is provided for general information purposes only. References to this report are for context only and do not imply endorsement or affiliation.
All trademarks and content referenced remain the property of their respective owners.
