Connecting HR and Internal Comms: Ways to Break Down Silos Between Departments

Tia Mason Howard, APR, is internal communications director for MedStar Medical Group. She manages internal communications, executive communications and collaborative employee engagement initiatives. She‘s worked in media relations, internal communications, health communications, marketing and issues management for health care, nonprofit and technology organizations. Before MedStar, she did communications leadership work for Leidos, a national security, engineering and health organization. A former communications director for Erickson Living (a continuing care retirement community) and for the American Cancer Society, she managed marketing for public health campaigns, advocacy and fundraising initiatives. Howard has an M.S. in health communications from Boston University and a B.A. in broadcast journalism from James Madison University. @TiaMHoward

Leigh Ann Christovich is the Assistant Vice President of Internal Communications at Ochsner Health System, where she leads system executive communications as well as strategic planning and direction for all internal communications across Ochsner Health, inclusive of all regions, associated facilities and partnerships. Her focus and oversight includes proactive, reactive and crisis communications as well as critical change management across the system. She leads the development and execution of executive voice and internal thought leadership across the system’s 12-member executive leadership team and associated regional executive teams, as well as leading Ochsner’s philanthropic messaging across audiences and service lines. Her work extends to internal communications technology platforms, including the optimization of Ochsner’s intranet and custom message deployment platforms. Christovich began her career in tourism marketing on the Gulf Coast. She has served in various editorial, corporate, executive and employee communications positions with UPS in Atlanta and has operated her own marketing communications consulting practice with an emphasis on effective promotional messaging and organizational voice. She joined Ochsner in 2014.

Nicole Haddenham is Managing Director of Employee Experience and HR Product Management at Charles Schwab, where she defines the strategy and product roadmap for the company’s HR service management platform and leads award-winning digital workplace initiatives and teams that focus on empowering employees through collaboration, communication and connection. Haddenham has been with Charles Schwab since 2016, and prior to that, was the Internal Communications Manager for Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association, Inc. She has also served as a Community Relations Coordinator for the AmeriCorps*VISTA program and as a reporter for the Meade Country Times-Tribune and Rapid City Journal. Haddenham has also spoken about her efforts in successfully developing and leading multi-discipline company-wide functions, including intranet/digital workplace, internal communications and HR service delivery. She is an active member of the Project Management Institute, International Association of Business Communicators and the Professional Businesswomen of California.