Why 'change fatigue' is among top barriers to success

“I don't think anyone's really back to their pre-pandemic selves.”

So says HR leader Laura Salvatore in discussing why the issue of “change fatigue” has emerged as one of the top challenges for HR and communication leaders.

“I think employees still feel overwhelmed and stressed… burnout rates are still high, employees are still reporting a complete lack of motivation,” says the executive vice president of human capital at Centurion Asset Management.

“So, it makes sense that if you're not motivated and don't even feel up to handling your day-to-day tasks — the thought of taking on a new change is just simply too much for a lot of people.”

And with the ongoing battle over tariffs, that upheaval continues.

“It's one thing after another,” she says. “We had COVID, and there's been all these different disruptors that have really impacted people that we've not seen over a long period of time… in such close proximity.”

Amid an “increasingly turbulent external environment,” communications and HR leaders identified change fatigue as one of the top five barriers to success, according to Gallagher’s 2025 Employee Communications Report.

This is the first time the issue was featured on this list, with 44% of HR leaders seeing change fatigue as a key battleground for success in 2025, according to insights from more than 2,000 communication and HR leaders across 55 countries.

This is preceded by low capacity (49%) and followed by poor people manager communications (41%), found Gallagher.

Communications teams ‘spread thin’

Having more limited resources, time and capacity compounds this environment, says Christopher Lee, vice president of communications at Gallagher in Toronto.

“[It’s a] combination of everything from external geopolitical and economic uncertainty, changing attitudes around remote and hybrid working that was ushered in through the pandemic… the rapidly evolving world of technology and AI… and also just the evolving expectations of younger generations,” he says.

“The combination of lots of different sources of change — as well as communications teams being spread thin — has contributed to this change fatigue.”

Time is a finite factor, and there are only so many hours in a day — plus, the role of communications is trickier, says Lee.

“There are opportunities to be really innovative and progressive in terms of creating unique, impactful, memorable experiences for employees, but in an environment where you are stretched for capacity, one of the first things that gets compromised, ultimately, is that ability to be proactive and strategic and to think in courageous ways about how we can provide a richer context for employees around what the change means.”

Wellbeing support for communicators

This year's Employee Communications Report found that 33% of respondents saw a decline in their overall wellbeing, down from 38% the previous year. For many, the key factors contributing to this drop included:

• strained headcount, limited budgets and time constraints to complete tasks (39%)
• change and uncertainty (26%)
• poor management or leadership (23%).

On the flip side, the Gallagher report also found that better working conditions (23%), getting a new job or working situation (21%) and benefitting from a good manager (19%) could elevate the mood and wellbeing of HR leaders.

Change can be especially hard on those individuals who are communicating the change — often because they’re treated as though they're the reason for the change, says Salvatore, “but in many cases, they had nothing to do with that decision at all, and they're simply the messengers.”

As a result, checking in on these teams and making sure that they feel supported is key, she says, and making sure that one person isn't responsible for all the communications, so having a team to work on it together.

And prioritizing mental health is paramount, says Salvatore, in providing employees with the proper resources and EAP benefits to help.

“Other ideas that don't cost money that would make an impact are things like allowing them to work different hours when they're trying to juggle all of this. Or work from home or shift deadlines that are less important.”

Being positive about transitions, transformations

If employees are struggling with ongoing disruption, how can they better be supported to handle the change?

One important strategy is being more deliberate about positioning change as a constant and being necessary for organizations to grow, evolve and innovate, says Lee.

“And the reason why it does require a close partnership between communications teams and leaders is because human nature is generally a little bit more resistant to change and avoid things that are harder to control or are a little bit more unpredictable.”

That's why It's important for leaders to think about the part that change plays in positive growth as a team, an organization, a business and as individuals, he says.

“Where it's possible, you want to have opportunities to position it as ‘This will lead to more positive things for us, ultimately.’ That's not always the case — there's obviously negative impact changes as well, some of it can affect headcount and things like that — so, this is where trust is always going to be paramount.”

Communicating change to prepare people

It’s about being thoughtful in your approach and recognizing that the business has needs in terms of implementing these changes, says Salvatore.

“We also have to be mindful of how it will impact the team members… we need to prepare for it. I think a big part of that is communication. So, checking in with your team on a regular basis, having those weekly one-on-ones, if you're not already doing it… maintaining that open dialogue.”

Another best practice? Roll things out in phases, staggered if possible, rather than all at once, she says.

“The reality is change can be overwhelming for anyone. If we know that we already have a tired workforce, a demotivated workforce, even the littlest of change can really be too much sometimes. So, whatever we can do to stagger it, communicate it in advance, prolong that process, I think the more successful that actual change initiative will be.”

It's also critical that HR communicate why the change is happening — the who, what, where, when, and why of it — while allowing employees to share their concerns, says Salvatore.

Listening to employee feedback

Garnering employee feedback is an important part of dealing with change fatigue — especially in using different avenues for that dialogue, says Lee.

“[It’s about] giving employees opportunities to offer input, ask tough questions, and creating a culture that feels psychologically safe, where people can ask awkward questions without a fear of reprisal.

“The more you're able to do this as an employer, the more of a chance that you give employees to feel a sense of agency or, to some degree, in terms of understanding and being part of the change process. I think that's something that is really useful for cultures to understand about more effective ways to navigate change.”

Centurion has a listening tool where employees can anonymously share their feedback, which is a great way for them to express their thoughts and concerns in an open forum, says Salvatore.

“But you also have that comfort of being anonymous. So, that's a good way to collect that feedback that you may not get otherwise, that lets the employees know that leadership is seeing it because it's out in the open.”

Using Slack for internal communication and announcements is also valuable at the company, she says.

“There's an opportunity to reply, there's an opportunity to ask questions, and it also gives other people the chance to jump in on that and have a broader dialogue.”

However, trust is key — in terms of the leadership team and the process, says Salvatore.

“If you have a history of not acting on feedback, then no one's going to bother to provide that feedback. Trust that feedback will be actioned upon.”

Role of leadership in change management

Trust is one of these issues that requires time and patience to build up in leadership teams with employees, says Lee, and it can evaporate within the span of one communication or interaction with leadership.

“Good communications teams will do a good job in focusing on positioning leadership to be authentic and transparent and, if possible, relatable as one of the ways that you can foster a stronger sense of trust amongst employees.”

Almost nine in 10 (86%) of respondents to the Gallagher survey who were collaborative with leaders/C-suite had higher satisfaction with their overall communications purpose than those with obstructive relationships.

Communicators with collaborative relationships also had eight-times better wellbeing than those with obstructive relationships, and two-times better than those with transactional relationships.

It’s important for leaders to be very visible during times of change, says Lee.

“Going back to the pressures on time and capacity, one of the things that becomes a risk is that communications teams fall into being more reactive and focusing on just trying to be accurate and complete with the communications — and thinking less progressively and strategically about ‘How can we get maximum impact and manage potential ways that this change can land with employees?’”

Using AI to combat change fatigue

One other area that can support employees suffering from change fatigue is artificial intelligence (AI) – particularly generative AI such as ChatGPT.

Eight in 10 communicators said they are happy for AI to assist with content creation and copywriting, while one in 10 are happy for AI to take over entirely, found Gallagher.

When it comes to using AI, respondents said they had:

• a dedicated group/individual responsible for AI (36%)
• guidance on what AI tools to use (41%)
• guidance on how to use AI (36%)
• training on risks, limitations of AI (30%).

“There’s lots of great ways to leverage AI, to come up with themes and to structure communications and to come up with different variations for how you might think about the language that's used,” says Lee.

But it’s important to exercise caution about how to leverage AI until your teams have been properly trained on how to effectively use it and create effective prompts. It’s also important to develop policies, guardrails and good governance practices around how to use AI in work, he says.

“Once you have enough of these measures in place — especially as we think about capacity and time impacting communications teams in terms of change fatigue or just even overall feeling stressed because they're stretched thin — AI can be an outstanding tool in helping to alleviate some of the workload.”