Transcription:
How to be the Queen Bey of Engaging Internal Communications

Intro: The following SHSMD podcast is a production of DoctorPodcasting.com.

Bill Klaproth (host): On this edition of the SHSMD Podcast, we talk about how to be the Queen Bae of engaging internal communications. Do we have any Beyoncé fans listening right now? I'm sure we do. So let's talk with Andy Lyons and Diette Casey of St. Francis Healthcare as we get a preview of their SHSMD Connections 2022 session filled with Beyoncé references. This is going to be fun right now.

This is the SHSMD Podcast, rapid insights for healthcare strategy professionals and planning, business development, marketing communications, and public relations. I'm your host, Bill Klaproth. In this episode, we talk with Andy Lyons, Director of Corporate Communications and Content Strategy at Roper St. Francis Healthcare, and Diette Casey, Corporate Communications Manager at Roper St. Francis Healthcare. Andy and Diette will be at SHSMD Connections 2022 in Washington, DC. And we're going to get a preview of their session called How To Be The Queen Bae of Engaging Internal Communications. Get ready for a lot of Beyoncé references in this session.

Andy and Diette, welcome to the SHSMD Podcast. We start every episode of the SHSMD Podcast with rapid insights. One quick tip someone can use to make their marketing communications better today. Andy, you're up first to give us your rapid insight.

Andy Lyons: Don't be afraid to have fun. Your internal coms can't all be vegetables and protein. You need to serve up something sweet and fun as well. That could be a pop culture reference, you could share family photos from your team, film a zany TikTok dance. Your messages can make work fun.

Bill Klaproth: I love that. Don't forget to have fun. That is so good. Thank you for that, Andy. Diette, you're up next. Give us your rapid insight.

Diette Casey: I would say, write like you're talking to your next-door neighbor. Speak plainly. Stop using corporate speak and buzzwords.

Bill Klaproth: Oh, so good. No more corporate speak and buzzwords. Speak like you're talking to your next-door neighbor. I love it. Well, thank you both for your time today, Andy and Diette. We are looking forward to your session at SHSMD Connections 2022 in Washington, DC. We're looking forward to getting a quick preview of that on this podcast. And the name of your session is How To Be The Queen Bae of Engaging Internal Communications. Do we have any Beyoncé fans out there? I would think so, right?

Well, Diette, let me start with you. Healthcare systems are facing a crisis in retaining great employees and recruiting new ones. We hear this over and over again. Employee retention is so important. So why have we fallen short so far on employee retention and engagement?

Diette Casey: Corporate communications is key to building workplace culture where teammates feel heard and seen and, like Andy said, entertained. I mean, corporate communications sets the tone for the organization. It's the voice of the organization. So we need to see ourselves as playing an integral role in creating culture and therefore retaining employees. And sometimes that's more than just writing emails and talking for leaders. Sometimes that's sort of going beyond what we think of as our job in communications to actually writing about it, to planning, actually, activities. So I think we'll talk a little bit more about that, but that's where I would start.

Bill Klaproth (host): Diette, I think that is such a good point. I think many think, you know, "I'm going to let HR deal with employee engagement and retention. That's their deal." Whereas we in communications really can have a big impact on that. And Andy, you were talking about, "Hey, don't forget to have fun." Well, I think in internal communications, generally it boils down to, "Here's what you need to know. Here's what's happening," and that's it. We do forget to have fun. And then, our day-to-day jobs, they're so hectic. There's so many pressures and stressors. It's easy to see where we forget about fun. So, can you talk about that element of this, why just saying, "Here's what you need to know," is not enough and the importance of trying to lighten it up and have some fun?

Andy Lyons: Yeah, that's a great question. It's not enough because, over these past two and a half years, the work has been so hard. And sometimes it's been never-ending for our teams. That's how they feel. So we need to inspire them as well, not just tell them what they need to know. We need to go beyond that.

And so many clinicians and providers, we have to remember, they entered healthcare as a calling, right? This is such special, meaningful work to them. We can remind them of that calling and reignite their passions. And this is where those former journalists, and I know there's a ton of them out there on great corporate communications teams and healthcare, that's where they come in. That's where they can be so effective, because they know how to tell stories of everyday heroism of healing, of those acts of kindness, that show and remind our teams that healthcare is such a noble, worthwhile, fulfilling line of work. So we need to remember have fun, take time to share those inspiring stories as well, because our teams need them.

Bill Klaproth (host): Good thoughts, Andy. So inspire them. Everybody wants to be inspired. Remind them of their calling. So those are some good points. And then taking that a step further, Diette, how do we add humor into these types of communications? How do we keep the frontline laughing, the senior leaders happy? And how do we really keep our engagement scores in an all-time high?

Diette Casey: Yes, I'll give you three. I think the first one Andy mentioned at the top, his rapid insight was don't be afraid to have fun. I would add to that, don't be afraid to be yourself and use that to make your communications fun. And I'll give you some examples, like Andy and I both love the Olympics. So when it's that time, when it's the Summer Olympics, like we just had the Summer Olympics, you better believe that we had a Simone Biles-themed email. And we did several years ago, four years ago, whenever Michael Phelps was winning all those golds, we had an email where we managed to tie internal messages that needed to be shared with the Olympics. Some of this might be easier if I showed you the email, but that's one of the things we'll be doing in the session, is showing how we tie these pop culture references to messages that we needed to share with our teams. We also love Seinfeld. That's just another example.

So we try to incorporate those sort of references. Whatever it is that you love that you're passionate about, whether it's classic cars or football or whatever it is, find a way to integrate that in your communications, because you're going to better connect with your teammates, with your readers. So that's tip one.

Tip two would be if no one is creating fun outside of communications, like if there is no fun events or happenings, own it, create it, that's on you. Create that spirit committee. I mean, that's something that we've done in our organization and we've done everything from drive-in movies to drive-in concerts, to bringing the Animal Society in for puppy snuggles. Again, at the conference, we look forward to sharing a little bit about how we did this and how we've grown over the years in this area. But I think it's important if there's a void in your organization, that you help fill it. I think, that, you know, again goes back to culture.

And third thing I would offer is photos, photos, photos. We've learned over the years that looking at our analytics, people love seeing photos of themselves and they love looking at photos of other people. I mean, that's what we do, right? Social media. That's what we do when we scroll. So finding a way to do that in your internal communications. I guarantee that some of our most viewed posts are the ones with photos. So find a way for people to engage with you. Have them submit photos, first day of school, Father's day, Mother's day, Halloween, you name it, I promise they will submit it. And those will be the posts that draw people in and then help connect them to your organization and then to your message.

Bill Klaproth (host): So draw people in and connect them to your organization and message. And you do that, you said, Diette, by having fun and being yourself. You gave the example of the Olympics and tying your messages into current events. You also said create a spirit committee. And then, photos, photos, photos, always work. Andy, what else can we do? What other things should we know about when it comes to internal communications? Any other thing we should know as well?

Andy Lyons: Value transparency. I just can't say that enough. And we talk about this all the time with our senior leaders, good times and bads and especially bad. And we're so fortunate they're on our side with this. Be the first to explain what's happening to your employees. They need to hear it from your corp com office first, not from the media, not from a friend or a loved one or a neighbor down the street. And transparency isn't just sharing the bad news first. It's also responding to any sort of feedback that you receive, like trying your very best to answer that question or address the issue of the day that comes up.

You know, these forums that we have, where our employees can provide questions or offer feedback on an internet site, these are powerful ways to maintain employee engagement. And also here's the other thing, be comfortable in blowing up your plan for the day. I can't tell you how many times Diette and I think we know what we're going to share one day with our employees or our physicians, and we realize there's this little fire burning over here. And we need to address that and you'll save yourself heartache and you'll maintain the trust of your employees and you'll build culture if you jump on those immediate needs and really always remember that transparency wins.

Bill Klaproth (host): Transparency wins. I like how you say that, value transparency. So be the first to explain what is happening, make sure you're responding to feedback and then be comfortable in blowing up your plans. Andy, I think you said we send this out in our daily emails. Do you send an email every day? Or how often do you send these types of communications to your internal employees?

Andy Lyons: You know, Diette can speak a little bit more on that, but I'd say that we probably send two, sometimes three bundled messages to our employees and physicians a week. And then we have a separate what-leaders-need-to-know communication. Diette, why don't you take it from here?

Diette Casey: Yeah. That's exactly right. And I think it sort of depends on what's going on during COVID the last two years. Well, really up until March, we were sending two emails a day, because there was so much information that we needed to share. Now, we've scaled back a bit. And Andy's right. I mean, I would say, to different audiences, we're sending messages almost every day. It might be all teammates one day, leaders one day, employed physicians one day. It just feels like ever since we've been in this sort of stage of the pandemic, that it's back to normal-ish.

Bill Klaproth: Right, -ish.

Diette Casey: Yeah, -ish. The communication needs haven't waned like I thought they would.

Bill Klaproth: Right. Yeah. So is email your preferred method of communication, Diette?

Diette Casey: Yeah, I would say that our healthcare system, we have four hospitals, a hundred plus locations, physician practices and such. And so email becomes the way that we end up most easily reaching folks. We certainly have other tactics, but that's one of our go-tos.

Andy Lyons: I would add in this kind of post-COVID world, we had our first, it's definitely not post-COVID, but post-surge world, I should say.

Bill Klaproth: Post-COVID-ish.

Andy Lyons: Yeah. Post-latest surge-ish world. We were able to have some kind of revamped teammate forums, we used to call them, and now they're called teammate talks. They're shorter. Diette really kind of designed this kind of Ted Talks, like quick, rapid fire, getting the frontline exactly what they need to know. And I think that those have been super effective in kind of maintaining that culture and getting people back together in a safe way, where they can see each other, they can stand up, they can ask their facility leader a question, they can see an inspiring video. And so looking forward to that hopefully in the future.

Bill Klaproth (host): Yeah, absolutely. And you're giving us a lot of ideas. Diette, so how do you measure this? What are the results? How do you know this is working? Can you talk about your metrics for evaluating all of this?

Diette Casey: I would point to engagement as one of the key metrics that we look to to, you know, gauge how we are doing. I'll start with big picture. Our healthcare system has been ranked as one of the top 150 best places to work by Modern Healthcare for the three years in a row. We just found out that we received that honor again for 2022. And that award is based in large part on how teammates respond to engagement-oriented questions. So we're really proud of that. And we think that we've played a significant role in that. We do the Press Ganey teammate engagement survey annually, and our scores are top core tile, have been for the last decade. So again, that's another metric that we look at to determine how to look to figure out how we're doing.

On a smaller level, we know that we are reaching people based on our open rates and as well as the views that our website gets, our internal website gets. We basically have an internal news website where we run it much like a media, a newspaper website, where we're constantly posting stories and photo galleries and videos and such. In the last seven years, we've seen an increase in views every year. We're up last year. We're a healthcare system of 6,000 teammates and we had 775,000 views on that site. So, pretty substantial number. And then our open rates for emails, you're not going to believe me when I say this, but I just double checked before we got on this call, I looked at the last months of emails that we've sent and our open rate is 90%.

Bill Klaproth: Come on.

Diette Casey: No, I know. I swear. Here's the caveat to that. I don't know how many of those are repeat opens versus unique opens. So I'd have to look into that. And I don't know that we can track that, but I do know that the open's based on-- It's crazy.

Bill Klaproth: That's amazing.

Diette Casey: It is. And I think it goes back to, you know, some of what we've been talking about, that valuing transparency that then builds trust and then builds culture that people know that when they get these communications, they're going to be fun and there's going to be something valuable in them. And so I think it all sort of works together.

Bill Klaproth: Yeah, there's a message in there for all of us. Don't be afraid to have fun, like Andy kicked off with the rapid insight. When you're having fun, you're engaged, right? I mean, it's just the truth. And engaged employees are better employees. Engaged employees provide better care for your patients. I mean, that's so true. So, wow, that's an amazing open rate. And the 775,000 views, oh my goodness.

Diette Casey: I mean, we're a healthcare system is 6,000 people.

Bill Klaproth: That's amazing. Amazing. Well, again, you both are inspiring us. So this session of yours is going to be great. You're going to go into a lot more in depth about the things we're just touching on today. Is that right, Andy? What else should we know about your session?

Andy Lyons: Yeah, I think what you want to know, what we really want to impress is that, you know, I talked earlier about that knack of storytelling and in journalism, newspaper specifically, Diette and I had a saying, a mantra really, "Show, don't tell." So at our session, we're going to show you practical ways you can really strengthen strengthen your internal coms and your culture as well. We'll show you the evolution of our messaging and the storytelling, and give really practical ways that you can improve with a small staff, a smaller budget and limited tools. And we'll show you how to have fun. We're going to have have actual practical examples.

Diette Casey: Andy, I would just add, I totally agree. I think it's always helpful. It's one thing for me to tell you that we used Simon Biles and did an Olympic-themed email. It's different once you see the headline and you connect it and say, "Ah, okay. I see now." And we'll give you plenty of examples of that, so that those who are there can help make the connections in their minds too, about how can they begin to integrate a little bit of fun in whatever they're doing.

Bill Klaproth: Right. That is so good. Show, don't tell. I love that, Andy. That is excellent. And I was going to ask, how do you do this? This seems like so much work. So I love when you said Andy, we're going to show you how to do it with a small staff and a small budget.

So final thoughts I'd like to get from both of you on internal communications. And I think you set the stage perfectly when you said, Diette, at the beginning, "Yeah, that's HR's deal. Yeah, they do that. That's not me. I'm going to worry about putting together our cool stuff on social media." So resetting our thinking on this is so important. So here's your chance, tell us again your overall thoughts on internal communications. Andy, let me start with you.

Andy Lyons: I would say don't be afraid in really finding your voice. And by voice, I mean, a deliberate tone, a way that you deliver the news, the way you speak to employees, leaders and physicians. They'll be begin to depend on that even without realizing it. There's no rule book to how to find that voice or how to use your voice. Ours has always been kind of a tone of gracious and kind with a little bit of fun and quirkiness and oddness like mixed in, but the more comfortable you are with your voice, the more efficient and effective you'll be in sharing difficult news or telling employees what they need to know during difficult times. And that's a great way to build and maintain culture.

Bill Klaproth (host): Yeah. And people get used to that consistency of voice. They know what to expect. They know that you're going to talk about things in a certain way and they look forward to that. Diette, anything you want to add? Final thoughts on internal communications.

Diette Casey: I wholeheartedly agree with what Andy said about figure out what your voice is. And I would just sort of even take a step back from that, but just think of yourself in corporate communications, as we are the keepers of culture. We do more than just write and listen. I mean, we are the ones giving pep talks. We are the ones organizing pep rallies. This is our job to help set the tone of the organization and to help people engage. And so I would just encourage everyone to think of themselves as integral to culture in their organization.

Bill Klaproth (host): And dare I say your session is going to be integral to SHSMD Connections 2022. You're going to have fun with this. We're expecting a lot of Beyonce references. Is that right, Diette?

Diette Casey: A hundred percent. If we didn't have music and trivia, if you weren't expecting Beyonce music, well, you should be now, because there will be lots of it.

Bill Klaproth: I love it. This is going to be a great session. Can't wait for it. Andy and Diette, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it.

Andy Lyons: Thank you.

Diette Casey: Absolutely. Thank you.

Bill Klaproth (host): And once again, that's Andy Lyons and Diette Casey. And registration for SHSMD Connections in-person annual conference held in Washington, DC is now open. Make sure you get yourself registered. Just go to SHSMD.org. That's SHSMD.org/connections to get yourself registered. I'll be there. Make sure you stop by our podcast booth and say hi. And if you found this podcast helpful, and again, how could you not? Please share it on all of your social channels. And please hit the subscribe button or the follow button to get every episode when we publish new episodes. Would you do that for me? Hit subscribe or follow. I would appreciate it. Thank you. This has been a production of DoctorPodcasting. I'm Bill Klaproth. See ya!