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Retention marketing is top of mind for healthcare internal communications leaders as the industry faces tough challenges. A Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that nearly 30% of healthcare workers are considering leaving their profession altogether. Everee’s 2024 Healthcare Staffing Report notes that 46% are likely to leave their current job in the next 12 months.
Health systems are working hard to align culture and brand better to build stronger employee experiences, which can improve employee engagement and reduce turnover.
In our webinar Building an Employee Experience Content Strategy, I interviewed internal communications leaders Erin Lickliter from Bon Secours Mercy Health and Andy Lyons from Roper St. Francis Healthcare to learn how their organizations are investing in employee experiences.
Here are a few of my favorite examples of Erin and Andy’s retention marketing strategies.
Retention marketing example 1: Share good news with employees and the community
Both Erin and Andy talked about finding and sharing positive stories with teammates and the community.
Friday Feels employee newsletter
One of the projects from the past year that Erin noted she was most proud of was their new employee newsletter, Friday Feels. She says, “Our associates wanted to hear about the good things that were happening within our ministry. So, we started a good news newsletter that we send out every Friday at noon that we call ‘Friday Feels.’ We create an individualized story for every market, so depending on where you work, you get content that is targeted specifically to you. You’re hearing about your friends and your colleagues and the great things that they’re doing, as well as a couple of stories that cover some system-wide good news.”
The newsletter has been well-received by associates, and it’s proving to be a great way to end the week.
Erin notes, “We’ve seen the name catch on, so people call it ‘Friday Feels,’ they look for it, they’ll reach out and say, ‘Hey, I got a Friday Feels story.’ That’s when you know things are really starting to embed in your culture: when people are using the language, and they want to be a part of it.”
The Handoff nursing newsletter
Andy also shared a new newsletter Roper St. Francis launched called The Handoff. It’s for nurses.
“We know that nursing is … the most competitive job in healthcare, and we really doubled down our efforts on recruiting and retaining our great nurses. And that started with a newsletter that goes out once a month just for nurses. This is content that can be talked about during nursing town halls.”
Good news stories in the media
Andy noted that one of his big wins from 2024 was an article that ran in the local Charleston paper, The Post and Courier.
“I always say one media story doesn’t change the world, but this one really was significant. We were able to show the local paper, ‘The Post and Courier,’ the biggest paper in South Carolina, how we were retaining our travel nurses. Nurses want to work for Roper St. Francis Healthcare, and we can deliver better patient care because of that.”
Want to see more examples from Erin and Andy? Watch the 30-minute on-demand video.
Retention marketing example 2: Using video strategically for employee communications
Erin and Andy talked about how their organizations are using video to enhance employee communications.
Support and amplify messaging from employee resource groups
Bon Secours Mercy Health kicked off employee resource groups and found ways to support the employee-led messaging.
Erin noted, “When we had Women’s History Month, our women’s resource group hosted a great panel with top female leaders across our ministry who talked about their experience in healthcare, their careers and how they got to where they were. There was such great camaraderie and bonding among the leaders in the video. It was probably one of the best videos that we shared all year.”
CEO video messages
Andy discussed a video series they launched with their interim CEO, Dr. Megan Baker, and some important lessons learned from the video.
“We launched ‘A Minute with Megan.’ We put the videos out every week and touched on safety behaviors. We’d keep it [to] a minute and did one once a week. It had great engagement at first, but looking back now, maybe once a week was too much. It was hard to give it a good play every week. I think now, when you’ve got a good idea like that, maybe hold back a little bit. That was a learning lesson.”
Other tips shared for putting leaders on video:
- Let their personality shine. As Erin shared, “You really need to get to know your executive and lean into their personality. Sometimes if you try to force something that is just really outside of their comfort zone, that’s when the content doesn’t perform. I think if you can lean into who they are and spend some time with them and get to know them, that’s when you really see the success of those relationships.”
- Don’t underestimate a teleprompter. According to Andy, “I had mixed feelings about teleprompters because I felt like you could see the leader … reading it. But it puts the leader at ease to know that the words are right there in front. You can use an iPad; just put the words up there. There’s just a comfort in knowing the words are there.”
Retention marketing example 3: Make the most of employee events
Andy discussed the value of hosting large employee events with teammates — and remembering those who can’t attend.
“We brought back a system-wide party where we celebrate anniversaries that had stopped during the pandemic. We had a VIP reception for those who were 20 years and above. It was along the water with a yacht rock band. Everybody just got to hang out with their coworkers and have a good time.
“But we wanted to be thoughtful about saying ‘thank you’ to our teammates and clinicians who had to work during the party. So, dinner was on us for everyone who had to work during the party, including freestanding ERs and urgent care. That was some of the best feedback we got. ‘I had to work during the party. You fed us a really good meal. Thank you.’”
Top takeaways on retention marketing strategies
The webinar has so many great takeaways and examples you can apply to your internal communications efforts. Here is a roundup of the tips you can use to enhance your retention marketing and communications plans:
- Share the positive and find ways to celebrate each other.
- Capitalize on the leaders who want to participate and lean into their personalities.
- Be thoughtful about length and cadence when it comes to producing a top-quality video.
- Localize stories and content when you can.
- Create a discipline around sharing your success.
That last one hits home: Marketing leaders are often great at messaging but are too humble to share their wins internally.
As Andy said, “I’ve been thinking a lot about good PR for PR. It’s not enough to do the work. You have to talk and tell people about the work that’s been done.”
Enhance your retention marketing efforts with WG Content
Be sure to watch our on-demand webinar to see more of Erin and Andy’s strategies in action. And if you need to bring your employee communications plan to life or create content to fuel big internal communication plans, we’re here to help.
Additional tips on retention marketing strategies: