USING STORIES TO ENGAGE YOUR WORKFORCE. Marion Cochran Lunt Senior Communication Consultant

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1 USING STORIES TO ENGAGE YOUR WORKFORCE Marion Cochran Lunt Senior Communication Consultant

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3 THE VALUE OF STORYTELLING: WHY TELL STORIES?

4 The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. - Steve Jobs 4

5 Stories Capture our attention Build connection Create trust Touch our hearts Inspire us to act 5

6 Getting Employees Attention How employees read: Spend <1 minute Headline and first paragraph Scan for information Stop if they don't understand Only 20% of a webpage 6

7 TELLING STORIES TO HELP ACHIEVE BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

8 For Broader Organizational Stories 8

9 Storytelling is the single most powerful tool Stories breathe life into messages of vision, mission, and values. Howard Gardner Harvard University 9

10 Story Structure Context Challenge Resolution 1. Authentic 2. Focused and simple 3. Short 10

11 Story Structure Challenge 1. What must be overcome? 2. Explain just enough 11

12 Story Structure Resolution 1. What happened next? 2. Consequences 3. The call to action 12

13 Four keys to great storytelling Simplicity 13

14 We Can Relate to Stories 14

15 Four keys to great storytelling Credibility 15

16 Four keys to great storytelling Symbols

17 Four keys to great storytelling Emotion When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful. - Malala Yousafzai 17

18 The greatest story commandment? Make me care. - Andrew Stanton 18

19 More information about... YOUR NEXT STEPS

20 What s the goal? Before you start creating your story, you ve got to know where you re going. You ve got to prepare, and you ve got to have your goal in mind. The story should move employees toward your goal. Are you trying to get employees to embrace a major change? Do you want them to enroll in your new high-deductible health care plan? Your story should lead toward your goal and the action you want employees to take. You will also need to review how the story will also support your total rewards strategy. 20

21 Look at questions employees ask People think in stories, not statistics. 1. Where are - Arianna employees Huffington misunderstanding? 2. What is causing confusion? First: Look at the questions you get from your employees. When the phone rings, what are they calling about? What do you hear them talking about in the hallways? Finding stories that illustrate answers to these questions is a perfect way to address these areas. For example: Can you help me understand how a copay works? Share a story and show them how. Can you explain to me how our bonuses are calculated? - Don t just give them the formula take the opportunity to show how company successes have led to the bonus, too! Arianna Huffington, the president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, one of the fastest-growing online news sites said: People think in stories, not statistics. Formulas and numbers, while valuable, do not sink in the way a good example or illustrative story can. 21

22 HSA Case Study Kayla, a young, single mother with two kids, Leticia and Alinda, is finally recovering from a terrible case of the flu after two weeks of high fever, chills and body aches. Living paycheck to paycheck, any major injury or illness used to cause Kayla a lot of financial stress. Two years ago she had to take out a second mortgage on her house when her daughter had an appendectomy. Then, last year Kayla enrolled in a highdeductible plan with a Health Savings Account. Now, she sets aside $150 each month to put into her Health Savings Account for medical expenses. She doesn t pay any taxes on the money in her account -- and any money she hasn t used at the end of the year stays in the account! This time Kayla s trip to the urgent care clinic -- and medication -- came out of her Health Savings Account so she didn t have to pay anything out-ofpocket. 22

23 Look at your HR goals 1. What do you want employees to do? 2. What results would you like to see? Second: Look at your own HR goals and how they align with your total rewards strategy. How will these stories support the strategy and goals? What behaviors do you really want to drive? Then find stories to show how employees could go from point A (problem!) to point B (result!). The Willis Resilience expedition shown here visualized achieving some very specific goals at the South Pole and they now have some great stories to share of their own! 23

24 Wellness Program Jeff s story began a little more than a year go in February when he discovered he weighed more than 250 pounds for the first time in his life. He had been a college baseball player in the late 80 s and still considered himself an athlete, but his body was telling a different story. Seeing the scale rise above that number hit him hard. That day he decided to change his life. He began running, biking and watching what he ate. He also began using the company wellness resources to structure a healthier lifestyle and to pay better attention to his nutrition. By June of last year he had lost nearly 30 pounds. In January, with just 15 pounds to go to get to 200 pounds, he got serious about nutrition, applying all he d been reading. He tracked his steps and activity minutes using a pedometer, which encouraged him to meet his daily goals. It worked. He started last year in size 40 pants and is now wearing size 32 s to work. He s been under 200 pounds for 8 weeks now and feels better than he did in college. 24

25 Three Things to Try One: Example Two: CEO Story Three: Success Story With a list of the top questions your employees are asking, and an understanding of what you d like those employees to do, you re ready to get started. But don t feel like you ve got to change everything at once. Next week, put together a short story to illustrate something you may already have been planning to . A reminder of a company staff meeting? A company status report? How can you add a story to that? Then work with your CEO. Usually they re pretty good at telling stories, but see if you can apply some of these tools here (and in your handout) to the stories they are telling. 25

26 What if I m not a good writer? 1. Speak from your heart 2. Learn from others 3. Remember you re not writing for a Pulitzer! 4. Look to others for examples 26

27 Telling Stories 1. Stories help your audience connect with the content. 2. To make your stories drive action with your employees, give them Context Conflict Resolution. 3. Keep your stories simple and credible. Adding metaphors and emotion make them even more powerful. 4. Everyone is a storyteller. 27

28 Telling Stories 1. Stories help your audience connect with the content. 2. To make your stories drive action with your employees, give them Context Conflict Resolution. 3. Keep your stories simple and credible. Adding metaphors and emotion make them even more powerful. 4. Everyone is a storyteller. 28

29 USING STORIES TO ENGAGE YOUR WORKFORCE Why tell stories? Stories Capture our attention Build connection Create trust Touch our hearts Inspire us to act Storytelling is the single most powerful tool in a leader s toolkit. Stories breathe life into messages of vision, mission and values. - Howard Gardner, Harvard University Story Structure Context Challenge Resolution Authentic What must be overcome? What happened next? Focused and simple Explain just enough Consequences Short The call to action Great stories have: Simplicity Credibility Symbols Emotion

30 Steps to get started: Look at the questions employees are asking you. Where are employees misunderstanding? What is causing confusion? Look at your HR goals. What do you want employees to do? What results would you like to see? What success story or example can you put into your newsletter, flyer, or other communication piece? Here are some ideas for eliciting employee success stories: Has someone benefited from your benefits or wellness program? (i.e. lost weight, improved fitness and nutrition, lower cholesterol levels) Has anyone saved money with their HSA? Did an employee improve their productivity because of your benefit programs? Has your HR department helped an employee with an issue or directed them to a benefit program that improved their overall health and well-being? Additional Resources: Six Ways to Spruce Up Your Internal Communications: Seven ways to inspire your audience through stories: 7_ways_to_inspire_your_audience_through_stories_47587.aspx Storytelling in Organizations: The Power And Traps Of Using Stories To Share Knowledge In Organizations: Using Stories to Persuade: Business Storytelling: Using Stories to Inspire: This Will Be the #1 Business Skill of the Next 5 Years: 2