Once upon a time – building company culture through narrative
According to Gallup, lack of employee engagement costs the global economy US$ 7.8 trillion, and Europe has the least engaged workforce.
Your employees feel disengaged when they don’t feel connected or cared for. When people feel connected, trust increases, and your employees will feel they have more meaning and purpose in their work.
Give them a story that will hold their imagination - something they want to stay up for.
An easy way to do this is to have your ideas, problems and experiences reflected in stories. From a young age, people learn from stories. Storytelling is a familiar way to synthesize complex information; storytelling is how we connect. Stories can break down the hierarchical relationship between you and your workforce. Everyone in your company can take part in the storytelling process. When we listen to stories, our brain waves synchronize with the storyteller’s, building an invisible connection.
Stories become the foundation of company culture because they can move feelings and touch hearts. Stories are an integral way to define your business and what it means to work for it. Stories can help solve conflicts, explain the purpose and strengthen team spirit. And in an uncertain world, stories can provide an anchor and support change processes.
Your employees want to know what story they are part of, their place in that story, and how they can make it their own when they re-tell it.
If you enjoyed this post you may be interested in receiving a copy of our white paper “The Crisis of meaning in the workplace“.
We continually research and publish white papers which are available to download from our web site so do keep in touch.
