Keeping Employees Aligned During Times of Change

2025 has ushered in a series of significant changes. Global trade uncertainty, supply chain realignment, a push against globalization, and the growing adoption of AI have all combined for a business environment that is murky to say the least.

On top of that, for the past few years, companies have taken an especially vocal stance on a variety of social issues. They’ve invested time, energy and capital in re-organizing their structures and operations to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion. Now just a few short years later, companies are now quickly and quietly dismantling these same programs – creating whiplash and confusion for employees who are caught in this rapid shift.

To me, one of the enduring lessons of the past few years is that companies shouldn’t just focus on their external audiences during times of rapid change like this. They must take the time and effort to align their messaging and communications with their internal employees to ensure that the company is all moving in the same direction, with a coherent narrative and buy-in that drives action towards the desired results.

As we continue to navigate the shifting sands of 2025, I recommend that companies take a few concrete steps to keep employees informed and aligned as these changes occur.

#1: Be open and honest as you clarify your stance towards DEI

To remain compliant with new federal guidelines, corporations of all sizes are working diligently to update company DEI guidelines, with recent statistics showing that 4 in 10 companies are planning to reallocate DEI funds to operations or AI initiatives. While there are opinions across the spectrum as to whether this is the correct approach, companies are right to prioritize legal compliance with federal guidelines to avoid costly fines, and perhaps even costlier negative media coverage or customer boycotts.

However, regardless of where your company lands on your approach to this polarizing issue, it is imperative to inform employee audiences BEFORE communicating these new policies externally. Explain to your employees how you have arrived at your decision, and how the updated approach aligns with company mission, vision and values. Provide clear guidelines on how employees should (or shouldn’t) be commenting on these policies on their personal social media pages.

Clearly identify what has shifted in terms of internal policies and hiring approaches, and what resources are still available to employee resource groups. Do not “water down” your messaging with opaque explanations or sweeping key points under the rug. Be upfront about what has changed (and why) in order to maintain trust and transparency with employees.

#2: Provide clear guidelines about how to use AI

AI is no longer a novel tool. It is being used daily by employees from all levels on tasks as disparate as summarizing meeting notes, generating content, fixing code, acting as an assistant, and supercharging data analysis. As this usage proliferates, companies would be wise to have clear, easy-to-access guidelines that explain exactly how AI should be used, and perhaps, more importantly, how it SHOULDN’T be used.

For instance, what information can employees put into public facing tools like ChatGPT and CoPilot? What constitutes confidential information that needs to stay off those tools? How should employees utilize the results? Should they be taken at face value or examined closely for accuracy? With a recent study from Salesforce claiming that nearly 60% of employees have used unapproved AI tools at work, it is clear that companies must provide an “instruction manual” that clearly lays out these do’s and don’ts to prevent unauthorized usage that could put the company at risk.

#3: Keep the key components of change management in mind

The most prominent change management ideology, the ProSci ADKAR model, states that successful change management involves a sequential process of making employees aware of the change, then to build desire for the updated policy, followed by learning materials that increase knowledge of the change, demonstrations of the ability for putting the change in place, and finally, reinforcement to ensure that the change sticks.

By keeping these principles in mind for big or small policy changes, companies can be more confident in their successful implementation, and avoid both confusion as well as the dreaded “change fatigue” that can occur when companies go through too much change without bringing employees along for the ride.

#4: Don’t be afraid to show heart

While the employer-employee relationship continues to evolve, it behooves companies to be authentic, real and to foster a “we’re all in this together” mindset. The politics of the day are only divisive if we let them be. In a nutshell, effective internal communication is your best friend in times of trial. By communicating a focused mission, vision and strategy, company leadership can be assured that employees have a clear understanding of the direction of the organization, no matter how much change you are undertaking.