As employees across industries increasingly face new challenges of all types, HR leaders and others in charge of communicating their organizations’ workplace priorities say that “change fatigue” is rampant.
That is one of the key findings of a survey of more than 2,000 HR and communication leaders in 55 countries conducted Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting firm based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Chris Lee, vice president of Gallagher’s communication consulting practice, shares insights gleaned from the survey, outlined in Gallagher’s 2025 Employee Communications Report.
How have organizations adapted to the pace of change over the past five years?
The combination of geopolitical and socioeconomic uncertainty, adoption of new tools like AI and ways of working remotely and hybrid, and changing expectations for younger generations, have all contributed to change fatigue being cited as one of the top barriers to success for communications teams.
Compounding this is the lack of time and team capacity that was the top barrier. With a significant change environment and limited capacity, communications tend to be more reactive, and HR leaders and other communicators found it harder to think more strategically about the most effective approaches to communicating change.
In the report, boosting leadership visibility was a top priority for nearly half of the communicators surveyed. Leaders should work hard to be relatable and transparent and think about their role in fostering a workplace culture of resilience and commitment to change as a necessary component of growth and innovation.
HR leaders tell us that change management, change communications and communications are now blurring together. However, one in five communicators don’t have a change comms strategy and one in four communicators weren’t invited to review change comms plans.
Less optimal channels—in combination with the challenges around change fatigue and capacity, suggest opportunities for HR leaders to consider how to make the business case for increased investment and resourcing in the employee experience.
Indeed, more than half of HR leaders and communicators are prioritizing stakeholder management and change management skills for 2025. As organizations navigate a constantly shifting economic landscape, the communications function must evolve to remain relevant and impactful.
Does the interconnectedness of HR and other internal communicators across an organization help or hinder its positioning as a critical business function?
Unlike other departments, the success of internal communications is intertwined with multiple teams through shared goals and success indicators. Joint performance indicators act as incentives to prioritize building relationships across all areas of an organization and success hinges on a communicator’s ability to connect, frequently and meaningfully, with other departments.
We found that the average communicator has seven KPIs, of which six are shared with other departments; behavior change and employee engagement are the most common shared KPIs; and communicators who track and use data are more likely to perform against KPIs.
Do HR and other internal communicators have the right tools and tech to reach employees and drive business impact?
The impact of communications depends significantly on how well organizations enable and invest in the function, and effective communication strategies require fit-for-purpose tools. Although most HR leaders and other communicators influence channel decisions, dissatisfaction with current channel capabilities remains widespread.
Gallagher’s Employee Communications Report found that around half of HR leaders and other communicators are dissatisfied with their channels’ ability to segment their audience and personalize messages. Moreover, a third of the survey’s respondents have not yet considered transparency in their AI usage, and two in five respondents say their organization has no governance, training or guidance in place about AI.
Where are HR leaders and other internal communication leaders committing their focus in 2025?
In Gallagher’s 2025 Employee Communications Report, we found two key competencies that consistently correlate with successful HR leaders and other communicators: first, the ability to collect, synthesize and leverage data that connects to business impact, and second, the ability to build and maintain productive relationships across the organization.
HR leaders are prioritizing initiatives that strengthen engagement within their organizations, with 67 percent focusing on connecting teams to purpose, strategy and values. Improving manager communications (53 percent) and boosting leadership visibility (47 percent) also rank high, reflecting the growing need for transparent top-down communication.
What about their own personal well-being?
This year’s Employee Communications Report continued to analyze the well-being of HR leaders and other internal communicators. A third of respondents reported a decline in their overall well-being, down from 38 percent the previous year. Key factors to their sentiments include strained headcount, limited budgets and time constraints to complete tasks. Other contributors to a growing sense of frustration and burnout include challenges such as ongoing change and uncertainty, and poor management or leadership.
On the flip side, the report also found that better working conditions, getting a new job or working situation and benefiting from a good manager could elevate the mood and well-being of HR leaders.
