The University of Technology, Sydney is traditionally seen as more of a ‘vocational’ institution. But for the Faculty of Health, this doesn’t reflect their overall contribution to the field of health sciences.
A large part of the faculty’s success lies in their excellent teaching record, with their nursing and midwifery graduates among the most sought after in the country. Indeed, their Bachelor of Midwifery course is so competitive that the entry score is comparative to studying law or medicine. However, as is the case with all universities, continuing to educate the next generation of health professionals largely comes down to funding received from research grants and publication — something that, whilst certainly present, needed to be given greater emphasis within the faculty.
What at first might have seemed like a small and simple change to workload priorities actually uncovered a much more significant need for change — that of communicating within the faculty, and creating an inclusive workplace.
Working with Primed, we developed a narrative and theme for a staff retreat, where the changes to their internal workload structure would be introduced. The biggest challenge was ensuring that people would come to the retreat with a positive mindset, so that the issues could be discussed and addressed in a positive way. The other challenge was creating a campaign that not only spoke to the faculty staff, but to industry partners and the broader public — both key to the faculty's ongoing success.
The narrative formed the basis for an animation that introduced (or re-introduced) people to the story of the faculty's many successes, and actively demonstrated what was meant by the retreat theme of 'growing excellence' — a phrase that deliberately drew on language that was key to the faculty’s mission statement and also reflected their future goals. Post-retreat, a printed 'storyboard' was created outlining what was discussed and how the staff feedback was being addressed. This also included identifying key focus areas for the faculty to build into its strategic plan for the next five years.
The campaign not only highlighted the faculty's key achievements and future goals, but directly addressed the deeper staffing and communication issues that are now being collectively resolved to build a stronger and more competitive faculty.
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| Brands aren’t made by logos, strategies or even mission statements. They’re made by people. |
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| As part of the printed piece we also developed a new values statement for the faculty. |
