The write stuff

Michelle JosephMichelle has had a flair for writing from a young age. She studied Media, Publishing and Journalism at university, following her younger self’s dreams of becoming a journalist. While studying, however, Michelle realised that it was writing itself that was her passion.

It’s fair to say that Michelle has a pretty diverse professional background, doing everything from external-facing communications for nonprofit organisations to proofreading at a financial research company. One thing that has remained constant, though, is that deeplyheld love of writing.

“Since I started working, I think I have always been on a journey towards finding myself and exactly what I wanted to do, even though I knew writing was my skill and that was what I was best at.”

It became clear that internal communications was the place for her (“I feel really passionate about keeping people informed about what’s going on in an organisation”). After quitting her job at the start of the pandemic, and hunting around for opportunities in those less-thanideal circumstances, Michelle interviewed for Sonic Healthcare UK and duly got the job.

“I was over the moon. This was the role that I was looking for.” At the time of writing, Michelle has been at Sonic Healthcare UK for six months, and she is loving every minute. The variety of the role keeps things exciting: “There are so many different things that can come up. It’s never the same.”

She’s certainly not been twiddling her thumbs. As soon as she arrived, Michelle took over the weekly Covid Comms newsletter, for which she has received sterling feedback, and was instrumental in the go-live of the new Sonic Healthcare UK website within four months of arriving. She has also assisted with the comms for the staff migration to Office 365.

It’s been something of a learning curve for her, but she relishes the challenge: “There have been quite a lot of things that have come up that I’ve never done before, but I have just hit the ground running.”

In particular, she’s a total novice when it comes to healthcare. She loves learning new things, however, and notes how everyone at Sonic Healthcare UK has been really helpful as she gets to grips with the technical jargon and dizzying array of acronyms. In fact, she says, it’s quite useful for her role as a communicator that she is less au fait with the sector:

“I think you need someone with a different perspective to make sure people will understand things. It’s always good to spell things out and not make assumptions about what other people will understand.”

A comfortable working environment with people she gets along with is a top priority for Michelle, and she has really enjoyed meeting her new colleagues at Sonic Healthcare UK. Despite working from home since the new government guidelines were introduced at the end of last year, and doing a 50/50 mix when she first arrived, Michelle feels like she’s already got to know many people:

“I’ve even enjoyed getting to know people over email! I feel like I’ve already become acquainted with so many people within the organisation in six months.”

One thing that has really stood out to Michelle is how so many of those working in the offices at the Halo have been there for a long time: One thing that has really stood out to Michelle is how so many of those working in the offices at the Halo have been there for a long time:

“For me, that’s testament to the fact that people really do enjoy working here. I’m really enjoying it at the moment and, fingers crossed, I’ll also be here for a long time.”