Communicating with Staff

Not sure how to publish your info? 

Information sharing and communicating to staff, physicians and volunteers is based on a culture of shared responsibility. Senior Leaders, Directors and Managers are expected to cascade and share relevant and pertinent information throughout their area(s) of responsibility. This process coupled with the site, program and service’s commitment to integrate communications within their portfolios is the crux of how information sharing occurs in our region, it’s our culture.

Staff News | Determine your best method of communicating with staff

Staff News – articles/posts sharing our SH-SS stories, announcements, achievements and events

Audience: All Staff
Content: articles relevant for all staff, physicians and volunteers in general
Logistics

• information is gathered by Executive Assistants (EAs) and vetted to Communications
• posts are managed by Communications on the StaffNET
• all staff, physicians and volunteers have the option to subscribe and receive in their work or personal email inboxes
• staffnet@southernhealth.ca

Examples of articles that will be published:

Examples of articles that will not be published:

ADMIN Updates – a weekly release of posts

Audience: Senior Leadership, Regional Leadership, Managers, Chiefs of Staff, Admin Support Staff
Content: more administrative – topics are not relevant for all staff in general
Logistics

• information is gathered by Executive Assistants (EAs) and submitted to content submissions for StaffNET
• posts are managed by Communications on the StaffNET
• intended audience is mandatorily subscribed via the Manager’s Hiring Checklist and receive a weekly email with access links to posts
• updates are intended to be short term alerts such as upcoming education, events or program/staff changes. Posts will remain accessible for a maximum of six months. Long term content should be integrated into program pages.
• staffnet@southernhealth.ca

CLINICAL Updates – a weekly release of posts

Audience: Senior Leadership, Regional Leadership, Managers, Chiefs of Staff, Health Care Providers
Content: is clinical in nature and relevant to Clinical/Health Care Provider staff
Logistics

• information is gathered by Executive Assistants (EAs) and submitted to content submissions for StaffNET
• posts are managed by Communications on the StaffNET
• intended audience is subscribed via the Manager’s Hiring Checklist for applicable staff to receive a weekly email with access links to posts
• updates are intended to be short term alerts with the option to link back to static content pages wherever applicable. Posts will remain accessible for a maximum of six months. Long term content should be integrated into program pages.
• staffnet@southernhealth.ca

RLT email messages

Audience: Senior Leadership, Regional Leadership
Content: information that is not accessible to all staff
Logistics

• information is gathered and sent to the CEO Executive Assistant(s) – urgent in nature and cannot wait for the weekly ADMIN Update releases
• intended audience is managed by the CEO EAs via a personal distribution list – no expectations to share information with others
• kmccallum@southernhealth.ca

All-Staff email messages – used sparingly

Audience: All Staff
Content: reserved for specific circumstances including Digital Shared Services alerts, sharing urgent or confidential information at the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer
Logistics

• information is gathered and sent by the CEO Executive Assistant(s) (EAs)
• kmccallum@southernhealth.ca

Here’s a guide to Communicating with Staff in Writing and some quick tips below:

• Use a catchy title (attention grabber)
• Write succinctly and concisely using the ‘who’ ‘what’ ‘when’ ‘why’ framework
• Include interesting facts about the topic
• Double check facts, figures, spelling (names) and grammar
• Perform a spell check
• Spell out acronyms on first use and put in parentheses
• Include external links to further information, as required; remember to test the links
• Include visual/photos, PDFs, and/or posters, as required
• Include contact coordinates for more info; use appropriate title, site, program and service naming conventions
• Accessibility Standards – access resources to meet legislated standards

(A recommended support to help guide effective written communications is to use the Hemingway Editor online tool. Directions: Copy and paste text directly to Hemingway Editor website home page; edit as necessary; copy and paste text back into your main document.)