Strong employee communication isn’t optional in the workplace; it’s a strategic necessity. Across industries, organizations that communicate poorly not only limit employee success and productivity, but also damage trust, morale and retention

New research on the state of workplace communication reveals that HR teams are under strain from three converging forces: communication expectations across generations, managerial gaps and the rise of artificial intelligence in HR functions. Together, these challenges push HR leaders to rethink not just what is said, but how and who says it.

Generational alignment in workplace communication

While workplace communication is often portrayed as a generational divide, email vs. Slack, formal vs. informal, the reality is that employees across all age groups are far more alike than different. Regardless of generation, most employees want the same things: transparency, clarity and genuine, two-way communication from leadership.

While younger employees may expect more open dialogue and quicker feedback loops, older generations tend to value transparency just as highly, particularly when it builds credibility and reinforces trust. The generational gap is therefore less about how people communicate and more about how authentically those messages are delivered.

In fact, 52% of employees still prefer in-person meetings for critical updates, and both younger and older employees cite transparent communication about company strategy, performance and policy changes as key drivers of engagement and trust. The key difference isn’t between generations, but in how employees and leaders perceive the effectiveness of communication.

The leadership-employee disconnect

There is a clear disconnect between how leaders and employees view effective internal communication. While 80% of leaders believe their communications are clear and engaging, only 50% of employees agree. This misalignment is the real issue: Leaders think they’re doing enough, while employees still feel left out of the loop. It’s a reminder that simply using new channels or sending more messages isn’t enough. For communication to truly work, leaders need to make sure their updates, especially around big changes, are personal, transparent and genuinely connect with people at every level.

What does this mean for HR teams? As a rule of thumb, every message must address the following:

• Agency: Why this matters to employees
• Context: How this fits into the bigger picture
• Opportunity for response: How one can ask, influence or follow up

What about managers?

Department heads and HR teams are often treated as the sole authority of official communications, but what about the important or informal updates shared during 1:1s with managers and direct reports? The most frequent, meaningful conversations happen at the manager level. But data shows that many managers are not meeting employee expectations, which can damage employee engagement, and therefore, retention.

Only 51% of corporate employees feel listened to by their managers, and that number falls to 42% among offline and deskless employees. This gap poses a major risk to both employee engagement and retention. Research emphasizes the direct correlation between quality of communication and employee performance, which when done right can result in higher engagement, lower turnover, and better business outcomes. In fact, 68% of organizations that increased their investment in communications saw improved engagement at work, yet only 12% of companies have communication among their top three HR priorities.

What does this mean for HR teams? The role of HR must evolve from the sole communications authority to empowering managers as communicators. This means:

• Training managers in skills such as active listening, message framing and requesting feedback.
• Giving managers direct access to important details (e.g. FAQ assets).
• Holding leaders accountable for how they communicate with their teams.

AI in HR Communications

As AI becomes an increasingly prevalent technology across workplaces, it’s no surprise that it’s also becoming more common in HR functions. Recent research found that 28% of communicators are using AI to draft internal messaging, yet less than 10% disclose that to employees. To compound the matter, only 36% of organizations have formal guidance around the use of AI in HR communications.

This ambivalence is risky. Research from McKinsey found that while nearly all companies are investing in AI, only 1% consider themselves mature in deployment, which suggests that many companies are still grappling with where AI fits in day-to-day, let alone how to govern it.

See also: Could ‘nudgetech’ be the key to better workplace communication?

So, how is AI helping HR teams? AI enables quick personalization of communications at scale, while also analyzing responses to refine future communications. However, AI-generated content often lacks an empathetic, human tone, and when not disclaimed, it can deeply erode trust, especially in the context of important people, policy or performance updates.

For HR teams, the learning is clear: Adopt AI, but do so cautiously, transparently and with guardrails:

• Disclose AI use so employees are in the loop.
• Define safe use policies for HR teams.
• Train AI literacy among HR communicators and managers.
• Track anomalies or feedback (such as tone, bias or misinterpretation) for future refinement.

What’s ahead for communications in 2026

In reflecting on the state of communications today, HR leaders can apply these findings to how they approach their 2026 strategies:

• Personalization at scale: Employees expect tailored communications that feel relevant to their role. HR should build layered strategies that account for distributed teams, combining company-wide updates with 1:1 manager-led discussions.
• Manager enablement: The manager’s role as a communicator will only continue to grow. HR teams should provide managers at every level with the tools, training and support needed to ensure consistent and authentic communications, bridging the gap between executive messaging and employee understanding.
• Responsible use of technology: As AI becomes increasingly prevalent in HR functions, HR teams must establish clear guardrails around when to use AI, how to disclose it and how to safeguard data, especially as personalization becomes increasingly important. AI can help teams work smarter, but only if employees trust the way it’s applied.

Communication is central to employee engagement, and in today’s workplace, it’s also a business-critical lever for trust, performance and engagement. HR leaders can no longer treat communication as a “soft skill.” It’s a critical strategy that holds culture together.