Change comms tactics that minimize disruption

Internal communicators can’t control organizational change — but how they react to it goes a long way toward maintaining a robust, employee-first company culture and avoiding potential speed bumps in employee experience.

At Ragan’s Employee Experience Conference this August 5-7 in Disneyland, Danny Valentine, senior director of internal communications at Honeywell, will discuss how internal communicators can navigate change in a way that inspires confidence.

Valentine told Ragan that even when change isn’t initially well received by an employee audience, there’s still an opportunity for comms pros to shine.

“Don’t retreat when you start to face resistance,” Valentine said. “That’s when you lean into authenticity, transparency, and real conversations.”

Valentine shared the following tips and tactics for how communicators can keep things running smoothly even in the face of major change.

• Get comms involved early in the change process. Well before any announcement of a change like a merger or acquisition, the comms team should be huddling with leadership to map out the comms cadence. Valentine said his company has been involved in about $14 billion in acquisitions since December of 2023.. “That is a boatload of change, and we’re essentially doing it all in-house with our existing communications team,” Valentine said. He added that by keeping the comms team close to the inner workings of the change process, internal messaging is well-informed and doesn’t overlook any key steps. “Having communications at the table early allows you to think about our end audience,” Valentine said. “If you don’t bring in communications early, you’re going to miss things.”
• Empower “the frozen middle.” Valentine suggested that internal communicators lean on managers to help get the message out during a change process — and add the touches of team-centric trust only a manager can. “We need to rely on those middle managers to be empowered to deliver change management-type messages because we just can’t reach everyone,” Valentine said.
• Substance over flash. In times of change, connection and alignment are of paramount importance. Valentine said that being real about the change process is going to trump any kind of fancy launch announcement in terms of internal audience impact. “Don’t over leverage on fancy communications in place of authentic communications,” he said. “Personal and authentic communications pair well with polished videos and more formal town halls.” He added that high-touch comms should be an internal comms pro’s top priority amid a change process. “All high-touch communications are tier one priority,” Valentine said. “Talking to people, ‘ask me anything’ sessions, traveling and dinners — those are the most impactful.”

Ultimately, Valentine said that human connection and transparency should lead the change comms conversation.

“Real change doesn’t just happen in a video or an email,” he said. “It happens in the moments we show up for each other.”

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.