From Informing to Influencing

Everywhere I look, from Gartner to McKinsey, 2026 is being tipped as year of major transformation, largely from AI adoption that will drive everything from M&A to big tech rollouts.

So how do comms professionals keep up when everything is changing everywhere, all at once?

In our third article on Making Change Stick, we’re exploring a simple idea:

Change only counts when people behave differently. That means using the new system, adopting different ways of working to support the new op model, or integrating with new colleagues from a different culture.

But here’s the problem. Investment in transformation often drops off after launch, not when the changes are adopted. We saw this play out in our research where:

• Only 17% of employees understood and felt motivated to support change.

• Just 22% felt that change communications were timely or relevant.

Why should comms care?

Because if communications are part of the solution, not just the announcement, then we have a role in embedding the behaviours that drive ROI.

Here are five ways to do that:

1️⃣ Start with behaviour. Define what needs to change, and shape comms around it.

2️⃣ Make it relevant. Tailor comms to who’s affected, and when.

3️⃣ Show the why. People are more likely to change when they understand the reason behind it.

4️⃣ Model visibly. People copy what they see, not what they’re told.

5️⃣ Keep going. Don’t move on until new behaviours are the norm (and you have the data to prove it!).

In our next blog, we’ll share the neuroscience behind these tactics and why they work.

In the meantime, access the full report here.