The 4 stages of organizational change comms

At Ragan’s Employee Communications and Culture Conference earlier this year, Clarissa Ilyas, global leader, digital technology and transformation communications at GE Vernova, shared how communicators can approach major changes in an organized fashion. Inspired by the spin-off of her organization from General Electric, Ilyas told the audience that communicators need to realize that employees might not always be jazzed about the news of major changes like rebrands or mergers.

“It takes humility to recognize that not everyone will be excited,” she said. “Especially not right away.”

She added that in times of major change, communicators are often viewed as pillars of consistency by employees and should lean into that role.

“Consistency breeds trust,” she said. “If everything else is changing, comms should be the one thing that doesn’t. Don’t just communicate what’s changing — communicate what’s not changing. That’s where stability lives.”