Memorial Health receives National Award for Innovative Internal Communications
SPRINGFIELD – Memorial Health has been nationally recognized as a leader in creative and innovative internal communications, keeping its frontline and nonclinical workers engaged and informed, with a focus on employee well-being, in a time of uncertainty.
The five-hospital, Springfield-based health care organization was honored with a Best Crisis Management Award in North America by Workplace from Meta (previously known as Facebook) during the communication platform’s 2021 Customer Success Awards program.. The award was announced earlier this month.
The Crisis Management Award went to the organization with the most effective management of an issue using Workplace from Meta, an internal communications tool that facilitates online group work, instant messaging, video conferencing and news sharing.
Other companies honored with a Workplace Customer Success Award include DirecTV, Accenture, Delta Air Lines and Gucci.
Memorial Health introduced Workplace in June 2018, with initial intentions being to combat email fatigue, reduce redundant employee messages and streamline two-way internal communications.
But as the COVID-19 pandemic made its way into central Illinois, Memorial Health expanded and enhanced its use of Workplace to provide employees with up-to-date information on topics such as visitor restrictions, masking requirements and vaccine opportunities.
But even more than communication, the need for education was paramount. A “Knowledge Library” covering important phone numbers, infection prevention, vaccine, employee assistance, facility updates, mental health resources, preparedness plans and more, was created. In addition, the Workplace platform was used to broadcast live sessions hosted by Memorial Health leaders, where employees received the latest COVID-19 information and could ask questions. Leaders and subject matter experts also used the Workplace Live feature to post updates for employees across the organization.
Today, more than 96 percent of Memorial Health’s 9,200 employees have the ability to collaborate virtually on Workplace.
