A look at what today’s employees seek from internal comms

Even if you’re frequently in touch with your employees through multiple channels, you’ve got to ensure that you’re reaching them on the right subjects.

A recent report from The Institute of Internal Communications, “IC Index 2025,” explored the state of internal comms, surveying nearly 5,000 British employees. The study found that 74% of employees felt they got the right amount of internal communications messaging. Twenty-two percent reported that they receive too much internal communications information, and just 4% responded that they receive too little.

However, even with the majority of employees reporting that their internal communications team was getting the amount of internal communications right, the report still found some gaps in which employees desired more information. The report stated that employees wanted more internal communication on benefits, with 36% of survey respondents craving more. That was followed by career and personal development at 31% and job guidance at 27%.

While the overall frequency of internal comms is right for most employees, the topic mix could use fine-tuning. For example, internal comms pros can work with HR to create easy-to-decipher Q&A documents on an intranet platform that help answer employee questions on benefits and pay. It’s not about putting more information out into the ether, but increasing the intentionality and focus of where and when it’s shared.

Channel choice and preferences for information consumption

The report found that email topped the list of internal comms channel preferences for employees, with 65% of respondents listing it as the way they’d most like to get their internal messaging. Direct, interpersonal communication also featured prominently among the top channels, with 35% getting information from meetings with their managers and 25% hearing it from their colleagues.

There’s a lot of wisdom internal comms pros can pull from this data. First, just because email is a reliable workhorse for internal communications doesn’t mean you can set it and forget it. Additionally, comms pros should lean into the fact that many employees prefer face-to-face communication. Give managers talking point toolkits, equip them to talk about how changes within the organization affect their team, and provide them with the upskilling opportunities needed to feel confident in creating a true dialogue with their reports rather than just serving as a mouthpiece. Strong interpersonal comms between reports and managers is the foundation on which a lot of company culture is built, and that shouldn’t be overlooked.

The data says it best: employees don’t need more internal communication; they need it delivered more effectively on channels that are easy to access. When comms pros set employees up with internal comms that’s easy to digest and has a low barrier to access, they’re more likely to engage with it. And when that ever-important engagement goes up, you’ve got the building blocks for a more robust, involved employee culture.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications.