A major component of culture is language. When a language dies, so dies the culture and when it thrives, the culture is vibrant.

Yet, with all the talk about corporate culture, we rarely hear about corporate language. Words that have specific meaning to the company and its employees. Short hand for vision, mission and processes can help a company achieve it’s goal. Corporate language should not be confused with corporate speak which is usually cliche and meaningless.

Every company has a vision statement…or nearly every company. Most of those vision statements are two paragraphs long, hang on a wall and are seldom part of the everyday lives of the employees. Even vision statements that read like a billboard are forgotten by employees who have jobs to do.

The Iowa Health System is the largest network of hospitals and clinics in Iowa. Bill Leaver is IHS’ CEO.  He has a vision to continually improve the quality of care across the system. His vision statement is “Best Outcome For Every Patient, Every Time.” Short and understandable.

Stemming from that vision are internal initiatives that include everything from how sheets are folded to how heart attacks are treated. Every level of staff is a target for the vision. In an effort to make the vision more memorable we created an acronym…BOFEPET.

BOFEPET branded Mr. Leaver’s vision. It is shorthand that now everyone in the system understands. BOFEPET has become part of the culture and gives staff at all levels something to work toward.

As you think about your company’s culture, are there ways you can create words that encompass major initiatives that will save time and move your staff closer to it’s goals? Is there language you can create that will help you better communicate with your customers?

Iowa’s campaign to persuade smokers to contact a smoking cessation helpline has generated the largest response rate of any of the 24 states and the District of Columbia that direct tobacco users to 1-800-QUIT NOW.

The campaign developed by ZLRIGNITION included a print ad, posters and this ”Never-ending cigarette” TV spot.

The campaign helped trigger 41,930 calls to 1-800 QUIT NOW from January through September. That’s more than five times the number of calls that came from Pennsylvania, a state with four times the population of Iowa. Iowa’s call volume was equivalent to 1,406 calls for every 100,000 people in the state.

Bonnie Mapes, administrator of the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control, says “The call volume to the helpline proves the campaign was a smart investment toward improving the health of Iowans.”