We wish our people cared more.
How can we get them to reflect the values of our organization?
How we can motivate them to want to do more?
We have a great vision. Why won’t they buy into it?
For starters, you wrote it without them. When I pick out an outfit for my son, he will hate it no matter it looks like. Because I picked it out FOR him. He had no ownership in the process. You wrote a vision for the company and they had nothing to do with it. That’s why they don’t care about it. It doesn’t mean anything to them. It’s forced on them. More rules, processes, and things to do. You’re telling them what to do. And people don’t want to be told what to do.
The story doesn’t include them. It includes you. What you want this company to be. Are they anywhere in this story? No. Because it’s not a story.
Your vision is a set of beliefs, not a story. So it’s not emotional. Make it a story and give it emotion.
Your employee doesn’t care because this story isn’t about him. Oddly enough, sometimes it’s not even about your customer. I’ve read company visions that were all about what we do and how we’re the best at it. Yeah. No wonder nobody cares.
For most of you out there, wondering why your people aren’t more engaged – why they don’t care about the brand – why they aren’t buying into the story……..ask yourself if there is a story?
What you sell. Your values. Your mission. Your vision. This is not a story. This is data. Want a story? Make it personal. Your company story is not what you do – it’s who you are – making this personal to you – what we believe in. THE PEOPLE ARE THE STORY. Not just the people who started the company that died a long time ago. We don’t care about that. It’s about the people who breathe life into that company today.
Find a way to take that same vision (data) and make it mean something to the employee and their story – and they will engage. Make it mean something to the customer – and they will engage.
There are three perspectives in every company story – the brand – the employee – and the customer. Connect all three – make all three personal –connect the employee to his company story to his own personal place in that story and how he affects that customer – connect the brand/co/org story to the people who work there and the stories of those whose lives have been changed because of that – and you have engagement on all sides.
Need help on crafting stories that impact and influence?
Call your story tutor – Kelly Swanson – who can help you turn that data into a compelling story.