How Honest, Open Conversations Drive Renown Health’s Internal and External Communications
// By Melanie Graham //
For Renown Health’s Suzanne Hendery, sitting in the C-suite is about listening and having real conversations. Through these listening sessions Hendery and her colleagues find new ways to connect with employees and patients across Renown’s 100,000-square-mile footprint.
When you think of the view from the C-suite, you think of a physical or metaphorical high-rise vantage point. A position that sits above many others, taking in big-picture ideas and providing direction for the masses.
But Renown Health’s Suzanne Hendery tries to keep that C-suite view on a similar level to her managers and employees. It isn’t the quintessential “ivory tower” standpoint many of us associate with executive teams.
Suzanne Hendery, chief marketing, communications, and customer officer, Renown Health
“I think it’s important for all of my employees to know they have a friend in senior leadership,” says Hendery, who oversees roughly 250 employees across marketing, communications, patient experience, community health/benefits, and customer service. “I’m their support person if they need it. They know they can call, email, or text me.”
Breaking down the perceived barriers around executive leadership and opening communication are key themes when you speak with Hendery. Whether it’s external patient messaging or internal efforts, frequent, honest conversations are moving the needle for Renown Health.
Fresh from her trip to the 2022 Healthcare Marketing and Physician Strategies Summit (HMPS) in Salt Lake City, Hendery sat down with us to share more about her efforts to boost communication with employees, customers, and colleagues in the health care industry.