If you ask the people leaders in your organization if they think they’re effectively communicating company goals, they will probably say yes. But the reality is that most employees can’t recall their organization's strategy. Not even middle managers.

According to Slingshot’s 2024 Digital Work Trends Report, most employees are unaware of how their individual contributions support broader company goals and growth. And according to the MIT Sloan School of Management, only 28% of middle managers can correctly list three business strategic priorities. 

These studies reveal a clear disconnect between how top management thinks they’re communicating the business strategy and how well employees and middle managers actually understand it.

This misalignment isn’t just a communication issue but a performance one. When employees can’t see how their work contributes to the company’s overall success, engagement drops, priorities blur, and productivity declines.

Here’s our step-by-step guide that will help you communicate company goals across every level of the organization.

Step 1: make the strategy actionable

Many leaders spend months planning the business strategy, only to find that it loses traction once it leaves the executive suite.

While top managers live and breathe the strategy, employees often only hear the slogans: “innovation,” “customer-first approach,” or “growth mindset.” But without practical translation, those words mean little in day-to-day work.

The result is confusion, disengagement, and fragmented effort. The solution is to connect strategy to meaning and meaning to behavior.

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Step 2: use plain language

Most vision statements are inspirational and use big words. But employees need simplicity and specifics.

Here’s a quick test you can do to see if you truly understand your business’s vision or strategy:

If I’m an employee, can I answer, “What does this goal mean for me, today?” If the answer is no, your message needs translation.

That’s where storytelling and simplicity come in:

• Replace buzzwords with behaviors. Instead of “We’re a customer-first company,” say “We call customers back within 24 hours.”
• Use tangible examples that show what a desirable behavior looks like in practice.
• Encourage leaders to share short, personal stories about how they live the company’s goals.

When leadership communication feels authentic and actionable, employees are far more likely to internalize it.

Step 3: build two-way communication channels

You've probably already figured out that internal communication plays a key role in helping people understand and act on company goals.

But internal communication isn’t a one-way announcement that happens at the beginning and end of each year. It’s an ongoing conversation and an essential process for a transparent and aligned workplace.

Employees need opportunities to ask direct questions and express uncertainty and concerns. When feedback loops are missing, communication feels like a broadcast rather than a dialogue.

Here’s how to make communication truly two-way:

• Run an internal communication audit to assess, improve, and align your internal communications with business goals. 
• Empower managers as translators. They connect high-level strategy to team execution. Work with your internal comm & marketing teams to provide simple messaging frameworks and space for localization.
• Host Q&A sessions or AMAs after every team meeting, but especially after critical communications, to let employees clarify meaning.
• Use pulse surveys to measure how clearly employees understand company goals.
• Act on employee feedback. Acknowledge it and communicate what changes as a result.

When communication flows both ways, employees feel ownership, not just awareness.

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Step 4: reinforce the strategy through performance and recognition

Employees pay attention to what the company pays attention to.

If goals aren’t reflected in the business’s recognition systems or feedback exchanges, they quickly lose relevance. Alignment requires repetition through both words and actions.

Here’s how to embed goals in your performance management plan:

• Link individual or departmental OKRs directly to company goals. Help teams see the direct line between their objectives and the company’s success.
• Recognize aligned behavior. Use your recognition platform or shout-outs to spotlight employees who demonstrate strategic priorities in action.
• Make feedback continuous. Move from annual reviews to regular check-ins focused on progress toward shared goals.

Step 5: make communication ongoing, not campaign-based

Strategy alignment isn’t a “set it and forget it” exercise; it’s a rhythm, a living mechanism that evolves with the business.

We already mentioned that too many companies treat goal communication as a one-time launch event, which doesn’t lead anywhere. Once the buzz fades, employees go back to their old habits.

To build communication that lasts, do the following:

• Revisit goals regularly in team meetings and all-hands updates. If you set quarterly OKRs, you should revise them monthly, or at least twice per quarter.
• Encourage employees to share how they think their work contributes to company goals: peer voices often resonate more than leadership messages.
• Refresh messaging quarterly to reflect progress, pivots, or lessons learned.
• Use multiple internal comms channels to keep the strategy visible and human.

Step 6: measure the impact

You can’t improve what you don’t measure, and communication on business goals is no exception. Traditional engagement scores or objective completion rates only tell part of the story. 

To truly understand if your communication is working, consider reporting on these metrics:

• Percentage of employees who can accurately articulate company goals.
• Percentage of team OKRs directly aligned with company strategy.
• Survey question: “I understand how my work contributes to our company’s goals.”
• Sentiment analysis of internal communications or feedback channels.

Pair these insights with qualitative data from team meetings or 1:1 discussions. Then, close the loop by sharing what you’ve learned and what actions follow.

Start acting on it before it’s too late

Helping every employee understand and act on company goals should be an ongoing, co-owned responsibility across HR, Internal Comms, and leadership. Together, they can turn ambitious visions into everyday behaviors that move the company forward.

Our last advice is to start simple. Ask your teams one question: “Do you know how your work connects to our company’s goals?”

If the answer isn’t a confident “yes,” you’ve found your next priority.

Bonus: checklist to make goals stick