SUMMARY
Aava Medical Centre, a rapidly growing family-owned healthcare group, comprises of Aava and Pikkujätti, which have become medium-sized challengers in the healthcare industry, competing with bigger companies like Terveystalo, Mehiläinen, and Pihlajalinna. Recognized for their familial, community-focused culture and unique customer brands, Aava and Pikkujätti sought to elevate their organisational and employer branding strategies to a new level.
Our collaboration involved a comprehensive analysis of Aava’s existing employee experience, leading to the development of alternative employer brand narratives. These narratives were rigorously tested through focus group interviews with employees from various functions and local units. The focus groups provided valuable feedback and outlined the most important aspects to communicate in employer brand storytelling.
As we progressed towards finalising the employer brand strategy, story, and employee value proposition, we conducted extra research and strategy work to help Aava and Pikkujäti tackle strategic issues that have kept the employee experience from developing further. Our findings and strategic recommendations were presented to the top management team, accompanied by a revised employer brand as well as needed frameworks for managing the employee experience in the future.
Services
- Long table research
- Employee focus groups and interviews
- Employer brand strategy
- Employer brand story
- Employee value proposition
- Employee experience design
Research
The foundation of our approach was rooted in an in-depth understanding of Aava’s unique organisational culture and the challenges that it faced due to rapid growth. We analysed all existing company data and reports, as well as gathered new insights from employees across various levels and functions. We used focus group interviews to gain feedback on the employer brand platforms and dived deeper into the root causes behind the current employee experience via individual in-depth interviews.
Strategy
Based on the insights from our research, we created an employer brand strategy built on the unique strengths of Aava and Pikkujätti: the things that differentiate their employee experience from their competitors’, the aspects that current and potential employees value the most. We also created a strategic framework for the companies to help manage their organisational development and prioritise the actions needed to further develop the employee experience.
Design
Based on the research insights and employer brand strategy, we created an employer brand story and an employee value proposition that distilled everything into an effective way of communicating Aava and Pikkujätti’s uniqueness. Understanding the strengths of the customer-facing brands of both Aava and Pikkujätti, we wanted to include as much of the verbal and visual style in the employee-facing brand storytelling. Culture and brand are always deeply interconnected, but in a business as human-focused as health care, and in a culture as human as theirs, this harmony is crucial. What the employer brand promises, the employee experience must deliver, which, in turn, ties directly into keeping the customer brand promise.
