The Head, Heart and Hands communications audit
When planning a change campaign, internal communicators often focus heavily on the what and the how, occasionally forgetting that employees need to actually buy into the journey before they can act.
To help you quickly sense-check your upcoming communication plans, we use a simple, practical framework: Head, Heart, and Hands. This quick audit tool ensures your messaging is balanced, and it also aligns directly with the Engage for Success four enablers of employee engagement.
1. The HEAD: strategic alignment
Big goal: Build awareness, clarity, and direction.
What employees are asking: Why are we doing this? Where are we going?
Engage for Success link: This maps directly to the Strategic Narrative. Leaders must provide a clear, consistent story about where the organisation has been vs where it is now, and where it is going.
Quick check-in for you: Does your communication clearly outline the business rationale and the North Star direction? If employees do not understand the strategic narrative, they cannot align their daily efforts to it.
2. The HEART: cultural connection
Big goal: Build belief, trust, and motivation.
What your team is asking: Why should I care? Does the organisation value me?
Engage for Success link: This brings in Employee Voice and Organisational Integrity. True connection is built when corporate actions match stated values, and when employees feel they are listened to.
Quick check-in for you: Have you built a genuine emotional connection, or does the messaging feel like corporate spin? Ensure your plan incorporates opportunities for feedback (voice) and reflects authentic organisational values (integrity).
3. The HANDS: behavioural adoption
Big goal: Provide the practical tools, manager support, and reinforcement to shift habits.
What employees are asking: What exactly do you need me to do differently tomorrow? And who is helping me do it?
Engage for Success link: This leverages Engaging Managers. Frontline managers are the critical link in facilitating, empowering, and translating broad strategic changes into everyday local behaviors.
Quick check-in for you: Are you giving people clear, manageable action steps and the physical tools they need? Crucially, check that your plan equips people managers with the specific conversation guides and resources they need to support their teams.
How we bring this to life
While this three-step audit is a great way to sense-check your draft messaging, embedding deep, sustained change across an organisation requires a structured approach.
When we partner with organisations on complex transformations, we use the following five-stage methodology to turn strategic narratives into practical, everyday action:
Ignition and alignment: aligning leadership and defining your change - the North Star.
Discovery and insight: deep-diving into frontline readiness, personas, and employee feedback.
Analysis and narrative: crafting the one clear, emotionally resonant case for change.
Design and activation: building the frontline campaigns, manager tools, and conversations.
Handover and momentum: developing 12-month roadmaps to hand over local ownership and measure long-term adoption.
If you are planning a major change initiative or transition and want to move beyond a simple audit to a fully realised engagement strategy, we would love to help. Get in touch to book a quick coffee, online or in person, and let's see how we can support your team.
