What the research says

How should leaders communicate a change to managers and employees?

The short answer

No study we mapped compares ways of communicating a change head to head, and none here is rated high strength. Interviewed employees preferred their supervisors for practical information about a change and saw senior leaders as the source of strategy. In a government department facing restructure, those who rated change communication highly were more open to change, partly through feeling less uncertain. In one bank, strategy messages from top and middle managers were tied to frontline awareness in different ways. And in a hospital facing downsizing and a move, executives talked about participation and communication while supervisors talked about conflict and division.

Based on 6 studies from the Atlas of the Middle: 0 rated high strength, 2 medium, 4 low. Designs: qualitative case (2), mixed (1), survey (1), other (1), qualitative interviews (1).

Different messengers for different messages

In one study, interviewed employees looked to supervisors for practical change information and to senior leaders for strategy, and in a government department facing restructure, those who rated change communication highly were more open to change. In a survey at one regional bank, strategy messages from top and middle managers were tied to frontline strategic awareness in different ways, and the two sources interacted.

Allen et al. (2007) · mixed · MediumUncertainty during Organizational Change: Managing Perceptions through CommunicationInterviewed employees preferred supervisors for practical change information and saw senior leaders as the source of strategy; in a government department facing restructure, those rating change communication highly were more open to change, partly through feeling less uncertain.Davis et al. (2012) · survey · LowFostering strategic awareness at an organization's boundaryIn a survey of tellers and customer service staff at one large regional bank, strategy messages from top and middle managers were tied to frontline strategic awareness in different ways, and the two sources interacted.

Understanding can't be assumed

One practitioner article argues that many managers, even top leaders, do not understand their company's strategy, and suggests how executives and middle managers can fix it.

Sull et al. (2018) · other · Low No One Knows Your Strategy -- Not Even Your Top Leaders.A practitioner article argues that many managers, even top leaders, do not understand their company's strategy, explores why most organizations fall short on strategic alignment, and suggests how executives and middle managers can fix it.

Turning the message into local tools

In one bank branch, a middle manager turned head-office strategy into simple local tools, engaging frontline staff and hitting the targets senior leaders wanted.

Arnaud et al. (2016) · qualitative case · LowMaterializing Strategy in Mundane Tools: the Key to Coupling Global Strategy and Local Strategy Practice?In one bank branch, a middle manager turned head-office strategy into simple local tools, engaging frontline staff and hitting the targets senior leaders wanted.

How levels talk, and what each one hears

In a telecom culture-change workshop, senior and middle managers negotiated meaning in two very different patterns, set by how they talked to each other. In one hospital, executives and supervisors described the same change in very different terms.

Thomas et al. (2011) · qualitative case · MediumManaging Organizational Change: Negotiating Meaning and Power-Resistance RelationsIn a telecom company's culture-change workshop, senior and middle managers negotiated meaning in two very different patterns, set by how they talked to each other, which the authors relate to generative dialogue and to power and resistance.Jones et al. (2008) · qualitative interviews · LowEmployee perceptions of organizational change: impact of hierarchical levelIn a hospital facing downsizing and a move, executives talked about participation and communication while supervisors talked about conflict and division.

What I take from it

My read is that a change needs two messages: the why from senior leaders, and what it means for daily work from the manager people report to. I would brief middle managers early enough to do the second part well, and then ask them how their teams are describing the change.

This is my reading, Gabriel Lopez's, not a finding of the studies above.

Common questions

Who do employees want to hear about a change from?

In one study, interviewed employees preferred their supervisors for practical information about a change and saw senior leaders as the source of strategy.

Does good change communication make people more open to change?

In one government department facing restructure, employees who rated change communication highly were more open to change, partly through feeling less uncertain. That is an association from one setting, not a test of a communication approach.

Free guideThe 12 core answers in one 15-page PDFWhat the research says about change in the middle, with how strong the evidence is.Get the guide

Every summary on this page was written by Unfrozen from the study's abstract or full text and checked twice by independent AI reviewers. Loop coding is exploratory and AI-assisted, pending human verification. Spot an error? Email info@unfreeze.us and it gets fixed.