Internal Branding Initiative Puts the Heart in Hartford HealthCare
// By Lisa D. Ellis //
Are some of the biggest heroes in your organization going unnoticed? At Hartford HealthCare during a recent push to strengthen internal branding, leadership uncovered amazing examples of frontline staff members who were going to great lengths to show patients they cared. Recognizing these actions provided the health system with a valuable opportunity to strengthen its brand from the inside out.
“At Hartford HealthCare, every moment matters,” says Reem Nouh, BPharm, MHA, senior vice president of strategic services for Adams & Knight, a branding and integrated marketing agency in Avon, Connecticut.
Reem Nouh, BPharm, MHA, senior vice president of strategic services for Adams & Knight
She and her co-workers recently had a unique chance to help Connecticut’s most comprehensive health system create an employee branding campaign built around this theme, with the goal of reminding its employees to slow down and take pride in every moment of every day.
“The health system wanted to be sure that all of its employees were reflecting and living its brand,” Nouh explains. To this end, the effort was designed to engage staff members in all positions, from frontline medical staff to housekeepers, janitors, security guards, foodservice workers, volunteers — and everyone in between.
Creating a Unified Culture That Bridges Multiple Settings
With more than 18,000 employees spread out among multiple locations, this was not an easy task. To understand the challenges involved, it’s important to recognize the broad scope of the system, which consists of two teaching hospitals, an acute-care hospital and trauma center, three community hospitals, an extensive behavioral health network, a large multispecialty physician group, a regional home care system, an array of senior care services, a large physical therapy and rehabilitation network, and an accountable care organization.
Aligning strategic goals like improving patient satisfaction requires an all-hands effort. Here, we’ll see how an internal campaign raised awareness of the value of every team member’s contribution to delivering a great patient experience.