The Grossman Group and The Harris Poll analyzed how organizations are communicating internally about the Middle East conflict and its implications on how leaders address future issues.
A survey of 2,154 American employees was conducted Oct. 24 – 26, 2023, and Oct. 31 – Nov. 2, 2023. An additional survey of 118 Internal and senior communications professionals was conducted from Oct. 23 – Nov. 3, 2023 and 68 internal statements from leading companies were collected.
Key findings include:
1.) 1-in-5 employees said their employer shared an official internal statement, and only about 1-in-6 employees reported that their manager communicated with them directly.
2.) 51% of US employees said they are affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
— Of those affected, 19% of respondents have a family member or colleague who are directly affected.
— Of those affected, 25% of respondents said they feel personally affected despite not knowing anyone directly affected.
3.) Confidence in leadership, alignment with company culture, and engagement increased four to six times when employers communicated about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and managers reached out to employees.
— 59% of employees had higher confidence in company leadership (compared to 10% who reported no statement or manager outreach).
— 54% felt better aligned with the company culture (compared to 10% who reported no statement or manager outreach).
— 45% said overall engagement increased (compared to 10% who reported no statement or manager outreach).
4.) Senior communication leaders said concern (97%) and empathy (97%) were ideal elements for an internal statement, followed by authenticity (92%), timeliness (89%), belonging (88%), and company reassurance (87%).
— However, when the actual internal statements were assessed for those top components, about 1/3 of the statements didn’t include concern and authenticity, two of the top elements.
Read the original report here.
