Reflection – Storytelling

CHALLENGE

I was working on a retail company within the Talent, Culture and Communication Directorate (TCCD). One  of the main objectives of my position, was to engage people with the new culture – where a key element  was being customer-centered. The main challenges in this task were three:

-  We had to define what does a “new culture customer-centered” meant, so that employees can  relate with and live it day by day.

-  The scope of this project intended to reach 12,000 employees, with very different profiles from  each other: people with few months or a lifetime working in the company, different education  backgrounds, different locations within the country and different ethnographic profiles.

-  We had limited resources: the TCCD was a team of 10 people divided in 4 different areas and I  was the only person in the Organizational Culture area; the budget was limited by the CEO and  Human Resources Director; and we were time framed.

SELECTION

After a couple of months of brainstorming, workshops, and meetings, we came with a Culture Model that  visually looked like a compass, which pointed to a Pillar in each direction: The North, South, East and West.  Each Pillar was based on the values of the company and comprised two Organizational Competencies,  which described the kind of behavior people were expected to show.

General idea of how the Culture Model looked

North

South

West

East

Pillar A + 2  Competencies

Pillar B + 2  Competencies

Pillar C + 2  Competencies

Pillar D + 2  Competencies

For the purpose of this paper, I will focus uniquely on the part where we needed to share with all the  people of the organization this new Model, which intrinsically had the objective of people’s full  understanding and genuine commitment with the Organizational Culture. Therefore, it was clear that we  needed to connect with people and their values, so we used the storytelling, which is a tool that helped  us to take our audience in the journey for a better understanding and adoption of the Organizational  Culture.

APPLICATION

First, we divided the population into 6 different kinds of audience, and we made some adjustments to the  presentation accordingly. We began to present the Model to key leaders of the organization and the  Human Resources areas (learning launches), and after their feedback and several adjustments, we started  to present the Culture Model to more and more groups within the organization.

The story started with an exercise where everybody in the room, was required to close their eyes and  point to the North, so that when they opened their eyes, they realized that everybody was pointing in  several different directions. The intention was to show them that our current status was similar to that  scenario, and how important it is that everybody knows where to address if we say we’re going to walk  to the North, or to the South, or to the East, or to the West.

People pointing where they believed there was the North

After that, we explained the Pillar of each direction and the underlying competencies. It is worth saying,  that each Pillar and their competencies somehow related to the next Pillar, so there was a logic story that  helped people to understand what this new culture was, even more, we used several examples to explain  each one of those and make them participate.

At the end, there were a lot of people that approached us to tell us that they were grateful because it  gave them a feeling of belonging and that it was much more clear what were the Pillars and the  expectations of the company. We collected data in surveys that helped us to support those results.

INSIGHT

Using storytelling in this case was super powerful because it helped people to unfold the strategy of the  company, which was customer-centered, into behaviors that they could do in their daily activities.  Storytelling had an impact on them, so they remember much more about this new Culture, than if we had  just presented slides with the meaning of each pillar and competencies. It was also very important that  we identify our different kind of audiences, but we lack the comprehension of some of them, so I do not  think we could engage everyone equally. However, I could say people started to understand their  Organizational Culture and understand where the North is.

APPROACH

I would definitely do more research of the audiences that were feeling generally underlooked (e.g. people  in the warehouse) to understand how the same message, could be transmitted through a different story  that they can relate more with. I would very much like to have a learning launch with them and their  feedback to give all of our different audiences a voice, where they have the chance to talk about tensions  that exist; not only from people of the corporation.


Reflection – Storytelling CHALLENGE I was working on a retail company within the Talent , Culture and Communication Directorate ( TCCD ) . One of the main objectives of my position , was to engage people with the new culture – where a key element was being customer - centered . The main challenges in this task were three : - We had to define what does a “ new culture customer - centered ” meant , so that employees can relate with and live it day by day . - The scope of this project intended to reach 12,000 employees , with very different profiles from each other : people with few months or a lifetime working in the company , different education backgrounds , different locations within the country and different ethnographic profiles . - We had limited resources : the TCCD was a team of 10 people divided in 4 different areas and I was the only person in the Organizational Culture area ; the budget was limited by the CEO and Human Resources Director ; and we were time framed . SELECTION After a couple of months of brainstorming , workshops , and meetings , we came with a Culture Model that visually looked like a compass , which pointed to a Pillar in each direction : The North , South , East and West . Each Pillar was based on the values of the company and comprised two Organizational Competencies , which described the kind of behavior people were expected to show . General idea of how the Culture Model looked North South West East Pillar A + 2 Competencies Pillar B + 2 Competencies Pillar C + 2 Competencies Pillar D + 2 Competencies For the purpose of this paper , I will focus uniquely on the part where we needed to share with all the people of the organization this new Model , which intrinsically had the objective of people ’s full understanding and genuine commitment with the Organizational Culture . Therefore , it was clear that we needed to connect with people and their values , so we used the storytelling , which is a tool that helped us to take our audience in the journey for a better understanding and adoption of the Organizational Culture . APPLICATION First , we divided the population into 6 different kinds of audience , and we made some adjustments to the presentation accordingly . We began to present the Model to key leaders of the organization and the Human Resources areas ( learning launches ) , and after their feedback and several adjustments , we started to present the Culture Model to more and more groups within the organization . The story started with an exercise where everybody in the room , was required to close their eyes and point to the North , so that when they opened their eyes , they realized that everybody was pointing in several different directions . The intention was to show them that our current status was similar to that scenario , and how important it is that everybody knows where to address if we say we ’re going to walk to the North , or to the South , or to the East , or to the West . People pointing where they believed there was the North After that , we explained the Pillar of each direction and the underlying competencies . It is worth saying , that each Pillar and their competencies somehow related to the next Pillar , so there was a logic story that helped people to understand what this new culture was , even more , we used several examples to explain each one of those and make them participate . At the end , there were a lot of people that approached us to tell us that they were grateful because it gave them a feeling of belonging and that it was much more clear what were the Pillars and the expectations of the company . We collected data in surveys that helped us to support those results . INSIGHT Using storytelling in this case was super powerful because it helped people to unfold the strategy of the company , which was customer - centered , into behaviors that they could do in their daily activities . Storytelling had an impact on them , so they remember much more about this new Culture , than if we had just presented slides with the meaning of each pillar and competencies . It was also very important that we identify our different kind of audiences , but we lack the comprehension of some of them , so I do not think we could engage everyone equally . However , I could say people started to understand their Organizational Culture and understand where the North is . APPROACH I would definitely do more research of the audiences that were feeling generally underlooked ( e.g. people in the warehouse ) to understand how the same message , could be transmitted through a different story that they can relate more with . I would very much like to have a learning launch with them and their feedback to give all of our different audiences a voice , where they have the chance to talk about tensions that exist ; not only from people of the corporation .