Smart and creative communication approaches which helped break down workplace stigma around mental health have earned Mairi Barton, of Pinch Yourself Communication, and client Ambulance Victoria recognition at the international, Asia Pacific and state levels.

This month (September 2018) Mairi was presented with a Silver Quill Award for the Asia Pacific region and a Bronze Quill Award for the state of Victoria for her work as part of a team at Ambulance Victoria delivering the organisation’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

This follows the Gold Quill Award, a prestigious international award for the same piece work by Mairi for Ambulance Victoria, announced in April by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

“Only exceptional work earns an IABC Gold Quill Award,” said Cindy Schmieg ABC, IABC Fellow and Chair of the awards committee.

“Each entry is rigorously reviewed by multiple experienced communicators from around the world who are trained in applying IABC’s Global Standard of the Communication Profession.”

“The award winners represent our profession of ethical practitioners contributing to organisational outcomes.”

One tactic highlighted by the IABC judges for its smart and creative thinking was the use of interviews with family members of paramedics – a husband, a wife and a mother – to help start the conversation given stigma prevented paramedics from speaking openly about mental health issues.

What the judges said about the internal communication campaign developed and implemented for Ambulance Victoria:

“It demonstrates good research, thoughtful planning, a clever approach to reach primary stakeholders, tight implementation of the plan and (not surprisingly) very good results. It’s great to see it all line up.”

“This campaign was well thought out and well executed from start to finish. They completed the appropriate research to clearly identify the need and then formulated their strategy with each stakeholder in mind.”

“The work is well-researched and presented. The strategy is aligned to the business need and the stakeholder analysis. There is a wide range of tactics to engage key stakeholders, including a clever work-around involving family stories. It demonstrates that a well-planned campaign, with clear business objectives – even one done on a shoestring – can deliver big results for an organisation. Great work!”

“Inclusion of family members’ stories demonstrates smart and creative thinking for capturing the attention of stakeholders and influencing them.”