Internal Communications Benchmarks for 2026: How Does Your Internal Comms Strategy Stack Up?

There’s a widening gap in the internal communications industry. On one side, there are teams that have a seat at the table – they influence strategy, drive culture, and prove their ROI with hard data. On the other side, there are teams that are stuck in a loop of tactical execution, fighting for budget and struggling to get leadership’s attention.

Gallagher's research classifies these two groups as “Thrivers and Survivors”.

Knowing which category you fall into is the first step to closing that gap.

We’ve curated the most critical data points from the latest industry research to act as a diagnostic tool for your team. By benchmarking your strategic priorities, resource allocation, and measurement habits against the industry’s best, you can identify exactly where your function is lagging and what you need to do to reach that “Thriver” status in 2026.

Strategic benchmarks: What high-performers focus on

To benchmark your function effectively, you first need to define its role. The 2026 data reveals a definitive split in the industry: while some teams remain tactical distributors of information, high-performing functions have evolved into strategic architects of the business.

The clearest indicator of a high-performing team is where they focus their energy. In 2025, the number-one priority for mature functions was strategic alignment – creating absolute clarity around the company vision.

This was followed closely by culture & belonging and organizational agility, proving that top-tier teams are now operating as critical partners in change management rather than just a support service.

With this elevated status comes a heavier burden of proof. High performers are no longer just sending emails; they’re owning outcomes. [*]

• 93% of teams are now explicitly accountable for ensuring employees understand the company strategy.
• 92% are accountable for engagement scores, though a significant gap remains – only 71% actively monitor this metric.
• The average communicator now owns seven key performance indicators (KPIs), typically sharing joint accountability with HR (five KPIs) and the C-suite (three KPIs).

However, despite the increased accountability, funding remains a dividing line between mature and immature functions. [*]

• 53% of teams have a dedicated budget, allowing for long-term planning.
• In contrast, 15% of teams rely on ad-hoc funding, applying for money only when a specific need arises.

This “beg and borrow” approach is a key warning sign of a function that is surviving, not thriving.

Learn more → Internal Comms Checkup: 6 Symptoms of an Ailing Approach

Communication channels performance: Where to invest your effort

We gathered benchmarks on channel usage versus perceived effectiveness to help you evaluate your current mix. The data reveals a common trap: many organizations are over-indexing on channels that are easy to use (like email) while under-investing in the channels that actually drive human connection (like events).

Here are the key findings:

Email is still king (but vulnerable)

Despite the rise of chat apps and intranets, email remains the dominant force, utilized by 92% of organizations as the official system of record. However, while it is the most used tool, its effectiveness is threatened by volume.

Clutter is frequently cited as a major barrier, meaning that while your message is getting delivered, it’s often getting lost in the noise. [*]

Learn more → 5 Reasons Email-Centric Internal Comms Won’t Cut It

Events are the hidden gem

The biggest opportunity for competitive advantage lies in live interaction. The data exposes a massive gap between what works and what companies actually do.

In-person events are rated 87% effective – one of the highest scores in the study – yet only 52% of companies utilize them.

Similarly, virtual events remain a powerhouse for hybrid teams, maintaining an 86% effectiveness rating. [*]

The frozen middle: Manager communication

This is the most critical area to optimize in 2026.

While 84% of organizations rely on managers to cascade news to their teams, 60% of communicators rate their managers’ communication skills as “below expectations”.

This creates a bottleneck where strategic messages die before reaching the frontline. [*]

Related reading → Guide to Supporting Line Manager Communications

The decline of printed materials

If you’re looking for some budget to reallocate, look here. Printed materials are the losing channel in the modern mix. Only ~55% of organizations find them effective, suggesting that spending on print (posters, desk drops) offers a diminishing return on investment. [*]

Core internal communication metrics & the measurement gap

The difference between a thriver and a survivor is most visible in what they measure. While struggling teams focus on activity (did we send it?), high-performing teams focus on impact (did it work?).

The data shows that mature internal comms functions are increasingly tracking business health metrics, not just communication outputs. [*]

• Employee engagement metrics: tracked by 71% of teams.
• Workforce size: tracked by 47% of teams.
• Employee turnover/attrition metrics: tracked by 44% of teams.

Despite the push for data, research also shows that a significant portion of the industry is still stuck tracking vanity metrics.

• 60% of communicators are solely responsible for reach metrics (like clicks and opens), often missing critical outcome metrics like behavior change or adoption. [*]
• Only 60% of communicators use their measurement data to create business cases for resources. This means 40% of teams are sitting on data but failing to use it to justify their budget or headcount. [*]

Related reading → Measuring What Matters in Internal Communications

Digital employee experience (DEX) & the cost of friction

Thrivers understand a simple truth: you cannot have a great employee experience with bad technology. If your tools are fighting your people, you are losing money.

The benchmarks show that while expectations are rising, the digital reality for most employees is still lagging behind.

The average office worker rates their current workplace technology a B-. While this might sound passable, the impact is severe: 65% of workers say that negative technology experiences directly impact their morale. If your intranet is clunky or your internal emails are not mobile-friendly, you’re actively damaging employee engagement. [*]

This friction is expensive. Tech-related interruptions – notifications, login issues, app switching – aren’t just annoying; they’re a drain on the bottom line. For a company of 2,000 employees, these interruptions cost approximately $4 million annually in lost productivity.

Lastly, there is a massive disconnect between how employees want to solve problems and how they have to solve them. 49% of workers would rather fix IT issues themselves than call a help desk, but the reality is that only 13% find self-service “very easy” to do.

This gap represents a huge opportunity for internal comms. By building a better knowledge base or intranet, you can close this gap, reducing frustration and saving IT resources.

Emerging trends: AI & change management

The final benchmark of a high-performing team is agility. How quickly can you adapt to new tools, and how effectively can you guide the organization through turbulence?

The data shows that while AI adoption is high, governance is dangerously low. Meanwhile, change fatigue has become a critical barrier to success.

AI is already here, but for many organizations, it’s operating in the dark.

• 38% of organizations still have no guidance, governance, or training in place for AI usage. This exposes companies to significant legal and reputational risk.
• While 68% of communicators believe AI will impact their work, openness is lagging. Only 35% of communicators explicitly disclose when they use AI in messages, while 28% admit to using it for drafts without any disclosure at all.

Change is the new normal, but few teams are actually prepared to manage it.

• 95% of organizations communicated about significant change activity in the last year.
• Consequently, change fatigue has risen to become the second largest barrier to success in 2025, with 44% of communicators rating it as high impact.

Despite this volume, 18% of organizations have no change communication strategy, and another 25% have a plan but haven't reviewed it recently. If you are in this group, you are likely contributing to the noise rather than managing it.

Workvivo Masterclass → How Internal Comms are Actually Using AI with Joanna Parsons

How top teams thrive in 2026

The difference between surviving and thriving in 2026 comes down to one thing: intentionality.

Survivors react to noise. They treat internal communication as a distribution task, focusing on activity rather than strategy. Thrivers, on the other hand, use data to build a business case. They understand that you cannot improve employee engagement or reduce turnover if you are flying blind.

These benchmarks are your diagnostic tool. If you find your team is lagging in any of the above, do not see it as a failure. See it as your roadmap.

Use these numbers to justify your budget, defend your strategy, and prove to the C-suite that internal comms is an investment, not a cost.

Close the gap with Workvivo

Knowing the benchmarks is one thing. Having the right employee communication tools to hit them is another.

The data shows that 65% of employees say bad tech impacts their morale, and 60% of communicators struggle to measure true impact. You cannot solve these problems with a static company intranet or a weekly newsletter.

Workvivo is the platform that can help you close this gap.

It’s designed to solve the exact friction points highlighted in this report:

• Replace clunky, B- grade legacy tools with a mobile-first experience that employees actually enjoy using – whether they’re in HQ or on the factory line.
• Move beyond basic open rates and other vanity metrics. Workvivo’s advanced analytics let you track sentiment and engagement in real-time, giving you the data you need to prove ROI to leadership.
• By consolidating your channels into one central digital heart, you reduce the tech interruptions that cost companies millions in lost productivity.

Don't let outdated tools drag your benchmarks down.

Book a demo to see how Workvivo helps you measure, manage, and improve employee engagement.

FAQs

What key metrics should a modern internal communications strategy prioritize?

Don't get stuck on a dashboard full of vanity numbers. While click-through rates (CTR) show activity, they do not prove alignment. To make real data-driven decisions, you need to look beyond basic email metrics.

Use your benchmark report as a reference point for hygiene, but focus your key metrics on employee feedback and behavior change to gain valuable insights into the real impact of your communications efforts.

How do we better engage employees in complex industries like healthcare?

In high-stress sectors like healthcare, generic blasts to a massive distribution list are often ignored. You must use segmentation to target your initiatives so that the right message reaches the right person (e.g., separating clinical staff from admin).

Moving beyond all-staff internal email communications to targeted updates ensures your message is seen by the people who actually need to act.

Are internal email open rates still relevant benchmarks for 2026?

They are useful only as a diagnostic tool. A low score on your internal email benchmark might indicate a technical issue or poor timing, but a high score does not prove success.

Email open rates tell you delivery; benchmark data on sentiment tells you understanding. High-performing teams use templates to ensure readability but rely on employee feedback to measure if the message actually landed.