The 5 Most Frequently Communicated Topics Inside Organizations

Over the last year or so, it’s felt as if the same key themes and topics have dominated the world of internal communications. 

I’m looking at you, AI. 

But this external echo chamber isn’t necessarily reflective of what’s going on behind closed doors.

So what does the IC content landscape actually look like at the moment?

Each year, I like to dive into the data to understand what businesses are most frequently communicating about with their employees. And Gallagher’s annual Employee Communications Report gives me the data to fuel my nerdy obsession.

The 2026 report features insights from the State of the Sector 2025/26 survey, which involved more than 1,300 comms and HR professionals from across the world.

Beyond my persistent curiosity, building an understanding of the topics that other businesses most frequently communicate about can be a handy sense-check to make sure you don’t have any gaps in your own content plans.

1. Strategy, vision and purpose

I’m relieved to see “strategy, vision and purpose” once again sitting squarely at the top of the list, where it’s consistently ranked in recent years.

Strategic alignment is a foundational purpose of internal communication, and 84% of the survey’s respondents agreed that it’s one of their top two priorities.

It’s something I’m incredibly passionate about. As internal communicators, we provide the “why” for the employees in our organization – we deliver the context that helps everything click into place, and we demonstrate how their day-to-day work paints the “bigger picture” of the company.

Keeping this central theme in our internal messaging is what allows for cohesion throughout the organization. It’s something that I hope will remain at the top of the “most communicated” and “IC priority” lists for years to come. 

2. Values, behavior and culture

The second-most frequently communicated topic last year was “values, behavior and culture,” which was referred to in previous years’ reports as “values, culture and belonging.”

It’s a theme that’s always hanging around the top three, ranking as the second-most communicated topic in 2024, the fourth in 2023, and the third in 2022. And not without good reason: if “strategy, vision and purpose” is where we provide the “why” for employees, then “values, behavior and culture” is where we bring in the “how.”

It’s what some might describe as “the way we do things around here.”

It’s where we champion and spotlight examples of our company’s values in practice, and the behaviors that fuel our culture. Because it isn’t possible to make strategy a top priority without also emphasizing the ways of working that form that culture.

Whether your company operates with an inclusive customer-focused culture, a competitive high-performance culture, or a collaborative and innovative culture, aligning internal communications with desired values and behaviors is what will embed them.

3. Employee recognition, stories and awards

This was a new category for the 2025/26 survey, jumping straight in as the third-most frequently communicated topic of last year. I’ll be honest – I love it.

I love that employee recognition has essentially been given its own category. In this age of AI, we’re all on a mission to make our comms feel more human. And I genuinely believe that spotlighting the successes of our people is one of the best ways to do that.

We already know that employees will leave a workplace if they don’t feel recognized or appreciated. People need to feel valued and respected, and having a solid recognition strategy that provides a pipeline of internal content is one of the best ways to normalize it within your organization.

4. Business performance, finances and industry outlook

I was actually surprised that this one wasn’t nearer the top of the list. In my opinion, it goes hand-in-hand with “strategy, vision and purpose,” offering the broader context within which the organization is operating.

Communicating openly with employees about business performance and financial updates can help to drive engagement by solidifying the link between “what I do” and “how the company performs.” But the message needs to be delivered in the right way, particularly when the financials are not necessarily as positive as you’d like.

I believe the CEO or most senior leader should be responsible for delivering semi-regular financial performance updates, as they’re often best placed to explain the broader context of the external factors influencing the business. This is also a good way to prioritize building trust and increasing the visibility of the senior leadership team.

5. Well-being and mental health

Last, but certainly not least, is “well-being and mental health.” It’s sat as the fifth-most frequently communicated topic for the last two years, after sliding down the list since peaking in the top three during the pandemic.

Despite the slight decline in the frequency of well-being-related internal content, it’s still a priority for organizations. Thank goodness. Building messaging into your content plans that promotes positive mental health and good well-being is a clear driver of employee engagement. Internal communicators play an important role in proactively supporting this by amplifying available resources, like EAPs, health-related benefits, and training opportunities.

It’s all about normalizing conversations about well-being and mental health, and, ultimately, contributing to a healthier and happier workforce and a reduced sickness absence rate.

Take time to reflect

I encourage you to take a few moments to reflect on your own internal comms from last year and this year. Do you feel any important themes have been deprioritized? Or are there any important topics you feel you might be over-communicating?

Keeping these questions top of mind helps pave the way for more informed comms decisions and strategies.