Storytelling: Communicating Strategy and Value

Challenge

The company I work for is based on strong values and it is important for every employee to understand  same. Business model is spread across vast geographical area which makes it difficult to call all the new  employees to a central location for onboarding process and to ensure that the message of organizational  values is clearly communicated to all. Hence, in order to build and maintain the connect with every  employee it was essential to identify a cost effective and time saving means to inculcate organizational  values.

As HR, we shared the responsibility of developing talent, coaching leaders and energizing employees.  We as HR department required means through which the barrier between management and employees  could be lessened and employees were motivated to come to work. We defined our values broadly as  accepting no limits, alternative things, and driving positive change.

We knew that, on paper, the company values were important and foundational in our business decisions  and how we conducted ourselves at work, but were we living these values in a real way? And how could  we communicate to new employees their significance if we weren’t satisfied with the way we were  living them ourselves?

Selection

To answer above challenges, we approached the art of storytelling. Storytelling has been used over ages  as means of socialization. The moral stories we tell our younger generation as means of instillation good  values is an ancient art appreciated by all. Stories can help solve problem, enhance relationships,  influence and inspire others, neutralize conflict, and instill values. A well-told story can be inspiring,  energize us for a cause or even emotionally connect people and communities beyond boundaries. Over  the centuries, this is the way we humans have transferred knowledge & wisdom and shared our culture  & heritage. Hence, storytelling was used as means to maximize spread and to connect with employees  on an emotional level.

We looked at other organizations who have used storytelling as means to connect with employees. One  of the organizations was, BUPA who are one of Australia’s leading health providers. BUPA introduced  storytelling into their organization and found it to be helpful with many of their challenges. In 2015 they  used storytelling to communicate their corporate values in a more personal way as they have a strong  focus on authentic leadership.

Application

We focused on four key stages to strategically implement storytelling into origination: 1) Equipping  leaders, key influencers and support specialists with the skill; 2)Capturing stories throughout the  organization; 3)Sharing stories both internally and externally; and 4)Generating stories by your actions  and decisions.

The first stage of the process was to skill all the necessary leaders, including the CEO, senior leadership  team. It was also important for the most senior leaders to be role modelling the use of business  storytelling throughout the organization. Leaders telling personal stories about their successes, setbacks,  families and life journey paves the way for others to be authentic.

The second stage was developing formal and informal strategies to capture stories throughout  organization. The focus of the stories we gathered were to celebrate the past, acknowledge the present  and paint the future. Therefore, it was critical to capture stories from a diverse range of people, including  people of different age, tenure, position, location and race.

After we have captured stories you need to share them. It was important to share stories across our  traditional communication channels such as website, newsletters and employee briefings. We also  included it as part of digital induction program for all new employees. We focused that these stories  should encourage the behaviors and culture we want within our organization.

Last and most important step was to continue the culture of storytelling, we had a portal of employee  speak and of best practices our employees did in their everyday behavior which adds value.

Insight and Approach

Storytelling helped us to engage employees in a better manner. People were motivated to come to work  and we saw improvement in our survey ratings. Employees felt empowered that their stories were being  heard across organization which made them proud. The sense of being part of organization was created  where every employee’s voice was being heard by all.

We also thought of taking this small act of storytelling to next level by having an annual event where  employees from all group countries can participate and send their stories focused on three values  discussed earlier.

At the end, we should be able to maximize employee potential to achieve organizational goals. With  human resources becoming the most critical resource for any organization, there is always an  opportunity for us continue to enhance our effectiveness.

