Skeptical, contemptuous and mocking - the dictionary definition of cynicism and three words that describe the type of audience internal communication professional's nightmares are made of.
But cynics have always been part of the fabric of British working life and, deny them as we may; they still exist in significant numbers inside most large organizations.
There's no doubt cynicism, disengagement and distrust are real problems and are dragging down the performance of many organizations.
 I've come across many experienced communicators who believe you should simply ignore this disenfranchised group.
The logic is simple - why waste precious time trying to convert the devil? Surely it's better to focus your time and energy on the positive, encouraging them to spread the gospel? I would agree if we were talking about a tiny few but the disengaged typically represent 10 to 20 per cent of the workforce - a group so large that ignoring them would mean failing in our duties.
If you don't believe the numbers, take a look at your own employee survey data - behind the big, impressive numbers we often promote you're likely to find the tell-tale signs of a small but significant group of disengaged, disaffected people.
Of course, there are many shades of grey here and it's important to differentiate between the cynic and the skeptic so you can adjust your communications accordingly.
The latter is generally easier to reach through traditional face-to-face channels like town hall meetings and conferences - they are willing to listen to what you have to say and to ask questions.
The true cynic, on the other hand, will typically be closed off to your views and refuse point-blank to participate.
Here you become much more reliant on frank one-to-one conversations with line managers.
Unfortunately, the most cynical, disengaged employees often fail to show up in survey data - because they rarely bother to complete one.
You know the type we're talking about - poking fun at your latest campaign, picking holes in the organization's strategy, seeing the negative in every announcement and covertly criticizing the CEO's every move.
We've all dealt with them.
The problem is that this bunch of people has a disproportionate impact on morale and the overall mood of the organization.
At their worst they infect all around them with negativity.
The dangerous ones are the closet cynics who don't contribute and who won't challenge.
I have been involved in numerous town hall meetings where these saboteurs have quietly sat there, not asked a single question, and then scuttled off to the smoking room to bad-mouth every aspect of the content.
Bizarrely, you often find that these people have absolutely no intention of ever leaving the organization - they enjoy moaning about it far too much! Worse still are the cynics who hold management positions.
Given the critical importance of line managers in creating and maintaining a positive communication climate, the last thing you need is cynicism amongst that group.
But it's not uncommon.
I know of one IT organization where the senior managers (whose average tenure is a staggering 15 years) are among the most disengaged in the business - a real risk in any organization where people are promoted based on their functional expertise rather than their leadership potential.
So some practical steps can communicators take to re-engage this high-impact group.
We will discuss those steps in our next article.