In an era of rapid digital transformation and shifting workforce dynamics, the role of internal communications has evolved from a secondary administrative function into a critical driver of organizational stability and performance. Darcie Rosenthal, the Director of Communications Planning and Performance at ADM (Archer-Daniels-Midland), is at the forefront of this shift, advocating for a fundamental reassessment of how global corporations interact with their most vital internal demographic: the middle manager. With a career rooted in the high-pressure environment of broadcast newsrooms and refined through years of navigating the complexities of a Fortune 50 company, Rosenthal offers a blueprint for modern communication that prioritizes human connection, operational simplicity, and the rigorous interrogation of emerging technologies.
From the Newsroom to the Boardroom: A Chronology of Strategic Evolution
Rosenthal’s professional journey began far from the corporate offices of Chicago. Before she was tasked with streamlining communications for ADM’s global workforce, she spent years in the trenches of morning news production across the American South and Midwest. The schedule was grueling—arriving at the newsroom at midnight to prepare for 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. broadcasts. This period served as a formative "proving ground," where the stakes were immediate and the margin for error was non-existent.
In the newsroom, Rosenthal learned that successful communication relies on two pillars: rigid standards and extreme adaptability. Producing a two-hour live show required a mastery of role clarity and process. However, the nature of breaking news meant that hours of preparation could be discarded in seconds. This experience instilled a "tolerance for unpredictability" that Rosenthal considers essential in the corporate world. At ADM, where she has partnered on internal initiatives across nearly every business function, she applies this newsroom-style rigor to ensure that global teams can pivot effectively when market conditions or internal strategies shift.
Over the course of her tenure at ADM, Rosenthal’s perspective on the core competencies of a communicator has shifted. Early in her career, like many in the field, she believed that exceptional writing was the primary measure of success. While she maintains that high-quality writing is a non-negotiable prerequisite, she now argues that strategic relationship building and change management are the true drivers of impact. This evolution reflects a broader industry trend: as automation handles more routine content creation, the value of the human communicator lies in their ability to act as a strategic advisor to leadership and an advocate for the employee experience.
Supporting Data: The Critical Role of the Middle Manager
The urgency of Rosenthal’s message regarding manager communications is supported by a wealth of industry data. According to Gallup’s "State of the Global Workplace" reports, managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units. Furthermore, a 2023 report by the Harris Poll found that 72% of employees believe their company’s communications are often confusing or irrelevant.
Rosenthal addresses this gap by challenging the industry standard of treating managers as a "communication channel." While managers are indeed a primary source of information for frontline staff, Rosenthal warns that treating them solely as a delivery mechanism ignores the immense pressure they face. In a global enterprise like ADM, managers are often overwhelmed by "communication debt"—the accumulation of unread emails, Slack messages, and corporate directives.
To combat this, Rosenthal advocates for a "colleague-first" approach. She argues that if a communicator provides a manager with a task, it must be "plug-and-play." The goal is to eliminate the need for managers to spend their limited time sifting through corporate jargon to find actionable insights. By respecting the manager’s time and cognitive load, organizations can ensure that the most critical messages actually reach the intended audience.
The "Hot Take": Why FAQs Are Obsolete in Manager Toolkits
One of Rosenthal’s most provocative stances involves the traditional "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) document. For decades, the FAQ has been a staple of corporate rollouts, intended to provide a safety net for managers facing employee inquiries. However, Rosenthal argues that these documents are often counterproductive.
The logic behind this critique is rooted in human behavior and information processing. In a live interaction, a manager rarely has the time to search through a multi-page PDF to find a specific answer. Instead of providing a script, Rosenthal suggests that communicators should focus on the "why" behind the message. If a manager understands the core rationale of a company decision, they can answer questions authentically and confidently in their own voice.
For questions that fall outside of a manager’s expertise, Rosenthal recommends providing a direct line to a subject matter expert or a monitored mailbox rather than a static document. This shift from "scripted responses" to "conceptual understanding" represents a significant departure from traditional top-down corporate communication, favoring a more decentralized and empowered management model.
Navigating the AI Frontier: Curiosity Over Compliance
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes integrated into the corporate toolkit, Rosenthal offers a cautious yet proactive framework for its use. At ADM, as in many global firms, AI is used to adapt messages for different formats and audiences. However, Rosenthal insists that the human element—specifically skepticism and curiosity—must remain at the center of the process.
She treats AI output much like a draft from a junior team member, frequently asking the tool, "Why is that your recommendation?" or "How do you know that?" This practice of "challenging the prompt" is designed to mitigate the risk of AI "hallucinations"—instances where the technology generates plausible but incorrect information.
Beyond factual accuracy, Rosenthal highlights the importance of "cultural resonance." AI lacks the institutional knowledge to understand how specific employees will react to a message. It cannot predict which phrases will cause "eye-rolling" or which instructions are too vague for a specific regional team. Rosenthal maintains that while AI can handle the "reformatting" of content, the "instincts" of an experienced internal communicator are irreplaceable when it comes to nuance and empathy.
Multi-Format Delivery: Lessons from the Passenger Cabin
The necessity of multi-format communication was recently underscored for Rosenthal during a flight to the Ragan Employee Experience Conference. Observing her fellow passengers, she noted three different people consuming books in three different ways: one on a tablet, one via a physical book, and herself via an audiobook.
This observation serves as a metaphor for the modern workforce. Employees have vastly different preferences for how they receive information, ranging from long-form articles on an intranet to short-form video snippets or audio updates. Rosenthal argues that it is no longer enough to post a story once and hope it reaches the target audience.
The strategic advantage of AI, in this context, is its ability to "atomize" content—taking a single core message and efficiently translating it into multiple formats. The responsibility of the communicator is to ensure that these varied versions are delivered through the channels where employees are already present. This approach ensures that the "core message" is ubiquitous, regardless of the individual employee’s media consumption habits.
Broader Impact and Industry Implications
The strategies advocated by Darcie Rosenthal reflect a broader maturation of the internal communications profession. As organizations face "the Great Reimagination" of work, the ability to maintain a cohesive culture across remote, hybrid, and global teams has become a competitive advantage.
The implications of Rosenthal’s approach are three-fold:
- Operational Efficiency: By simplifying manager communications and cutting redundant tools like FAQs, organizations can reduce the "noise" that leads to burnout and disengagement.
- Strategic Alignment: Moving from "writing" to "change management" allows communicators to ensure that every message serves a broader business objective, rather than just filling a newsletter.
- Future-Proofing: By adopting a skeptical but productive relationship with AI, communicators can leverage technology to increase their output without sacrificing the human-centric "pulse" of the organization.
Rosenthal will join other industry leaders from organizations such as Dawn Foods and EIS at Ragan’s virtual Manager Communications Workshop on September 2nd. The event is expected to delve deeper into these themes, providing a forum for communicators to share best practices for supporting the "missing middle" of the corporate hierarchy.
As ADM continues to navigate the complexities of the global supply chain and the evolving agricultural landscape, the work of Rosenthal’s team serves as a vital bridge between executive strategy and frontline execution. Her emphasis on rigor, relationship-building, and human-centric technology provides a roadmap for any organization looking to thrive in an increasingly fragmented information environment. In the end, as Rosenthal’s newsroom experience taught her, the most effective communications are not just those that are well-written, but those that are designed to survive the unpredictability of the real world.
