The Quick Fix vs. the Long-Term Solution

You know that rush you get when you check something off your to-do list? That little dopamine hit when you can say, “Done!” Yeah, that's the quick fix. It feels good—but it rarely solves the real problem.

Take this gem from a global town hall at a company with more than 350,000 employees:

“Employee engagement's down. We need better technology to reach and communicate with our teams.”

Sure. Because the reason employees are disengaged is definitely a lack of fancy tech.

This is the trap of quick fixes. Leaders want an immediate answer—a new app, a better platform, a slicker survey tool—because it's fast, visible, and easy to measure. But real engagement doesn't come from more push notifications. It comes from addressing the root causes: lack of trust, unclear direction, poor leadership, and a culture that treats employees as resources instead of people.

And that's where internal comms comes in.

If leaders are thinking in months instead of years (or decades), you're not going to fix engagement with another platform or a prettier email template. You have to dig deeper.

So, what does that actually look like?

✅ Shift from broadcasting to listening.
Instead of pushing out more messages, create channels where employees feel heard. If the feedback loops are broken, fix those first.

✅ Get leaders to show up.
Employees don't disengage because they missed the latest newsletter—they disengage when they feel like their work does not matter. Get leaders to have real conversations and close the loop on what they hear.

✅Make decisions based on insights, not vibes.
Data isn't just about email open rates. It's about understanding what's driving disengagement and acting on it.

Quick fixes might feel good in the moment, but they don't create the kind of employee experience that retains talent, builds trust, and drives performance. That takes long-term thinking—and that's where comms can lead the way.