Whether 10 years or 40 years old there often comes a point when your nonprofit is at a crossroads of needing a 2.0 version of its brand that builds on what you’ve achieved, and takes your organization to the next level.
We’re continuing our exploration of the five Messaging Milestones every nonprofit, regardless of size or age, must successfully navigate over its lifetime. In this episode we’re focusing on the milestone we’ve named, Building on Your Brand.
When we talk about brand development, we mean much more than just an organization’s visual identity. Yes, it may be that your logo and the aesthetics of your promotional materials need a refresh, even an increase in sophistication, but an organization’s brand is much more than graphics.
How you express the benefits of your unique purpose, the impact your services achieve, and the satisfaction of those you serve, all make significant contributions to defining your brand.
A unique benefit of this milestone is the opportunity you have for building funder loyalty and customer trust if attention is given to formulating actionable messages. In other words, in addition to communicating who you are, you conduct a critical assessment of whether that’s what each of your target audiences authentically experience. In the healthcare industry, aligning words with action not only forms a competitive brand promise for ensuring patient satisfaction, it is a powerful strategy for overcoming the challenges of recruiting and retaining employees.
Please meet Dr. Matt Schlueter, Chief Nursing Officer of Ambulatory Care Services at the Harris Health System – the fourth largest safety net health system in the country.
Matthew Schlueter: A safety net health system is a critical part of our community infrastructure at its heart is health care system or hospital system or some combination of output and inpatient infrastructure that cares for people when they’re underserved not insured or have access barriers to seeking health care whereas a more privileged person might be able to do some more easily.
Kelli Newman: So, let’s spend a little bit of time talking about just the concept of authenticity and its role within health care, what importance does authenticity have to a health system like Harris Health.
Matthew Schlueter: Authenticity plays a really critical role because we may have different challenges in different service levels compared to the private facilities. So, we have to be really be true to our mission and true to what we say we’re, going to do for people and how we’re going to go for people. But also, to have, the freedom and the professionalism that people can be themselves. And delivering that care and delivering that service that that is a true element of authenticity in my opinion. We have a hugely diverse community in Houston in Harris County, but we also have a hugely diverse community within Harris health system. Because we serve everybody that culture reflects who we serve as well.
Kelli Newman: I love that! So, how important is translating who you say you are, who an organization says it is into what we refer to as actionable messaging that employees experience for retaining talent? And, ultimately, how that influences the patient experience?
Matthew Schlueter: That’s super important. I’d say it’s a critical aspect to not just delivering our message based on our mission but also doing it well. Having people really feel great about what they’re doing through their lens because the message that we try to embody in our mission and vision. Our ability to care for care for our population, is done by people. It’s done by real people, right? This is not just an emblem or a brand on the side of a building. To me always back to you not just clarity the message but the trust and the authenticity that comes with that it’s a bit of a house in a foundation if you don’t have that authentic trust that’s there to begin with. The message is always going to be horrible because it’s always filtered in a way that’s not intended. And so, that translational aspect and super important.
Kelli Newman: Well, in this last year, especially the healthcare industry has really been hard hit in terms of employee retention and a lot of organizations both nonprofit and for-profit focus the majority of their attention on external audiences. In other words, customers or people that they serve. So, what critical role does employee experience, and maybe especially in your case nurses, play in your organization’s success?
Matthew Schlueter: Okay. Well, I think it’s 99% of the success because, those experiences are based on what they’re encountering every single day. We suffered along with many of our peers in the industry, a tremendous loss during the COVID years of staff. We have recovered really well though. Our turnover rate has really dropped down to pre-pandemic levels and we’re actually much better than our peers in the region as well as at the state level. So, I think that’s great because that speaks to, not just what an organization might offer its staff, and nurses specifically in this example, in terms of salary benefits and culture environment. But also, its trueness and what it’s what is doing and what it says it’s going to do for you as a member of this organization.
Kelli Newman: These things that you’ve put in place to ensure authenticity and to build on the experience of your employees. These are all things to be retained. Would you agree with that?
Matthew Schlueter: Absolutely. Again, it goes back to that maybe a slightly cynical nurse who’s been around for a while who’s looking for you to not be truthful or authentic. If you don’t keep up with it or maintains it, people will eventually recognize that. So, if you really want to do things and mean it for the long term, you have to actually demonstrate that for the long term as well.
My thanks to Dr. Schlueter for sharing his perspectives on how important actionable messages are for taking your organization’s brand to the next level while, also, strengthening its relationship with employees.
I’m Kelli Newman and this has been a Minute with Messaging™. To learn how your organization can benefit from Newman & Newman’s marketing communication strategies or to ask questions about challenges your organization is facing, I invite you to contact me through our website NEWMAnandNEWMANinc.com.
