{"id":54515,"date":"2022-08-24T09:17:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T13:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=54515"},"modified":"2022-12-14T01:26:23","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T06:26:23","slug":"storytelling-in-employee-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/storytelling-in-employee-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Reasons You Should Use Storytelling in Employee Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cOnce upon a time&#8230;\u201d We hear those words and immediately want to settle in for a story. While you may not start your business story with those same familiar four words, there\u2019s little doubt that using storytelling in employee engagement is effective. This article will discuss the many reasons why.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>We probably don\u2019t need to convince you that employee engagement matters. But, just in case, some reminders about the value of engaging your people, especially when they work remotely. <a href=\"https:\/\/engageforsuccess.org\/flexible-remote-working\/increase-employee-engagement-with-storytelling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prioritizing employee engagement<\/a>:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Increases enthusiasm among employees<\/li>\n<li>Gets people invested in the company\u2019s growth<\/li>\n<li>Helps build relationships among your team members<\/li>\n<li>Fosters more support for your vision and mission<\/li>\n<li>Turns your employees into brand ambassadors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/30-employee-engagement-survey-questions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">employee engagement<\/a> supporting a healthy company culture, you can see increased productivity, improved retention, and a better bottom line overall.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Maybe you\u2019re already putting in the engagement work. Regrettably, people remain disengaged. In Gallup\u2019s most recent research, US\u00a0employee engagement declined two percentage points from 36% to 34%. The drop marked the first annual decline in a decade.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gallup.com\/workplace\/391922\/employee-engagement-slump-continues.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gallup also reported<\/a>, \u201cThe ratio of engaged to actively disengaged workers in the US\u00a0is 1.9 to 1, down from 2.1 to 1 in 2021 and 2.6 to 1 in 2020. The annual record high is a ratio of 2.7 to 1 in 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>So, now that we agree on the need for continued effort around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/employee-engagement-software\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">employee experience<\/a>. Let\u2019s move on to storytelling in employee engagement and how it can help.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-54556 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/melanie-deziel-0eKg4R4iwGk-unsplash-1024x624-1024x624.jpg\" alt=\"employee experience storytelling\" width=\"1024\" height=\"624\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/melanie-deziel-0eKg4R4iwGk-unsplash-1024x624.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/melanie-deziel-0eKg4R4iwGk-unsplash-1024x624-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/melanie-deziel-0eKg4R4iwGk-unsplash-1024x624-768x468.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/melanie-deziel-0eKg4R4iwGk-unsplash-1024x624-50x30.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>1. Triggers Emotion<\/h2>\n<p>This is a scientific fact. Character-driven stories have been shown to trigger the release of oxytocin. That\u2019s the same hormone that new moms feel when breastfeeding their babies. It\u2019s a hormone that motivates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogosurvey.com\/blog\/empathy-at-work\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">empathy <\/a>and bonding. It\u2019s no big leap, then, to say that storytelling in employee engagement can strengthen loyalty.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Rather than giving people a PowerPoint presentation with bullets listing why a new mandate is necessary, think about creating a story to help people understand the reason for the change. The message is much more likely to resonate with your employees.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>2. Personalizes the Message<\/h2>\n<p>Storytelling that involves real, personal experiences can be an effective way to engage employees. Imagine the dry recitation of percentages gained or lost with a graph in the background. Compare that with a founder getting up and walking employees through the origin story, and explaining how the business has grown exponentially from its humble beginnings. The latter gives the listener someone to connect to and gives them a sense of the human effort that went into the upward arrow in that quarterly review.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>3. Enhances Employee Recollection<\/h2>\n<p>If pressed, you might still be able to name all seven of Snow White\u2019s dwarfs. Or you can likely remember what was wrong with each bear\u2019s porridge when Goldilocks committed her famous fairytale B&amp;E.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Maybe it\u2019s because our brains are better at holding on to descriptions and details we can visualize. Or that we\u2019ve felt what <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2014\/10\/why-your-brain-loves-good-storytelling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">storytelling researcher Paul J. Zak<\/a> terms \u201ctranscendent purpose.\u201d Feeling the pain of the character and the pleasure of a resolution motivates people to relate to how the organization improves lives (transcendent), more than how it sells goods and services (transaction).<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>4. Connects Employees<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cStories are an entry point to understanding a different experience of the world,\u201d said Clare Patey, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.org.uk\/newsletter-feature\/power-of-storytelling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Director of the Empathy Museum in the UK.<\/a> \u201cStories have a transformative power to allow us to see the world in a different way than we do if we just encounter it on our own.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>With the oxytocin kicking in while we\u2019re learning about someone else\u2019s experience, storytelling encourages <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogosurvey.com\/blog\/empathy-vs-sympathy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">empathy<\/a> and inclusion. This can help connect team members, which not only supports employee engagement, but can simultaneously benefit your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/diversity-and-inclusivity-beyond-february\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">diversity and inclusion<\/a> efforts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>5. Builds Brand<\/h2>\n<p>Stories are active. There is the storyteller and the story\u2019s recipient. While listening to or reading the story, the receivers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prismjournal.org\/uploads\/1\/2\/5\/6\/125661607\/v8-no1-a5.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">apply their own interpretations<\/a>. This involvement in the story can encourage brand ownership. When employees apply their own experiences to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/brand-identity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">brand narrative<\/a>, they are more likely to feel connected to it. This can help make them more valuable assets in enhancing company reputation as they come to embody the values and brand culture.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>\u00a06. Communicates Caring<\/h2>\n<p>Whether consciously or not, hearing or reading a story takes us back to sitting in the lap of a loved one when we were little. Since engagement starts with people believing they work for an organization that cares about them, storytelling is a powerful way to communicate that message to employees.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Begin your employee engagement story today with the help of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/survey-templates\/employee\/employee-engagement-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sogolytics<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cOnce upon a time&#8230;\u201d We hear those words and immediately want to settle in for a story. While you may not start your business story with those same familiar four words, there\u2019s little doubt that using storytelling in employee engagement is effective. This article will discuss the many reasons why. We probably don\u2019t need to convince you that employee engagement matters. But, just in case, some reminders about the value of engaging your people, especially when they work remotely. Prioritizing employee engagement: Increases enthusiasm among employees Gets people invested in the company\u2019s growth Helps build relationships among your team members Fosters more support for your vision and mission Turns your employees into brand ambassadors With employee engagement supporting a healthy company culture, you can see increased productivity, improved retention, and a better bottom line overall. Maybe you\u2019re already putting in the engagement work. Regrettably, people remain disengaged. In Gallup\u2019s most recent research, US\u00a0employee engagement declined two percentage points from 36% to 34%. The drop marked the first annual decline in a decade. Gallup also reported, \u201cThe ratio of engaged to actively disengaged workers in the US\u00a0is 1.9 to 1, down from 2.1 to 1 in 2021 and 2.6 to 1 in 2020. The annual record high is a ratio of 2.7 to 1 in 2019.\u201d So, now that we agree on the need for continued effort around employee experience. Let\u2019s move on to storytelling in employee engagement and how it can help. 1. Triggers Emotion This is a scientific fact. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":5040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[164,854,171,241,887],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>6 Reasons You Should Use Storytelling in Employee Engagement - Sogolytics Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Employee engagement is a top initiative for business. This article explores how using storytelling in employee engagement can help achieve your objectives.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/storytelling-in-employee-engagement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6 Reasons You Should Use Storytelling in Employee Engagement - Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Employee engagement is a top initiative for business. This article explores how using storytelling in employee engagement can help achieve your objectives.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/storytelling-in-employee-engagement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-24T13:17:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-14T06:26:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/emp-3.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"714\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenn Goddu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/storytelling-in-employee-engagement\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/storytelling-in-employee-engagement\/\",\"name\":\"6 Reasons You Should Use Storytelling in Employee Engagement - Sogolytics Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-24T13:17:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-14T06:26:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454\"},\"description\":\"Employee engagement is a top initiative for business. 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