Steeves & Rozema CEO John Scotland outlines why news program is working well
Friday November 18, 2011 -- Deron Hamel
SARNIA, Ont. - If you ask Steeves & Rozema CEO John Scotland what he has liked best about the organization's Stakeholder News program, his answer is straightforward: "It gets done."
And "it gets done" because the organization now publishes news on its corporate website three times per week.
With the help of executive assistant Florence Brown, who e-mails every story to people throughout Steeves & Rozema first thing Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, the news is being circulated and engagement is being maximized, says John.
Prior to launching S&R Today in March, John says the organization was finding it challenging to create communication strategies that engaged managers and staff members at its sites.
With the launch of S&R Today, John says team members throughout Steeves & Rozema are now learning about the latest happenings within the organization, as well as discovering best practices and what's working well for others.
In the past, John says Steeves & Rozema has tried to create newsletters and other forms of corporate communications. However, because everyone within the organization was busy with their day-to-day tasks, bottlenecks developed and information wasn't being communicated, he says.
That has all changed since S&R Today came into the picture, he adds.
"It is now seamlessly happening," he says.
And it's not just people working at Steeves & Rozema's head office who are making sure "it gets done," it's also those team members working in the organization's long-term care and retirement homes, and in the property management division.
These people are continuously e-mailing and phoning Axiom News, which provides the organization's Stakeholder News service, to share their story ideas.
The head office team credits much of the buy-in to a letter John sent to Steeves & Rozema staff members in the days ahead of the news program's launch to ensure everyone knew about the service.
The letter also served to explain that the news program would enhance communication throughout Steeves & Rozema, as well as outlined the important role staff members could play by sharing their stories at every opportunity.