How to tell your employee reward story
A few years ago, several charities were struggling to get medical supplies to remote communities in Africa. Countless lives were on the line, but they were running out of options. However, there was one product getting through.
Coca-Cola.
The Coca-Cola Company heard about the situation and wanted to help. It offered to put the medical supplies in with the Coca-Cola deliveries. And guess what? They got through. Coca-Cola has since launched its own initiative to help African governments get critical medicines to those who need them the most.
It’s an inspirational story, right? Coca-Cola’s brand suddenly feels a lot more human. And the tale leaves us thirsty for more insight into the company. That’s the power of effective storytelling. Want to tell an employee reward story that engages powerfully and communicates the value of your offering? Keep reading.
What is storytelling? Is it difficult to master?
Storytelling uses language to convey a series of intriguing events, whether real or fictional, to your audience. The tales you tell should stimulate your audience’s imagination, helping them visualise everything that makes up your story.
Stories can’t just be a list of facts or a statement. You need:
At least one object or person affected by your story
A beginning that sets up the conflict driving the narrative
A middle that provides insight into the solution of the conflict
An ending that fixes the conflict and concludes the narrative
Go back to the Coca-Cola story. See how all of these elements are used to create a memorable narrative in just a few sentences? It’s a great example of a compelling brand story.
A key part of successful storytelling in business? Putting your audience at the heart of your story. We’ll talk more about this in a moment.
The benefits of a compelling employee reward story
Stories are, by nature, engaging and memorable, making them an invaluable tool for better communication.
A compelling and relatable employee reward story can help you:
Engage people who were previously disengaged
Induce positive emotions around your offering
Make your message stick for the right reasons
Stimulate organic discussions about your offering
Encourage people to read your future communications
Simply put, effective storytelling is how you get people to listen and engage with your content. It’s the perfect way to teach your employees the true value of your reward package. You ensure your investment attracts, retains and engages people who will help you achieve your business goals.
Now you understand the storytelling basics and how it can benefit your employee reward package. Let’s look at the ways you can apply storytelling to your offering.
Apply storytelling to your employee reward package
It’s not as tricky as you might think. There are plenty of opportunities to create narratives that capture the most attractive elements of your employee reward package. You just need to look in the right places.
Consider how your package links to your business’ purpose, mission and strategy. For example, your overarching purpose might be to inspire individuals to greatness. Your product or service is designed to achieve this. You’ve spent years communicating how through marketing.
Now you can take a tip from the marketing playbook and tie this purpose into your employee reward package. Perhaps part of the package is professional development opportunities, personalised to the individual. In which case, you’re encouraging employees to aim for greatness.
And there’s the story. You don’t just help your customers self-actualise. You provide your employees with the benefits needed to unleash their potential too.
This example also shows how to put your employees at the heart of your story. This is key to engaging storytelling. Your audience needs to be able to relate to your narrative to feel emotionally connected to it. To nail a relatable story, make sure you have well-researched employee personas to guide you.
Bring your employee reward story to life
You’ve got an idea for a great employee reward story. But how do you execute it? First, decide on a format. What’s the best way to communicate your story? You could:
Write a case study - use a real example of how your reward package has impacted an employee
Write up an interview - have a chat with an employee who’s benefitted from your reward package and create an interview piece based on their answers
Create a video series - tell your story across a series of engaging videos, using animation or real-life footage to capture your audience’s imagination
Create a landing page - share your story on an enticing landing page with a call-to-action that encourages visitors to learn more
Create a blog series - write up your story and publish it on your business’ blog. You could break it up into parts to help build momentum
Talk about it during an event - get a charismatic speaker to tell your story, old-fashioned style, engaging a live audience during an internal business event
Once you’ve chosen how to present your story, you need to decide how you want to share it.
The best platform is the one with the highest engagement. You could ask your employees how they consume your content in an employee engagement survey. Or analyse data from your internal media platforms. Here are a few suggestions:
Feature your story in an employee newsletter
Create a series of social media posts advertising your blogs or videos
Upload your video series on your YouTube Channel
Post it on your employee forum
Highlight it during a townhall meeting
Talk about it in your podcast
It’s often best to use an multichannel approach (broadcasting your story on multiple online and offline platforms) to encourage higher levels of engagement.
Stay organised with a content plan. You can map out when and how often you share your employee reward story. This also helps you tie in your stories with your wider employee engagement strategy.
Supercharge interest in your employee reward package
The power of storytelling is in your hands. Use what you’ve learnt today to wield it wisely.
You’ll know when you’ve mastered the art of storytelling. Your employees will start discussing your reward package between themselves. You’ll get asked more questions and see a huge uptake in interest.
For more insight on business storytelling, read our article: Employee recognition, neuroscience and the power of storytelling.
Want faster results? I can help you uncover your most dazzling employee reward stories and tell them like an award-winning novelist. Make it happen today.