A story about storytelling and how important it is when you communicate reward, or any other corporate message. In the words of Rudyard Kipling, “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten”. The same is true of corporate communications.
So, what makes a good story? Strong and interesting characters, an engaging narrative, the ability to connect with the reader’s emotions, and certainly it has to have a beginning, a middle and an end. But what has that got to do with communicating to employees about pay and reward? Isn’t it facts and figures that employees want? The bottom line, how much they are going to get paid?
A resounding NO! There’s a huge amount of research and evidence that links storytelling with behavioural change and engagement. Logic, reasoning, facts and figures aren’t memorable, they don’t inspire and importantly they don’t create an emotional connection with the employee. And that’s what’s required to persuade and motivate – which is after all what reward is all about. I’m not saying facts and figures don’t have their place in a reward story, but not in place of the story itself.
So what do you need to write your corporate story?
A great title – what I mean is you need a theme, a name, an analogy to hang your story to. Something that is instantly relatable and carries your employee through the story.
Reliable author – your employees need to trust and believe in you in order to engage with your story. You need to be credible, reliable, honest and open. And you need to back up your story with action. A good author makes it clear what they expect of their audience and what their role is in the story. After trusting you, the pieces of the story need to fit together in the end.
Colourful characters – central to any good story are the characters. In a corporate story your main characters need to be your employees. Give real examples of how your new initiative will work, how things will change and develop for them, talk it through in real terms. Introduce other characters such as other companies and organisations that have done similar things. Use well-known brands or other organisations in your industry.
Grounded in reality - your story has to be inspiring and sell the benefits of the journey or change that you’re sharing, but at the same time it needs to be grounded in reality. You need to acknowledge the challenges and difficulties of the situation.
Emotional not logical. This is particularly true when talking about pay and reward. It’s easy when we talk about pay ranges, pay review, or bonus to sell the numbers. Maximum earning potential, target earnings etc. but what we really need to do is to sell the story. Make your story about real people or ‘typical’ people if you can’t use real ones.
A beginning, middle and end – always the basics of as story, good or otherwise. The beginning of your story is where we are today and the end is sharing how the story will end - your future vision. Talk about the journey along the way that you’ll be taking together, the twists and turns you expect. And keep talking. Use every opportunity to reinforce your story, add to it or focus on a particular aspect … but keep telling it.
I can’t promise you a Man Booker Prize but you will be rewarded by the results you’ll see from your employees when you create a good read!
