Prospera Credit Union: Local Chatter

We created an internal podcast that turned Prospera’s five new values into real stories employees could understand and use. Two credit unions had become one organization. The harder job was becoming one culture. Prospera Credit Union and Westminster Savings had merged. The new organization had 450 employees coming together with different histories, experiences and ways of working. Prospera had identified five values for the combined organization: Cultivate trusting relationships. Empower and enable others. Lead with curiosity. Embrace change and execute with purpose. Thrive as One Team. But there was a challenge. Corporate values are easy to write down. They are much harder to make real. Prospera didn’t need another values presentation. It needed a way for employees to understand what those values actually looked like in the decisions, conversations and relationships that shaped their work every day. The goal wasn’t simply to communicate five values. The goal was to help 450 employees start behaving like one organization. Together, Prospera and JAR built Local Chatter around lived experiences rather than corporate explanations. Our team partnered with Prospera to: Define the strategic role of the podcast around culture and employee connection. Build a five-episode editorial strategy, with each episode focused on one Prospera value. Find real stories from employees, members and the communities Prospera served. Bring in outside experts to add perspective and practical advice. Develop and prepare the host and guests. Research, write and produce each episode. Create promotional assets for Prospera’s internal channels. Measure listening and engagement to understand how employees were using the show. Employees and members showed the values in action. Outside experts helped explain why those behaviours mattered. Host Eagranie Yuh connected the stories and explored the questions employees might naturally have. Every episode was built around one question: “What does this value actually look like when someone lives it?” The JAR System changed the assignment before a single episode was recorded. Instead of beginning with topics, executives or production, we started with the role the podcast needed to play inside the newly merged organization. Job Help Prospera employees understand and live the organization’s five new values. Not announce them. Not explain them. Make them real. Audience Prospera’s 450 employees across branches, departments and corporate teams as two legacy organizations became one. Result Build a stronger shared understanding of Prospera’s culture by showing employees how its values appeared in real work, relationships and decisions. Once those three questions were answered, every editorial decision became easier. Stories Guests Experts Interview questions Episode structure Internal promotion Everything aligned around the same purpose instead of simply creating another internal communications channel. How the JAR System Changed the Show Before After Communicate five new corporate values. Show employees what those values look like in real life. Tell employees about the new culture. Let employees, members and experts demonstrate the culture. Create internal training content. Create something employees would choose to listen to. Focus on leadership messaging. Focus on lived experiences from across the organization. Measure whether the message went out. Measure whether employees actually spent time with it. What Changed The value of Local Chatter wasn’t created by better microphones. Or polished corporate messaging. Or putting executives behind a microphone. It came from changing the question. Instead of asking: “How do we explain our values?” Prospera and JAR asked: “How do we show people what these values look like?” That shift turned abstract ideas into stories about real people. Trust became something employees could hear. Curiosity became something they could recognize. Teamwork became something they could picture in their own jobs. The values stopped being words on a page. They became behaviour. What marketers can learn Internal communications has the same problem as external marketing. People can ignore it. Another email, values document or town hall may technically deliver the message without making anyone care about it. Storytelling changes the equation. An internal podcast gives employees enough time to hear how colleagues think, why decisions get made and what the organization is trying to become. That was the job of Local Chatter. Prospera already had the values. The podcast gave those values a voice “New hires in particular have mentioned how great they are to listen to as soon as they start to get an idea of the culture, and most have said it reaffirmed their decision to join Prospera.”

Prospera Credit Union: Local Chatter

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