Challenge & Selection:

The challenge itself is one that many are experience right now- the stress of living through a  pandemic. This includes working full-time, parenting full-time, remaining healthy, balanced and  performant. I work for a very large, 6 billion dollar revenue-producing, data and analytics  company- all told about 20,000 employees that are all over the world. I personally work as an  innovation program manager, helping to enable our employees and divisions to upskill, innovate  and ultimately bring value to the business.

From an outward perspective one would think a large company would probably be very out of  touch with its employees- only focusing on business revenue and client impact. And that’s where  storytelling comes in. I’ll share with you how my company not only used storytelling to drive a  cultural narrative of empathy, compassion and understanding with our employees, but also a  brand narrative that showed our perspective and existing clients how and why we are changing.

Application:

In partnership with our human resources team, we came up with a way to address the needs of  our employees during a pandemic, and tell a story, not only for an external audience, but also for  our internal audience.

From a people perspective- We almost immediately set up weekly, all-employee Q&A sessions-  addressing and acknowledging that this was a very unprecedented and unknown landscape. We  updated paid leave policies to accommodate those who needed to focus on caring for family or  children. We encouraged managers to write weekly blog posts, set up virtual coffee breaks or  happy hours to really connect, share and engage with their teams. We brought in a third-party  behavior change firm to provide resources and trainings on well-being. This told of story of a  people-first approach.

From a community perspective- we allocated funding for global COVID-19 relief efforts. We  provided supply chain data to hospitals and governments. This told the story of our commitment  to sustaining and supporting these communities and organizations in a time of need.

Lastly, we developed a marketing campaign, we’ll call it “#ProudOut.” We engaged our  employees to share their stories. We were able to tell the story of the ways that our colleagues,  customers and communities were stepping up during the crisis.

Insight:

In looking at our challenge and approaching it with the storytelling tool, I realized how powerful it  really is. By telling a good narrative- we were able to identify key personas—struggling parents,  stressed coworkers, and skeptical clients. We were then able to create focus, motivation and  inspiration to our employees, and show our clients the ‘why’ behind what we are doing and that  we were continuing to progress.

Approach:

I think my team would have been better served if we had defined success better. I think that we  were in a state of hyper-solution mode and could have stepped back and asked what the overall  goals were. While we accomplished employee satisfaction, high retention and increased  revenue- I believe we may have been able to accomplish more with more defined end goals.


Challenge & Selection : The challenge itself is one that many are experience right now- the stress of living through a pandemic . This includes working full - time , parenting full - time , remaining healthy , balanced and performant . I work for a very large , 6 billion dollar revenue - producing , data and analytics company- all told about 20,000 employees that are all over the world . I personally work as an innovation program manager , helping to enable our employees and divisions to upskill , innovate and ultimately bring value to the business . From an outward perspective one would think a large company would probably be very out of touch with its employees- only focusing on business revenue and client impact . And that ’s where storytelling comes in . I ’ll share with you how my company not only used storytelling to drive a cultural narrative of empathy , compassion and understanding with our employees , but also a brand narrative that showed our perspective and existing clients how and why we are changing . Application : In partnership with our human resources team , we came up with a way to address the needs of our employees during a pandemic , and tell a story , not only for an external audience , but also for our internal audience . From a people perspective- We almost immediately set up weekly , all - employee Q&A sessions- addressing and acknowledging that this was a very unprecedented and unknown landscape . We updated paid leave policies to accommodate those who needed to focus on caring for family or children . We encouraged managers to write weekly blog posts , set up virtual coffee breaks or happy hours to really connect , share and engage with their teams . We brought in a third - party behavior change firm to provide resources and trainings on well - being . This told of story of a people - first approach . From a community perspective- we allocated funding for global COVID-19 relief efforts . We provided supply chain data to hospitals and governments . This told the story of our commitment to sustaining and supporting these communities and organizations in a time of need . Lastly , we developed a marketing campaign , we ’ll call it “ # ProudOut . ” We engaged our employees to share their stories . We were able to tell the story of the ways that our colleagues , customers and communities were stepping up during the crisis . Insight : In looking at our challenge and approaching it with the storytelling tool , I realized how powerful it really is . By telling a good narrative- we were able to identify key personas — struggling parents , stressed coworkers , and skeptical clients . We were then able to create focus , motivation and inspiration to our employees , and show our clients the ‘ why ’ behind what we are doing and that we were continuing to progress . Approach : I think my team would have been better served if we had defined success better . I think that we were in a state of hyper - solution mode and could have stepped back and asked what the overall goals were . While we accomplished employee satisfaction , high retention and increased revenue- I believe we may have been able to accomplish more with more defined end goals .