The professionals at St. Joseph’s Health needed a pep talk. Although they all were confident in their individual departments, they had little pride in the hospital as a whole. This negative perception was damaging to workplace morale, and it prevented employees from confidently recommending service lines beyond their own. We knew that we would need the good word of its employees to help us advertise St. Joseph’s Health as the #1 hospital—that is, we needed to get its talented employees on board. We had to create advocates out of doubtful employees and build trust among the St. Joseph’s Health family.
St. Joseph’s Health had plenty to brag about—They’re #1 in nearly all their services and were doing tangible good in the community. Across every hospital in the region, St. Joseph’s Health offered the best treatment for patients, and success like that is deserving of a pep talk.
We created XLNT—a proprietary word that belonged to St. Joseph’s Health—in recognition of their demonstrated excellence. This text talk word was used to quickly communicate accomplishments not just in specific departments but also hospitalwide. We peppered our messaging throughout employees’ days in popular staff-only areas. We served up snappy, morale-boosting facts with their morning coffee, on their elevator rides, when they logged into their computers, and even when they sanitized their hands. Wherever they went, they were always seeing or hearing just how XLNT they were.
We conceived it to be a 10-week campaign, but people internalized XLNT as part of their work culture. To this day, XLNT is thrown around in workplace conversations and even used to sign off emails. St. Joseph’s Health has always been excellent, and now its employees know it.
