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- What to Write When an Employee Dies
- 5 Ways to Get Your Email Read, Remembered and Responded To
- Six Tips for Writing in Easy Reading Season
- 12 Ways to Plug the Email Productivity Drain
- Two Questions to Ask Before You Start Writing
- 6 Ways to Aim Your Arrow for the Heart
- 6 Ways to Become an Idea Machine
- 3 Reasons Why You Need to Improve Your Writing Skills
- Get Personal With Your Holiday Greetings: 3 Tips
- Write to Entertain - 4 Tips
Posts Tagged ‘employee engagement’
When I first came across the term “engagement,” it referred to employees whose personal identity was tied to their jobs, who would do almost anything to delight customers, care for patients or invent mind-blowing technologies. Taken down a notch or five, it could cover employees who make an extra effort or those who aren’t looking for another job.
Engagement caught fire after studies confirmed that companies with deeply engaged employees made higher profits. So most businesses now take actions to raise these levels, from volunteering for causes on company time to voting on corporate decisions to encouraging little guys to come up with big ideas.
Contagious
Engagement quickly spread to the online world, where people interact, offer opinions, share personal moments, spread excitement and more. Like employee engagement, it hinges on individual identification with a larger force and manifests in concrete, contagious actions.
In his new book Engagement from Scratch!, Danny Iny of Firepole Marketing brings together the advice of more than 30 contributors, from well-known experts such as Brian Clark and Guy Kawasaki to people I had never heard of, with insights ranging from heavy-gauge profound to gossamer tactical.
Strategic
Like the blue-chip engagers, Danny and friends know that engagement has to produce strategic results. As he told me in a recent telephone interview, there’s no point in worrying about engagement if you’re hawking a commodity whose main appeal is the lowest price.
As he said: “Engagement depends on your goals. A lot of people want to start a business and want to know what they should do, how engagement fits in. I tell them it’s not an end, but a means. You have to look at how engagement is going to fit your business model. You don’t want to engage with everyone, but you probably need to engage with the people who may be important to your business. If you want people to like you, to have a relationship that’s meaningful, you need engagement.”
Hard, quick work
Danny cautioned that “engagement is not a light switch. You don’t flip it on. It’s gradual, a crystallization of how everyone fits together.” He hopes readers will be left with a better understanding of the concepts and tools of engagement. And prepared for hard work.
It’s up to them, to supply the strategic thinking and fast action. “In the world of entrepreneurship, so much is new,” he said. “There is not one step-by-step method that is guaranteed to work for everyone.”
After matching tools to strategy, Danny recommends a quick trial-and-error approach. “Some things won’t work for you and that’s perfectly fine. If you’re taking your time, you’ll make little progress. If you accelerate and do more, you’ll learn faster what works for you. Your returns will compound in an interesting way.”
If you want to sample the range of concepts and tools Danny has compiled, you can download a free PDF of Engagement from Scratch! at his book site Or you can buy the print or Kindle book at Amazon.com.
After years of sorting through employees photos of cakes and company signs, I came to realize how engaging these symbols can be. Employees take the cake.
In your office, people spend lots of time and money on initiatives to boost productivity, satisfaction and engagement. Unfortunately, they’re too busy to see the three elephants who are blocking their path.
But these elephants–Confused, Too Much Time and Stay Away–could once again destroy the village and crops.
This happened in 2008, when Confused made highly educated people pretend to understand “collateralized debt obligations” and “credit default swaps,” triggering the financial collapse. The recovery was delayed, because Too Much Time gave the politicians stimulus legislation that took too long to read. By showing more concern for the big bad banks than the grocery-buying voters, Stay Away pissed off the people, driving many to the Occupy protests or the Tea Party movement.
Think about what could happen with the current European crisis, even if we pretend everyone speaks English. What if one nations writes “I except your proposal” instead of “I accept?” What if the communiques take so long to read that an agreement is never signed? Or what if the hot Greeks and Italians feel alienated by the cold tone of the Germans and French?
Blame the elephants. If they keep growing, the disasters will multiply, not only in the corridors of power, but in your office too.
By following orders only from Spellcheck, Confused leaves employees wondering every time they read about “it’s results.” The IT department’s? Or maybe “It is results” is the hot new slogan they’re supposed to know?
Too Much Time, who is already wasting many hours every day with emails that don’t get to the point, is growing fatter off SharePoint, Twitter and social tools.
Despite all the emphasis on “friends” and “like,” Stay Away is waxing on about “authority endorsements,” extending “best regards” and spraying other gross stuff out of her trunk to keep people at a safe distance.
Everyone seems too preoccupied with new apps to notice how fat and mighty these elephants are growing. But before anyone else gets hurts, they need to learn a lesson from Busy Bee Inc, where one of the drones was smooshed by the weight of email messages from Too Much Time.
Something had to be done to tame the beasts, Queen Bee decided.
She focused on training Confused to think and stop blocking the path to understanding. She put Too Much Time on a diet that hinged on careful portion control. She became an elephant whisperer, appealing to Stay Away in a friendly tone with words that mean something to her.
She averted another smooshing. Better still, the elephants are eating out of her hand. Busy Bee’s productivity, satisfaction and engagement scores have soared. Business is hiving, I mean thriving.
Another happy ending made possible by people writing precisely, concisely and nicely. Will your office’s story end happily too?
Our shared mourning over the death of Steve Jobs got me thinking about what to write when regular people die. Tributes to famous people, especially if they are ailing, old or addicted, are prepared well in advance. I remember writing my first obituary at journalism school, about Barbara Walters, still going strong decades later.
Since then, I’ve written many short ones for company intranets, mostly about regular people whose lives mattered deeply to a much smaller group. I’ve tried to keep them simple, classy and personal, without the over-wrought expressions you hear too often at funerals or in newspaper memorials.
The person who has passed should be honored as the unique and special individual they were. That means more than checking the human resources file to list the jobs he held or achievements she will be remembered for. It means talking to the co-workers closest to the deceased. Some will be too shy or stunned to talk, especially if the death was sudden, so you may have to make a few calls to find someone who can provide the insight and information you need for a tribute.
If you ask general questions about what they liked about the individual, you will get general answers. Things like he “worked hard and played hard” or she was “smart, organized and kind.” Lots of people can be described this way.
But ask these friends about times they remember and you’ll get stories that tell people what he was like. For example, you’ll hear about the night he sang loud a cappella karaoke when the power went out at the office Christmas party or how she would pop in to water the plants when she was supposed to be on vacation.
You don’t have to say a lot–just one quick anecdote can capture the essence of the person who will be remembered. Don’t forget that small acts of kindness may be more likely to be remembered than big corporate coups.
To demonstrate the employee was valued, the obituary should come from one of the corporate leaders, whether the CEO, human resources director or local manager. The close colleagues who provided the examples and memories should be acknowledged and a more general expression of sympathy, depending on the relationship, extended sympathy to friends and family.
Of course mourning isn’t a one-person, one-day phenomenon. Set up a memorial page where others can reminisce. If the deceased is be remembered at, for example, a cancer fundraising event, make sure others know.
It’s wonderful to honor giants like Steve Jobs who have transformed our world. But if you want to create an organizational culture where people feel truly engaged, you have to remember that everyone matters, including the dead and the people who miss them.
Thanks for the photo, Cliff1066.
Just as gray is the new black for fashionistas, so storytelling has become the new social media for corporate communicators. Book after book, from The Tipping Point to Made to Stick, insist that we tell stories. Microsoft has even created a new position senior director of storytelling.
Whoa!
As someone who has been telling corporate stories for many years, let me interrupt with an emergency news flash. Yes, storytelling is the best way to capture attention, hearts and memories and make your point. But it’s much more difficult than other forms of nonfiction writing.
Just like in a story, though, the higher the mountain, the more rewarding the quest.
After I watched the presentation of friend Donna Papacosta from the IABC world conference, I realized it was time to share what I’ve learned as a creator of corporate story moments. I know I should tell a story here, but it’s difficult to have a story-generating conflict with someone as nice and smart as Donna.
Until it became trendy, I did not consider myself a storyteller. If I were, I would have written hit novels and screen plays. I have tried, but I just can’t sustain the long and loopy story arcs.
Short vignettes
Lucky for me, corporate storytellers don’t have 300 pages or two hours to spin the yarn. We have a few sentences, pages at the most, or a few seconds, minutes at best.
So although I have learned a lot about the craft from screen writers and novelists, especially Stephen King’s On Writing, I have spent more time reflecting on the short stories told in television commercials. Or at least that’s how I justify hours flopped out on the couch when my eyes and brain are too tired to read or write anymore.
The main difference between television commercials and corporate storytelling is truth. Commercials are about fictional characters who we can relate to because they are just like us or the people we want to see ourselves as. But the characters in corporate stories can’t be idealized. They have to be real.
Short, real stories can be employed in many ways, from anecdotes that introduce your presentation to detailed case studies to quick examples.
Heroes we love
My favorite is the regular-employee-as-hero tale. These almost always involve our hero coming through for customers and co-workers despite a Herculean challenge: the ravages of the tornado, tsunami, ice storm or other natural disaster… the bombing of the twin towers or other violent event… the project with the impossible deadline… the new mission-critical system that doesn’t work… the evil competitor stealing clients… the heartless bureaucrats destroying dreams … I could go on, but you get it.
That magic comes not only from recognizing typical employees as heroes, but also from showing examples of the behaviour the organization would love other people to emulate.
Notice that these story lines are all based on conflict and resolution. You cannot have a story without conflict. The more insurmountable the challenge seems, with setbacks thrown in to build tension, the more dramatic the story will be. The more dramatic the story, the more likely are people to pay attention, remember and think about how the narrative applies to them.
Conflict is vital
Unfortunately, some corporate folk like to pretend they don’t have problems. This makes it impossible to tell a story. Air brushing the facts also undermines their credibility.
Fortunately, you can often find inhuman forces that will spark the conflict, as in the natural disasters and violent events I just mentioned.
Better still, finger an outsider bad guy, as in the evil competitor or the heartless bureaucrat. The us-against-them mentality will kick the chronicle and unite your audience against the common enemy.
Hi-def emotions
The better you develop the character of your villains and heroes, the better your story will be. Your audience has to care about the hero. If Val had to first make sure the home generator was powering her dad’s dialysis machine before rushing into work, we love her all the more. If Tony sacrificed fantasy sports camp to meet the deadline, our applause will ring louder.
But sometimes the conflict has to come from within, as with the flawed system your IT department developed or bought.
To deal with that, you can admit that life is messy and we learn best through our mistakes. Or you can imply that the conflict came from a situation and not an individual. Spend as little time as possible blaming and move on. This does, however, water down the drama.
Of course, anyone who works in corporate communication knows how compromises get you through the approval process. Write a Cadillac, but settle for a Volvo. The good news is that compelling stories can often grip micro-managing approvers so tightly that they’ll interfere much less than usual.
Character slices
Because corporate stories are short, you don’t have much time to build character. So select only the most telling details. And remember the advice of my grade 9 English teacher: develop the character of your heroes and villains through what they say, what they do and what other people say about them.
Although you want to keep your corporate stories real, you can ignore or photoshop details that would bog down the story or embarrass your heroes. For example, I will often tighten dialogue or clean up glaring grammar mistakes, especially with people whose first laguage is not English. If I’m telling the story in print, I don’t need to mention that my hero has a wandering left eye or strange taste in jewellery.
Your story
Similarly, if you’re telling your own story, you don’t have to blow your life wide open, just reveal a few details that make your audience say, as they do so well in the television commercials, “He’s just like me.”
Don’t toot your own horn. It’s fine to write an effusive introduction that someone else will recite, but when you’re talking or writing a personal anecdote, be humble, even self-deprecating, if you want to be loved.
I read one blogger who tells too-perfect personal stories to introduce her advice-filled posts. However, I would take her more seriously if she occasionally mentioned bingeing on cookies or yelling at her husband.
Because posts are often more personal than corporate storytelling, it’s not surprising that some of the most moving storytellers live in the blogosphere. Naomi Dunford, who combines tales of personal tragedy and triumph with smart internet marketing advice, is one of my favorites.
Common ground
Naomi cuts to the visceral feelings level that everyone shares. In one post, she told the story of being broke with a sick baby on the way, then suddenly achieving internet success. I remember the post because I can relate to worries about money and loved ones and stubborn optimism.
This need to communicate from a common ground is why leaders should avoid mentioning luxury vacations and talk more about precious moments with their children or lessons from working construction in college. And don’t forget that you can decide on that common ground only by clearly understanding who you are telling your story to.
Although classic storytelling advice may go on about the importance of setting, remember that corporate stories are short. If you want people to read your account, you need to grab them by opening with the conflict, then circling back, but only to the scene, context or back story bits that are absolutely vital. As with character development, select only very specific and colorful details that will best paint the picture or make your point.
Get to the point
Ever since Aesop’s fables, around 600 BC, there’s been a moral to the stories we tell. Corporate stories have to have a point too.
Most corporate storytellers clearly state their point, in the introduction and the conclusion.
Remember that if the point doesn’t quickly become obvious, your readers will feel like you do when you’re listening to a wind bag talk about her weekend, while drumming you fingers and saying to yourself: “Get to the point!”
To sum up, here’s what corporate storytellers need to remember
- Be concise
- Keep it real
- Base your stories on conflict and resolution
- Drive the conflict with heroes and villains
- Develop your characters by selecting specific, colorful, telling details
- Clearly state the point of your story
- Appeal to emotions your audience can relate to
- Relate to your audience from a common ground
Learn from the masters
Although much of my advice has focused on the constraints of corporate storytelling, please don’t limit yourself. You’ll find the best storytellers in books, movies, television and advertising.
Learn the techniques from the epic masters. Then distil them into magical corporate story moments.
I am often amazed at how many people send me photos of cakes. Not to me personally, but for a client’s intranet. Because the Photo Gallery is intended to acquaint people who work across North America, we have a strict no-cake photo policy, unless employees accompany it.
Still, people continue to send cake pics, often festooned with the company logo. Although many of them are tech wizards, they seem impressed with bakers’ ability to copy the logo. When a photo does not involve a logo cake, often they try to squeeze in a company sign.
The silliest cake photo I ever received was in honor of people who had lost considerable weight in a health and wellness contest. Perhaps the organizers felt a fruit tray or other healthier alternative would not have embodied the congratulatory spirit. Though, even if the successful dieters were looking forward to a break from celery and tuna, I’m sure they would have chosen a treat more tantalizing than the standard white slab cake with diabetic-coma frosting. But I digress.
My point is that cakes are a powerful symbol of employee engagement. True, muffins may be substituted at breakfast meetings and chi-chi cupcakes for elite events. But slab cakes are a universal symbol of celebration. It all started at your first birthday party.
Perhaps the measurement gurus should correlate employee engagement with the number and size of cakes consumed, with bonus points for logo cakes.
After all, the cakes usually represent joyous events, thanking people for long service, congratulating them on a baby, celebrating a team success or wishing them well in retirement. For most people, engagement with work comes from personal fulfillment and social bonds. Cake captures that.
So do the signs. Even when they overshadow the people who should be the focus of the photo, they proclaim: “I’m proud to work here” or “We’re thousands of miles apart, but we’re part of the same work family.”
Mary McKenzie
I thought about the power of symbols again this week when I wrote a media pitch about an exhibit of ceramic sculptures by my friend Mary McKenzie. I’m no art expert, though I enjoy it almost as much as cake.
What fascinated me most was how the pieces reflected her intimate feelings. Although she would confide in a friend, she would not share them publicly.
Even at a time when some people bare all on reality television, most people prefer to communicate through symbols and guard the emotional details.
If I ask the employees in the photo about the feelings behind the cake or the sign, they often clam up. Still, I should keep asking. Those who are comfortable answering provide valuable insight into the engagement that lives behind those cakes, signs and other symbols.
Eat that, Carl Jung.
If you want to intimately connect with people through written words, you need to start with insight into exactly who you are writing for.
To go straight for hearts and minds, avoiding the objective detachment of segments and stakeholders, think of someone you know who is typical of this group or make up a fantasy person. Then ask yourself:
What gets her up in the morning?
What keeps him up at night?
Sure, there are lots more questions you can ask. But if you can figure out the answers to these two, you can get inside the head of this person and like-minded people.
I’ve been pondering these questions as I prepare my talk for the Toronto chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Because I’m a communicator and friends with many others, the answers come easily.
Still, I don’t want to miss anything. So I’ve started a discussion on our Linkedin group. I’d love to gain some insight here too.
Here are some of my answers.
As a communicator, what gets me up in the morning?
The thrill of being part of the action. I first felt this one day when I was lugging news releases to the press gallery of our provincial legislature. I still feel that rush when I’m asked for my opinion from big players in business, nonprofits or anywhere that counts.
The satisfaction of helping people. I’ve always felt good about writing things that help people make sense of the world. When I write about an IT project, for example, I know the information is reducing the stress of the employees who will be affected.
Being creative. Working with words, strategizing, coming up with ideas, matching them with images, media. Imagining, risking, testing, refining. I love it.
As a communicator, what keeps me up at night?
Worrying that I won’t get everything done. That it won’t be good enough. That I’ll make a serious mistake. Like those nightmares when I’m writing an exam on a subject I know nothing about. Or I’m presenting in my underwear.
Difficult people. The nasty one who sneaks a dagger into the meeting room. The stupid ones who insist they’re right. Fortunately, these people are way outnumbered by the terrific ones.
Feeling behind the times because I don’t have an iPhone, don’t know how to use Photostop and am not obsessed with Twitter.
Worrying that my book and workshops will fail, that I’ve wasted my time when I should have been hustling potential clients for so-so work.
But enough about me. I’ve shown you mine. Now you show me yours.
What gets you up in the morning?
What keeps you up at night?
Whether you’re writing a note for your beloved’s Valentine’s Day card or a proposal to impress to the new boss, all paths lead to the heart.
Even the crustiest people have beating hearts that quietly overrule their heads on many decisions. To make sure your Cupid’s arrow hits the target, here are some techniques to cut through the crust to the gooey filling.
Deep benefits
When you’re talking about the benefits of your product or recommendation, don’t forget the deep emotional needs that may hide behind the obvious. For example, a prospect may read your white paper to acquire practical information. But she probably has a deeper desire to look good in front of her peers.
Empathy
Show that you really do understand and care about the crusty one’s fear, frustration or pain No buzz words or platitudes. Dive as deep as you dare.
Anger
Sometimes you have to get people riled up, to acknowledge a problem that you can solve.
Laughter
Humour also cuts through the crust, by lowering the heart’s defences. Think of the movies that got you laughing and then smacked you with some profound emotional truth.
Stories
Tell a personal story that travels across common emotional ground. But don’t go on for too long.
Pictures
While kittens or the little girl I’ve used here will give you a direct flight to most hearts. you may need to portray an ideal pursued by many crusty business people, for example happy-looking people at a meeting.
Of course, these techniques also work with people whose crusts are soft or thin. Fortunately, with them, you don’t have to try so hard. Just speak from your heart.