Gold Quill Case Study: Practice Differently — Reimagining Recruitment Through Culture-Driven Storytelling

Editor’s note: This article is part of the Gold Quill spotlight series, highlighting award-winning communication projects recognized for strategic excellence and measurable impact.

Practice Differently — Now'h Ut'en — Now'h Guna (Our Business, Our Way)
Marlaena Mann, Andrea Palmer, Jordan Cryderman, and Emily Epp
Carrier Sekani Family Services
Category 25: Audio/Visual | Award of Excellence

Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS) is a leading provider of health, social, and legal services for 11 Indigenous communities across Carrier and Sekani territories in north-central British Columbia. Built on the legacy of Elders and First Nations leaders, the organization delivers holistic, community-based programs grounded in local culture, wisdom, and evidence-based practices.

Like many not-for-profit health and wellness organizations, CSFS is working to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals in a highly competitive sector.. Operating in rural and remote communities with a limited local talent pool, the organization must do more than recruit—it must attract individuals who will thrive in a community-centric environment.

For CSFS, hiring for cultural understanding and alignment is critical to workforce stability, service quality, and long-term retention. To advance its strategic priorities and reinforce culture as its foundation, the organization adopted a values-based recruitment approach anchored by a central storytelling campaign: Practice Differently.

Telling an Authentic Story of Impact

Targeted to early- to mid-career social workers, nurses and lawyers, the video speaks directly to professionals motivated by purposeful work, cultural humility, and meaningful community connection.

Rather than relying on traditional recruitment messaging, CSFS used oral storytelling to illustrate the lived impact of its work. The narrative follows Sarah, a young Carrier girl, as she moves through life supported by her family and CSFS staff, visualizing how services are rooted in culture, relationships and the bah’lats, the traditional Carrier governance system.

Sarah’s story was developed by CSFS Executive and Takla Nation Hereditary Chief Mary Teegee-Gray and shaped through collaboration with Elders, community members, and staff to ensure it authentically reflects key life and ceremonial milestones. This approach embeds the historical and ongoing impacts of colonial systems while highlighting the opportunity to contribute to a future where Indigenous children grow up supported by their culture and community.

Communicating What It Means to ‘Practice Differently’

The video is guided by three core messages:

• Work where culture is at the centere of everything.
• Practice differently through lower client-to-staff ratios, wrap-around programs, and holistic care.
• Build a values-aligned career grounded in wisdom, compassion, responsibility and love.

These messages distinguish CSFS in the job market and position the organization as an employer of choice, offering deeply impactful work that directly contributes to the healing, wellness and self-determination of community members and Nations.

Driving Engagement and Action

The video served as the anchor of a broader recruitment campaign, designed to build awareness and consideration while driving traffic to the CSFS careers page. Performance was measured across audience retention, demographic reach, and web engagement.

Results exceeded all objectives:

• 75.6% average view duration, surpassing the 70% target.
• 63.4% of viewers aged 18–44, aligning with priority recruitment demographics.
• 750.7% increase in recruitment page traffic, from 2,908 to 24,738 views in one year.

These outcomes demonstrate that the campaign not only captured attention but successfully motivated prospective candidates to further explore opportunities with CSFS.

A Lasting Model for Values-Based Recruitment

The Practice Differently video reflects the power of aligning communication strategy with organizational priorities and values. By combining authentic storytelling, community collaboration, and strategic audience insight, CSFS transformed recruitment into a meaningful invitation to walk alongside Indigenous families and communities and make a lasting difference.