Article
News about the growing gap between management and employees – and recommendations on how to close it
Published
8 February 2024
Report: Implement's Change Communication X-ray 2024
Bridging the gap between managers and employees has always been the objective of change communication. Indeed, it has been the most consistent theme when looking at the thousands of projects we at Implement have been involved in over the past ten years of engagement in change communication services.
When looking through the results of this third edition of the Change Communication X-ray – our recurring survey inspecting the state of change communication across global organisations – it was therefore not surprising to find indications that the gap persists.
The unsettling thing was to learn that the gap, in fact, seems to be expanding.
This edition of our Change Communication X-ray contains new perspectives for companies’ sustainability narratives, proof that company visions cannot be expected to trickle down by themselves and a dissection of the misperceptions that often block alternative roads to effective communication.
Some of the learnings we present will feel rather basic. The recommendation to lead change by facilitating the right conversations is an example of something you might have heard before. But discarding these conclusions on the simple notion that they seem basic would be a mistake. Because while the basic principles may seem insignificant, they are anything but. Managing successful change projects requires getting the basics right. And if there is one thing that can get us safely through the times ahead, it is successful change.
We hope that you enjoy the read and look forward to having a conversation with you about the results.
About Implement’s Change Communication X-ray 2024
Data was collected between 6 December 2023 and 3 January 2024 through a digital survey distributed to more than 20,000 professionals registered in Implement’s CRM system. A total of 1,082 respondents from 49 countries completed the survey, the majority of which (62%) were from Denmark.
Respondents are almost equally distributed between organisational levels (top management, middle management and employees), primarily representing the private sector (84%), while the remaining respondents are split between the public and third sectors (16%).