Frontline workers have a message for their leaders: show up
Exploring the top findings from Ketchum’s new leadership comms report.
Internal communicators often spend hours refining leadership messages before they reach employees. But for many frontline workers, those carefully scripted communications miss the point entirely.
What they want instead is direct connection with leaders.
The new report from Ketchum, “Leadership Presence: What Employees Want in the AI Era,” revealed a sharp divide between the priorities of frontline and office workers when it comes to leadership comms.
- 54% of frontline workers wanted leaders to be “in touch” with employees as opposed to 44% of office workers
- 48% of frontline workers prefer face-to-face conversations with leaders — 37% of office workers reported the same
- 26% of frontline workers say they get too little communication from leadership, compared with 17% of office workers
Lauren Butler, managing director of employee communications and engagement at Ketchum, said that the numbers revealed that presence is much more than soft skill that leaders need to develop as communicators.
“Presence itself is a communication strategy,” she said. “And the employees who most need that presence are often the ones least likely to get it today. They’re the people working on the front lines who don’t spend their days behind a screen or on corporate channels. Frontline workers are telling leaders something very clearly — don’t just send messages from afar. Show up. Talk with us. Understand what our work actually looks like.”
The data suggests that the big challenge here is addressing structural differences in how employees experience leadership communication. The 10-point gap in valuing leaders who are “in touch” with their employees indicates that frontline workers place more weight on leadership visibility. Also, the 11-point gap in perceived communication volume shows they feel more overlooked than their office colleagues. For internal communicators, the numbers show that closing this gap requires increasing leader visibility and interaction.
Employees want a connection, not just content
The report also found that the most valued leadership quality was being in touch with employees, at 50% of respondents. This was followed by accountability at 47% and transparency at 42%.
The figures suggest employees want leadership communication to do more than deliver information. Being “in touch” requires a whole lot more than just the occasional Q&A session at a town hall meeting. It should involve speaking plainly about the realities that employees face and transparently about decision-making, with details on how those decisions affect the organization’s path forward.
“We’ve spent years building communication strategies around assumptions about formats and platforms,” Butler said. “But what the data really shows is that employees value leaders who demonstrate they understand the work and the people doing it. That’s why presence matters so much. Employees interpret it as proof that leaders are paying attention.”
Internal communicators should focus their energy on ensuring that leadership comms demonstrate a sense of proximity to the people doing the everyday work. That’s a great way to build a cultural cornerstone through strategic messaging.
Presence over polish
Executives and communicators often spend hours refining leadership messages before they ever reach employees. But new research suggests the most effective leadership communication might happen when everyone ditches the script.
The data showed that most employees want simpler, more human communication from their leaders.
- 72% of employees desired a candid or conversational method of leadership comms
- 70% want simple leadership videos as opposed to overly polished productions
- 65% want a straightforward tone out of their leaders rather than more entertaining messaging
These figures challenge the idea that higher production value equals more engagement on a piece of leadership comms content. For internal communicators, when nearly three-quarters of employees desire messaging that shows off humanity, it shows that the audience places trust in messaging that prioritizes personal connection over refinement. Sleek production has a place, but giving leaders the tools they need to speak with employees clearly and openly might be as valuable as any investment in a technologically advanced leadership video series.
Butler told Ragan that communicators can look at the data and break the mold of typical leadership comms of the past.
“The data frees us from a lot of outdated assumptions and gives communicators permission to simplify and humanize,” Butler said. “Employees want leaders who sound like themselves and speak candidly about the business. Scripted communications can actually work against leaders, because employees want leaders who sound human and in touch with the real work.”
Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications.
There is an adage, which I have attempted to follow for many years – high tech, high touch. It is critical, as we become increasingly digital and more high-tech than I could have ever imagined when I first became a supervisor in 1980, that this adage takes on increased importance. Employees desire to see and talk to their leaders.