One organisation, lots of locations: How West Iceland Health Services created a place to connect

About Company

West Iceland Health Services is a public healthcare organisation providing healthcare services across Western Iceland. It has more than 600 employees working across eight locations, which includes the main hospital in Akranes alongside healthcare centres, nursing homes, and other services throughout the region. Significant geographical distances and a diverse workforce, which includes doctors, nurses, ambulance staff, administrative employees, cleaning staff and other professional groups makes internal communication particularly important. Employees need to feel part of the same organisation, but they do not necessarily need access to exactly the same information.

Áskoranir (Fyrir ZIIK)

Before Ziik, West Iceland Health Services used Workplace for internal communication. When it became clear that Workplace was being discontinued, the organisation began looking closely at what had worked and what it wanted to improve. One of the biggest challenges was the amount of manual work involved in maintaining the communication structure: When a new employee joined, they had to be placed manually in the relevant groups. With many different locations, departments and professional roles, keeping that structure aligned with the organisation required ongoing administration.

At the same time, they wanted to improve how employees received information. Some communication needed to reach everybody. Other information might only be relevant to nurses, ambulance staff, managers, a particular hospital department or employees at one location. The organisation also wanted more than an information channel: Community and employee engagement were important from the outset. With employees spread across a large geographical area, a shared place was required where people could also experience the social side of belonging to the same organisation.

Kröfur um nýja lausn

A key requirement was that the new platform should reflect the way the organisation is actually organised. Departments and professional roles already existed in the organisation's HR system, and the aim was to create the same structure in Ziik, so employees could automatically become part of the right communication environment.

“That was probably the most important thing we did in the beginning,” says Sigurður Þór Sigursteinsson.

The organisation also wanted to be able to communicate at different levels: across the whole organisation, by location, by department and by professional role. At the same time, the platform needed to support the original community ambition.

“When we were deciding what we wanted, one of the things we emphasised was that we wanted to build a community,” says Sigurður Þór Sigursteinsson. “We wanted something social and a place where we could meet across locations.”

Niðurstöður

More relevant communication

Ziik allows West Iceland Health Services to target information according to location, department and professional role. For example, more than 90 nurses are registered under one role in the system. If information is relevant specifically to nurses, the organisation can communicate directly with that group rather than sending the message to everybody.

The same approach can be used for other professions. If training is being organised specifically for ambulance staff, a group can quickly be created for the relevant employees, where they can receive information, share files and discuss the training. The principle is simple: only the people who need the information receive it.

Easier onboarding and less manual administration

West Iceland Health Services has structured Ziik to mirror the organisation in its HR system.

Previously, new employees had to be manually added to the appropriate Workplace groups. Today, new employees can be created automatically in Ziik as part of the onboarding process. That means the communication structure is much more systematic and easier to maintain as employees join the organisation or move between roles.

One shared meeting place across eight locations

Although communication can be highly targeted, employees are still connected through a shared company feed. This gives the organisation a common space for organisation-wide information as well as the more social aspects of working life.

For example, Ziik is used in connection with employee events and activities, helping to build anticipation and engagement across the organisation. For West Iceland Health, this combination is important: employees can receive the information relevant to their own work while still feeling part of a wider community.

“That creates a really positive atmosphere,” says Sigurður Þór Sigursteinsson.

‍Better insight into employee adoption

Introducing a new platform does not automatically mean everyone changes their habits overnight. At the time of the interview, around three quarters of West Iceland Health Services employees had downloaded the Ziik app, but adoption varied between locations and departments. Ziik's statistics give Sigurður Þór Sigursteinsson insight into where the platform is being actively used and where additional support may be needed. Based on these insights, he has visited different locations, talked to employees and worked with local managers to understand what might prevent people from using the platform. This helps drive adoption. In one hospital department with around 45 employees, usage has reached more than 90 percent.

“It is very important that we talk to the people who are responsible locally and show them why they should use it,” says Sigurður Þór Sigursteinsson. “When they take the initiative and start using it, it works very well.”

Favourite Features

Groups and roles

Groups and roles allow West Iceland Health Services to structure communication around the organisation itself. Employees can be reached according to location, department or professional role, making it easier to distribute relevant information without sending every message to the entire organisation.

Tölfræði

Usage statistics help Sigurður Þór Sigursteinsson see how Ziik is being adopted across different locations and departments. That makes it possible to identify where usage is strong and where managers or employees may need additional support.

Files and shortcuts

Ziik also serves as a practical starting point for finding work-related information.

West Iceland Health Services has an existing intranet and specialist systems, and not everything is moved into Ziik. Instead, files and shortcuts help employees find the information and systems they need. Sigurður Þór Sigursteinsson describes Ziik as a user-friendly, mobile communication layer on top of the existing intranet.

Spjall

Sigurður Þór Sigursteinsson uses chat extensively in his own HR-related work. It provides an easy way to communicate directly with employees and managers across the organisation, regardless of where they are based.