Creating a ‘shared understanding’ around change comms

Messages stop landing when personal impact is missing.

Organizational change is forcing comms teams to rethink how they guide employees through acquisitions, leadership shifts and restructuring.

Jessica Pantages, vice president of corporate marketing at Egnyte, said top-down emails or large staff messaging no longer meets the moment. She’ll be speaking on the subject at Ragan’s Employee Communications Conference this month.

“Change isn’t a seasonal event anymore; it’s the baseline,” Pantages said, pointing to AI adoption, economic pressure and the rise of private equity ownership as examples. Because of this, many employees are dealing with change fatigue.

The issue isn’t just how much information is being shared but whether people actually understand it, Pantages said.

“The biggest challenge today is fragmentation,” she said. “We have more channels than ever between Slack, email, intranets or Zoom, but less shared understanding.”

Adding more messages into that mix doesn’t help employees make sense of what’s happening. It can actually make the process harder, she said.

Where change efforts lose credibility

One of the most common breakdowns in change comms happens between leadership messaging and employee perception.

“The gap between leadership’s narrative and employee reality is where trust goes to die,” Pantages said.

This gap tends to widen when leaders rely on wordy statements or corporate language, especially around difficult topics like layoffs or ownership changes, she said.

When the reasoning behind decisions isn’t clearly explained, employees start to fill in the blanks themselves, leading to misinterpretations and rumors..

“If leadership isn’t radically transparent about the why behind the change, employees will fill that silence with their own, often negative, narratives,” she said.

In high-pressure situations, this can spread quickly and then shape how employees think about every future message, she said.

On the other hand, messages that acknowledge the human side of change tend to resonate more. Pantages pointed to a company sale where her leadership made the transition visible.

Visibility rather than a written announcement can reinforce alignment and gives employees something concrete to react to, she said.

Rethinking how comms flow

Closing the trust gap requires more than changing the language or tone. It calls for a different approach to how communication moves through an organization, Pantages said.

Communicators need to shift “from a broadcast model to an active dialogue,” she said.

This might mean creating space for employees to ask questions and process what’s happening, while also preparing managers to lead those conversations at the team level. FAQs, town halls and one-on-ones are helpful during this part of the process.

It also requires connecting messages to what matters to employees day to day, she said.

Pantages uses what she calls “What’s In It For Me?” to keep messaging focused on individual impact. This starts by acknowledging how employees might be affected before moving on to broader topics. Connect it to them first, she said.

“Visible corrective action,” or acknowledging when something didn’t land and showing how it’s being fixed can help stabilize trust, Pantages said. Without that visibility, even small missteps can create doubt or distrust.

What communicators can do differently

For teams looking to improve how they handle change, adjustments require consistency, Pantages said.

Start by expanding beyond a single communication channel.

“Stop relying on the ‘all-staff’ email,” Pantages said. Manager huddles are better suited for conversations about personal impact, while town halls help explain the wider company direction.

Then create one place where employees know they can find accurate information to reduce speculation and confusion.

“Build a dedicated transition microsite or hub,” she said. “If it’s not on the hub, it’s not official.”

And lastly, rethink how success is measured.

“Don’t tell me 90% of people opened the email,” Pantages said. “Tell me if 100% of your managers held their team huddles.”

Open rates and clicks don’t reflect whether people understand what’s happening or feel equipped to act on it. Manager-led conversations are where that understanding takes shape, she said.

“In every major move I’ve lived through…the successful outcomes didn’t come from the most polished slides, they came from the most honest conversations,” she said. “If you can give your employees a clear map, they will follow you through the fog.”

Register now to see Pantages’ presentation and others during Ragan’s Employee Communication Conference, April 21-23 in Boston.

Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at courtneyb@ragan.com.

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