The Secret to Effective Crisis Communications with Jennifer Russo, Senior Director of Corporate Communications and HR Strategy

This episode features an interview with Jennifer Russo, Senior Director of Corporate Communications and HR Strategy. Jennifer communicates on behalf of the Banner Health system to the 55,000 employees across six states. She also champions the strategy that makes Banner Health a great place to work. In this episode, she talks about communicating effectively during times of crisis, exploring different mediums like videos and podcasts, and offering mental health resources to employees.

Quotes

*“We've made order out of utter chaos. We've not frozen in the face of crisis. The team has instituted incredible programs and used energy in the face of disruption, and genuinely brought reason to a season of madness. So I think how have we gone above and beyond is, we've not only kept going, but then we've broken new barriers.”

*“You have to show up. My team showed up every day, oftentimes seven days a week. You have to be brave. You have to lean in. People are under stress and duress. Give counsel and be brave in the counsel that you give. Because you're ultimately looking to make sure the audiences you are reaching have the right information and, and also to make sure the people providing it are credible. You also have to acknowledge when things stink. There were times where I said to my team, ‘This stinks. We're working seven days a week, for a long, long time, months and months and months.’ But you also have to celebrate the wins.”

Time Stamps

*[3:19] The Flight Plan

*[5:53] First Class

*[7:56] Personalizing the employee experience

*[10:11] Banner Health’s Work Your Way flexible scheduling

*[13:45] Turbulence

*[14:43] Effectively communicating during the pandemic

*[16:43] Leading in times of crisis

*[19:10] Advice for communications leaders

Links

Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the company that is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up by connecting every worker, everywhere with the information that helps them do their best work. Firstup has helped over 40% of the Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, AB InBev, Ford and Pfizer stay agile and keep transforming. Learn more at firstup.io