The Ambition Gap  

Internal communications have evolved beyond being purely a broadcast function. Yet, in many organisations, it still operates as one. According to Gallagher’s latest industry report, 73% of internal comms teams aspire to be strategic advisors, but only 18% have reached that level. 

How to Break Out of Order Taker  

The shift from order taker to strategic partner starts with repositioning internal comms as a function that shapes how the business delivers on its priorities. That requires a clear, structured approach, built on four core pillars. 

1. Define a Communications Strategy 

Over half of comms teams have no documented strategy or framework. A clear, documented communications strategy that aligns to business goals gives comms focus and direction. It defines the organisational priorities, identifies the right audiences and defines how success will be measured in terms of consumption, understanding and sentiment. This shifts internal comms from a request-led delivery function to one with a clear point of view on what matters and why. 

When leadership understands and agrees with that direction, comms stops acting as a service and becomes a partner in driving business outcomes.

2. Bring Comms into Business Planning 

Internal comms teams are often brought in too late – once decisions are made and plans are already in motion. At this point, its role is to distribute the information. To operate strategically, comms needs to be involved at the point decisions are shaped, not just communicated.  

When comms is part of the business planning from the outset, it can help to prioritise the messages that matter, think about the communication of rationale, sequence communication effectively, and tie every message to a clear business outcome.  

By aligning internal communications to business priorities as they are being defined, comms starts to shape what employees understand, focus on and act on. 

3. Secure Leadership Buy-In (and Active Participation)

A communications team can’t become strategic on its own; it needs active support from leadership. This doesn’t just mean approval; it means active participation and enthusiasm from leaders.  

That means more than just approving ghostwritten messages. Leaders need to communicate directly, consistently, and in their own voice – because how messages are delivered shapes whether they are trusted, understood and acted on.  

Start by getting formal executive sponsorship for your comms strategy. Then encourage leaders at all levels to be visible and authentic communicators. Employees trust messages more when they hear them directly from their leaders, not just in polished memos. 

For example, when a Finance Director explains the rationale behind cost decisions directly, or a Marketing Director sets priorities in their own words, employees gain clarity that no second-hand message can replicate. 

4. Unify Strategic and Operational Comms

In many organisations, strategic announcements and day‑to‑day operational updates are treated as separate streams, often delivered across disconnected channels with no clear rationale. The outcome is predictable: messages compete for attention and employees disengage. Without a coherent structure, even the most important messages lose impact. 

The answer is to design a clear system for how communication flows across the organisation. This means having a defined operational communications framework—one that covers everything from brand updates and software releases to health and safety information for frontline staff. These messages should sit alongside strategic updates in the same digital workplace, but each must use the right channel for the right purpose. 

A modern digital workplace on the Microsoft 365 platform makes this possible by bringing communication into a single, structured environment. Strategic updates gain visibility in the appropriate spaces, while operational messages reach the specific audiences who need them, all within one consistent framework. 

This unified approach prevents important news from getting lost in the noise. For example, company‑wide strategy updates may appear on the intranet homepage, while IT outage alerts or frontline safety bulletins are sent as targeted notifications; different purposes, same platform, one source of truth. 

This approach has also been proven to increase engagement. After global firm Robert Walters consolidated its tools into a single digital workplace, it saw a 355% increase in unique platform visitors within weeks. Employees finally had one place to access everything, from corporate news to frontline updates, dramatically improving adoption. When strategic vision and operational information flow through the same well‑managed ecosystem, they reinforce each other instead of competing for attention. 

Bringing It Together 

When these pillars are in place, comms outputs become relevant and impactful:  

• Employees stay informed and engaged because they receive the right information at the right time through the right channels.  

• Leaders see that effective communication drives better business outcomes – whether it’s smoother change adoption, higher engagement, or faster issue resolution – and they invest further in it.  

Closing the 73% ambition gap isn’t just an internal comms win; it’s a win for the entire business, leading to a more aligned, agile and trust-driven organisation.