The latest Gallagher State of the Sector report is always one of the most interesting reads for anyone working in internal communication or employee experience. Each year it provides a useful snapshot of the pressures, priorities and challenges facing the profession.
And while there is a lot of valuable insight in this year’s report, one theme really stood out to me as I read through it.
In many ways, we’re still grappling with the same challenges we’ve seen for years.
For many practitioners, these themes will feel very familiar.
But the report also highlights something important.
Despite increasing investment in channels, platforms and messaging activity, many employees still report difficulty understanding priorities, navigating change and feeling genuinely informed. Which raises an interesting question.
Is the challenge really about communication capability?
Or is it about how communication is designed and experienced within organisations?
For a long time, internal communication has focused heavily on channels.
Which channels should we use?
How do we improve reach?
How do we increase engagement?
How do we optimise our platforms?
Those questions still matter, of course. But the reality of modern work is that employees don’t experience organisations through channels. They experience them through work itself.
Through conversations with their manager.
Through the way decisions are explained.
Through how change is introduced and supported.
Through the everyday moments that shape how work feels.
Communication is not just what is published. It’s what people experience as they try to make sense of what is happening around them. And that shift in perspective changes how we approach internal communication.
One of the ideas Lee Smith and I explore in People-First Internal Communication is that the profession is beginning to move from a message-centred model of communication to a more experience-centred model.
Instead of starting with:
“What do we need to communicate?”
We start with:
“What is the experience people are having at work, and how can communication help improve it?”
That might mean looking at communication through the lens of:
In other words, looking beyond individual messages and considering the broader communication experience of work.
This is where approaches like design thinking can be particularly helpful for internal communication teams.
Rather than focusing purely on outputs, design approaches encourage us to explore:
Tools such as journey mapping, personas and co-creation sessions can help teams see communication through the eyes of employees rather than through the lens of organisational messaging. That shift can reveal insights that traditional channel audits or campaign planning might miss.
Another theme highlighted in the report is the critical role managers play in communication and this is something we hear consistently across the EX Space community.
Managers are often expected to be a key communication channel, yet they are also navigating the same complexity and pressures as everyone else. Rather than simply providing managers with more materials or talking points, it can be helpful to think about:
How communication design supports them as sense-makers.
How can communication make it easier for managers to explain context?
How can it support better conversations?
How can it reduce, rather than add to, the cognitive load they already carry?
For practitioners, the key takeaway from the report may not be that we need more tools or channels. Instead, it may be that we need to step back and look more closely at how communication is experienced in our organisations.
Some useful questions to explore might include:
These kinds of questions can open up valuable conversations about how communication supports the overall employee experience.
Internal communication continues to evolve as organisations navigate increasing complexity and change.
Reports like the State of the Sector help us reflect on where the profession is today.
But they also remind us that improving communication is not simply about sending better messages.
It’s about designing communication in ways that genuinely support people in the reality of work.
And for many teams, that shift – from messages to experiences – may be one of the most important opportunities ahead.
