What comes to mind when you think of “storytelling?” It could be your favorite childhood story like The Giving Tree, an inspiring TED Talk about emotional intelligence, or a million other stories.
Most of us know that storytelling creates an emotional connection that gets messages across, but we often overlook the power of storytelling at work.
We want to challenge you to see every message to your colleagues as an opportunity to tell a story. Why? Because stories are the key to company-wide clarity and employee connection.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Check out this article to score a deep dive on how to create your own internal storytelling strategy.
Battling Attrition Starts at the Top
As the new year unfolds, experts are pouring out their guidance for how to stop the bleeding as more people get the courage to quit their jobs.
Companies are struggling to find ways to retain their most valuable people and prevent burnout from those covering for vacant positions.
People leave for all sorts of reasons:
- Jeff Lesher’s recent WTPW video suggests people flee because of who they work for. Having a “don’t be a jerk” policy should be an expectation, not an exception.
- In this study, they found that a toxic culture is 10.4 times more likely to contribute to attrition than compensation.
- Arianna Huffington’s recent post points out that people are resigning from cultures that foster burnout and broken definitions of success.
While you can’t completely prevent attrition or burnout, you have more control over it than you might think. If you really value success, the tools of opportunity are right there for you. It boils down to purpose, values, and connection.
- Genuinely care about your people.
- Look for a way to enable connection to foster questions and more predictable success.
- Leverage your organization's purpose and values as the common language.
- Spend time with your team, especially those that you can least afford to lose.
- Double down on consistent communication, authentic connection, and trust.
What We're Reading
Same Base Colours, New Patterns
“The recent years have pushed the transformation of Spotify’s Social team, to People Experience (Px), and now to Community Experience (Cx), showing the social glue – which is the secret sauce. It’s one part ‘purpose’, one part ‘listen’ and one part ‘care’. We will keep making that sauce, and we think this take on employee experience offers opportunities to innovate.”
Get ready to hear the word “community” a lot more.
When we talk about company culture, we’re really talking about how organizations build a sense of community. If you’re not purposeful about community experience like Spotify, it’s time to start.
The Secret Ingredient of Thriving Companies?
There’s a very real type of magic that can take your company to new heights. It’s right in front of you…It’s your people.
Former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly sees six ingredients as the key to creating a company’s unique recipe for human magic. 🪄
- Meaning: People feel personally invested in their work when their individual aspirations are linked to their company’s purpose.
- Authentic Human Connections: Employees feel understood and valued when they are seen as individuals with unique talents, needs, and challenges.
- Psychological Safety: Foster a culture where people feel safe to show up as their true selves, be vulnerable, and ask for help without fear of punishment. This is the most important driver of team effectiveness.
- Autonomy: Invite your team to take ownership of what they do and how they do it. When employees are in the driver’s seat, it propels organizations to become more agile.
- Learning Environment: Personalized coaching improves team performance more than traditional performance reviews – point-blank. Focus on helping teammates develop their strengths.
- Growth: Individual and business growth go hand in hand. Prioritizing growth feeds innovation and further business expansion.
Yanks’ Balkovec living ‘American dream’ with manager role
Meet Rachel Balkovec. She will be the first female manager in the history of affiliated baseball. As we (slowly) begin to see more diversity in leadership roles, the organizations that lead the charge will be the ones to watch.
What Are You Reading?
In the spirit of continuous learning, we’d love to hear what newsletters, blogs, and books you’ve been enjoying.
We’re all ears, so send any and all recommendations our way!
Shoutout to our teammate Julie Gelb who helped shape this week's edition of Stories that SHIFT.
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