If Internal Communication Is a Strategic Function, Why Aren’t We Setting Communicators Up to Succeed?

18 June 2025 Reading Time: 4 minutes

by Debbie Braden:

We can’t grow the profession if we’re not willing to reach back and pull the next generation forward.

There’s a wave of early-to-mid-career communicators stepping into roles filled with potential. They’re asked to create content, promote leadership visibility, manage change, and support culture, without a clear definition of what internal communication is or why it strategically matters.

Internal communication has evolved and is more complex than ever before. While strategic in-house communicators and consultants continue to push the conversation forward, leadership perception in many organizations hasn’t caught up. As a result, capable communicators often feel stuck, limited by reporting lines, buried in execution, and expected to deliver results without support.

If we want internal communication to be seen as the lever it truly is, we have to keep modeling what good looks like and help others navigate the gap between aspiration and influence.

When we show up as strategic thinkers, we tend to find ourselves in the right rooms, influencing the right decisions.

Strategic IC Without Strategic Support

Some consultants and in-house communicators are modeling exactly what strategic IC can be. They’re earning influence, driving alignment, and shaping culture in meaningful ways.

Many organizations say they value internal communication. They might even invest in a platform or create a dedicated role. But the structure doesn’t support strategy.

The communicator reports into HR or marketing.

Their time is split between employee content, executive messaging, and social media for customers.

There’s no clear mandate or involvement in planning.

And most importantly, there’s no one to learn from.

Many of these solo IC pros, whether hired into the role or inheriting the function, want to do it right. But without strategic guidance and mentorship, they get stuck in a cycle of pushing content. When internal messages don’t land or change stalls, they’re often blamed and left wondering what went wrong.

I know this because I’ve been there. I’ve led internal communication for large organizations with no platforms, formal training, or roadmap. I’ve Googled things like “how to communicate a corporate concealed carry policy” and come up empty.

Job Descriptions Reveal the Bigger Problem

If you want to understand how a company views internal communication, read their job postings.

You’ll find roles that start with looking for a “strategic communicator,” but their tasks are anything but strategic. They’re looking for someone to fill all the gaps with only five to eight years of experience.

What you won’t often find is a clear throughline connecting those tasks to business strategy.

When internal communication is treated like a content machine that makes things “look and sound good,” it becomes nearly impossible to influence how strategy gets translated across the organization.

The Strategy Divide: Linear vs. Non-Linear Communication

Organizations want strategy. But the disconnect often shows up in how communication is measured.

Most look to metrics like email open rates and intranet clicks. These offer surface-level insights, not the behavioral impact internal communication is meant to have.

Linear communication is the starting point for demonstrating strategic value. It is straightforward and easy to track. You announce a new process. Share the timeline. Launch the training.

Then measure:

• Helpdesk ticket volume
• Training completion rates
• Adoption percentage

This is the kind of communication leaders are comfortable with. It follows a straight line from message to result.

But most internal communication lives in the non-linear. This is where both the value and the complexity lie.

Non-linear communication shapes culture, builds trust, and creates clarity. It connects business priorities to behavior but doesn’t follow a straight line.

• It’s when employees interpret silence during uncertainty
• It’s when teams operate with different assumptions because leaders weren’t aligned
• It’s when strategy lives in a deck, not in daily decisions

This internal communication work makes or breaks performance and often gets overlooked or misdiagnosed.

Misdiagnosed and Misdirected

When execution stalls or behaviors don’t shift, internal communication rarely gets named as the issue. Leaders tend to look to operations. Or HR. Or blame managers for “not reinforcing the message.”

IC is often brought in too late or not at all. Sometimes, communication is expected to carry the full weight of change instead of being reinforced by trusted leaders.

So, the message doesn’t land. It may contradict other efforts, lack credibility, or arrive without context or trust.

That’s not just a delivery issue. That’s a strategy issue.

Yet, without proper support, the communicator is left without the tools or authority to fix it.

What Can We Do?

Communicators want to be strategic. The issue isn’t disinterest. It’s lack of support.

Here’s how we change that:

Stop letting job descriptions dilute the function.
Challenge descriptions that frame IC as execution only. Advocate for clarity and connection to business outcomes. Strategy starts with purpose, not deliverables.

Make your work visible and tied to business priorities.
Go beyond clicks. Show how communication enables faster decisions, readiness for change, or better customer outcomes. Measure what matters.

Model the thinking.
When you’re in the room, don’t just share what you’ll send. Share how you’re thinking. Strategic communication is about helping people make sense of complexity.

Mentor with intention.
Offer insights in coffee chats, LinkedIn DMs, or shared resources. Help others see what strategy looks like in real life and give them the confidence to try it.

Invest in learning even if your company won’t.
If you’re unsupported, don’t wait. Read, listen, and join communities. You may have to start alone, but you don’t have to stay that way.

The Bottom Line

Internal communication isn’t writing newsletters. It’s not just storytelling.

It is one of the few functions that sees across departments and understands how employees feel.

Internal communication creates clarity, helps people do their best work, and turns culture into action and strategy into reality.

But that only happens when we treat the function with the seriousness it deserves and resource it like it matters.

To those doing this work solo, you’re not imagining the gap. It’s real. To those further along, let’s show others what good looks like.

When internal communication is done well, it doesn’t just support the business. It drives it forward.

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Debbie Braden is Founder and CEO of Star Thrower Communication, and is based in Texas.

Written by: Editor