Leadership communication remains a measurable workplace challenge. In August 2025, only 16% of U.S. employees said their organization’s leadership communicated effectively with the rest of the company, while 20% strongly agreed that they trusted organizational leadership in May 2025. The figures below show where communication breaks down, how employees experience manager conversations, and why clarity matters for connection and burnout.
Contents
- Leadership communication reach, trust, and clarity
- Manager feedback and coaching frequency
- Employee voice and two-way communication
- Who employees trust with leadership messages
- Communication in hybrid and remote workplaces
- Links to engagement, connection, and burnout
Leadership communication reach, trust, and clarity
Gallup’s Global Indicator: Leadership & Management shows that the share of U.S. employees who said leadership communicated effectively with the rest of the company was 18% in August 2022, 18% in August 2023, 16% in August 2024, and 16% in August 2025. These are separate annual measurements, not a forecast or a single continuously tracked result.
| Measurement period | U.S. employees saying leadership communicated effectively |
|---|---|
| August 2022 | 18% |
| August 2023 | 18% |
| August 2024 | 16% |
| August 2025 | 16% |
The same Gallup source found that 27% of U.S. employees strongly agreed in August 2025 that communication from their direct manager could be better. That result was 29% in August 2023. In May 2025, 20% strongly agreed that they trusted their organization’s leadership, and 16% said their company’s leadership made them enthusiastic about the future.
The broader workplace connection picture is also demanding. Gallup reported in 2025 that 29% of employees lacked clear, honest, or consistent communication from leaders. In Gallup’s 2024 U.S. employee research, 27% strongly agreed that their organization’s leaders were committed to its cultural values. Taken together, these measures describe a communication problem involving both message quality and confidence in leadership’s behavior.
Sources: Gallup, “Global Indicator: Leadership & Management”, Gallup, “Anemic Employee Engagement Points to Leadership Challenges”, and Gallup, “What Leaders Are Asking”.
Manager feedback and coaching frequency
Timely feedback is another weak point. Gallup’s U.S. employee measure found that 20% strongly agreed they received timely feedback from their manager in September 2022. The figure was 22% in August 2023, 21% in August 2024, and 22% in August 2025. The near-flat sequence suggests that the experience of timely feedback remained limited across these measurement periods.
Gallup’s 2025 comparison of managers and direct reports shows a substantial perception gap. Fifty percent of U.S. managers strongly agreed that they gave direct reports feedback every week, but only 20% of individual contributors strongly agreed that their manager did so. Similarly, 59% of managers strongly agreed that they recognized good work, compared with 35% of direct reports who strongly agreed they received that recognition. Managers were also more likely to say they built a collaborative team: 42% strongly agreed, compared with 30% of direct reports.
| 2025 measure | Managers strongly agreeing | Direct reports strongly agreeing |
|---|---|---|
| Feedback every week | 50% | 20% |
| Recognition for good work | 59% | 35% |
| Collaborative team | 42% | 30% |
An older Gallup manager-feedback survey provides additional context and should be read as a 2016 measurement, not as current 2026 data. Seven percent of employees reported receiving feedback daily, 19% a few times a week, and 27% a few times a month. Meanwhile, 47% reported receiving feedback a few times a year or less, including 19% who said they received it once a year or less.
The same 2016 Gallup evidence found that employees with regular manager meetings were almost three times as likely to be engaged as employees without regular manager meetings. Only 34% strongly agreed that their manager knew what projects or tasks they were working on. These figures do not establish that meetings alone cause engagement, but they show why recurring, informed conversations are relevant to leadership communication.
Sources: Gallup, “Global Indicator: Leadership & Management”, Gallup, “7 Workplace Challenges for 2025”, and Gallup, “The Ultimate Guide to Micromanagers: Signs, Causes, Solutions”.
Employee voice and two-way communication
Leadership communication is not only about sending announcements. It also includes whether employees can speak, whether their opinions count, and whether leaders act on what they hear. Gallup reported that 25% of employees globally strongly agreed their opinions counted at work in 2024. Only 8% strongly agreed that their organization took action on surveys.
CIPD’s employee-voice evidence base reported that 25% of employees experienced high levels of workplace silence in 2026. Its 2021 Good Work Index used a 0–1 scale for employee voice: the overall Employee Voice Index score was 31%, the management sub-index was 44%, the direct-channels sub-index was 27%, and the indirect-channels sub-index was 10%. These index values are reported on the source’s stated 0–1 scale and are not percentages of employees answering a survey question.
The same CIPD source reported that 41% of surveyed IOD members prioritized selecting managers for talent and role fit rather than simply past performance in 2026. Thirty-five percent prioritized strengthening communication between senior leaders and managers. These are priorities among surveyed members, not estimates of all employers or employees.
The contrast between opinions counting and surveys producing action is important for public speaking and internal presentations. A leadership message can be clear as a one-way statement while still failing as communication if employees do not see a route to respond or evidence that responses change decisions. The available measures support that distinction without proving that any one communication practice produces a particular outcome.
Source: CIPD, “Employee Voice” and Gallup, “What Leaders Are Asking”.
Who employees trust with leadership messages
Trust is affected by who delivers a message as well as by what the message says. In the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, 77% of respondents across 27 markets trusted scientists to do what is right, while 75% trusted teachers. The comparable figure for their CEO was 67%. Respondents trusted citizens of their country at 64% and neighbors at 61%.
Trust in CEOs in general was lower, at 53%. Journalists reached 52%, and government leaders reached 47%. These are global market averages from the 2025 Edelman report, with the report’s stated market scope and exclusions; they are not U.S.-only employee measures.
| Trusted to do what is right | 2025 respondents across 27 markets |
|---|---|
| Scientists | 77% |
| Teachers | 75% |
| Their CEO | 67% |
| Citizens of their country | 64% |
| Neighbors | 61% |
| CEOs in general | 53% |
| Journalists | 52% |
| Government leaders | 47% |
The 2017 Edelman global survey measured a different question about spokesperson credibility. Fifty-three percent identified employees as the most credible spokesperson on treatment of employees and customers, compared with 17% who identified the company CEO. That historical observation retains its original 2017 period and should not be treated as a current estimate.
Sources: Edelman, “2025 Edelman Trust Barometer” and Edelman, “2017 Trust Barometer Global Report”.
Communication in hybrid and remote workplaces
Distributed work makes leadership visibility harder to maintain. Gallup’s strategic guide reported that 27% of U.S. workers strongly agreed their supervisor kept them informed about what was happening in the organization in 2026. Twenty-two percent strongly agreed they received meaningful feedback in the previous week. The same research attributed 70% of the variance in team engagement to managers or team leaders.
Gallup’s 2022 comparison of employee and employer views identified several hybrid-work risks reported by employers. Forty-eight percent reported decreased workplace communication, 44% decreased collaboration, and 43% a negative impact on workplace culture. Other reported risks included lower productivity at 21% and decreased creativity or innovation at 15%. In the employee view, 31% reported less access to work resources and equipment as a hybrid-work challenge.
These measures come from different groups and periods, so they should not be combined into one hybrid-work score. They do show why leaders need repeatable communication systems for distributed teams: information flow, feedback, collaboration, culture, and resource access can weaken in different ways.
Sources: Gallup, “How to Manage Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Gallup Strategic Guide” and Gallup, “The Future of the Office Has Arrived: It’s Hybrid”.
Links to engagement, connection, and burnout
The available research links leadership communication with several employee outcomes, although these relationships should not automatically be read as causal effects. In August 2025, U.S. employees who strongly agreed that leadership communicated effectively were 61% less likely to feel burned out at work, according to Gallup’s leadership indicator.
Gallup’s 2024 research found that employees who strongly agreed their leaders were committed to cultural values were 10.5 times as likely to strongly agree that they felt connected to organizational culture. Employees who strongly agreed they felt connected to organizational culture were 3.8 times as likely to be engaged. The measurements describe associations between perceptions and outcomes, not guaranteed results from a single speech, email, or meeting.
Connection is also uneven across work arrangements. In Gallup’s 2025 study of what would make work feel more connected, 32% of employees described their workplace as isolated or impersonal. Among remote employees, the figure was 41%. The gap highlights a particular communication challenge for leaders whose teams have fewer informal opportunities to exchange context.
Finally, the 2016 Gallup manager-feedback survey found that regular manager meetings were associated with employees being almost three times as likely to be engaged. Read alongside the 2025 manager-direct-report gaps, the statistic points to a practical measurement question for leadership teams: do leaders believe communication is happening, and do employees experience it as timely, specific, and credible?
Sources: Gallup, “Global Indicator: Leadership & Management”, Gallup, “What Leaders Are Asking”, Gallup, “Anemic Employee Engagement Points to Leadership Challenges”, and Gallup, “The Ultimate Guide to Micromanagers: Signs, Causes, Solutions”.