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How to find the right stories for your company

Written on October 10, 2011 by Marie-Claire Ross in communicating core values, corporate stories, corporate story-telling
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Telling stories are a great way to create an emotional connection to information that gets people interested in what you are talking about, but more importantly helps them to remember your message.

Good leaders use corporate story-telling as a way to communicate the behaviour they require and how it needs to be done.  It puts knowledge into a framework that helps staff understand how they are supposed to act.

But the art of spotting the right company stories can be hard.  How do you know what stories to use?  And which stories work well in which context?

Well, the good news is that there are learning templates that have been created on how to find the right story.

According to Dan and Chip Heath, from Made to Stick, there are three basic plot lines to look out for.  These are: The Challenge Plot, the Connection Plot and the Creativity Plot.

The Challenge Plot

This is when the hero is up against an insurmountable challenge and wins.  Think David and Goliath, the story line in the Australian movie The Castle and Erin Brockovitch.

There are different types of Challenge Plot: rags to riches (think Cinderella) and the triumph of sheer willpower over adversity (think of a sports team that was doing badly that won the final).

The special quality of challenge plots is that they inspire us to act.  They encourage us to persevere and have courage in the face of adversity.

These story lines are ideal for companies that are doing it tough and need to rally the efforts of staff.  Look out for staff who have battled a major illness or family issue, but have done amazing things at work or in the community despite the setbacks.

The Connection Plot

Includes storylines where people develop a relationship, despite their differences such as race, class, religion or other.  Think Romeo and Juliet, Titanic and Avatar.

Connection plots are all about overcoming challenges and our relationships with other people.

Use these type of stories when working with overseas customers and to reduce racial hostility with staff.  Look out for stories that involve staff working together despite their differences.

The Creativity Plot

Another type of storyline that you can use to inspire the troops is the Creativity plot.  This involves a mental breakthrough, solving a puzzle or problem in an innovative way.

Think Macgyver or the apple that falls on Newton’s head.

Creativity plots make us want to do something different and experiment with new approaches.

These type of stories are perfect for when you need to reinvent the company culture and you want to show staff a new type of thinking or way of doing things. Be on the look out for staff testing different approaches to reach company goals.  And use these examples as your stories.

Stories help people accept information in a non-judgmental way.  They are ideal to use if you know the information you need to tell will elicit denial and a possible angry response.  Or if nobody seems to care.

Done well they will create buy-in and springboard people to act.

To find the right company stories, you need to go out and find them.  Be open to them and you’ll be surprised by what you might find.

 

 

 

 

 

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How to Develop a Workplace Safety Messages Campaign (Part 2)

Written on August 30, 2010 by Marie-Claire Ross in communicating OHS messages, company induction training, corporate videos, customer training videos, health and safety messages, how to communicate workplace safety messages, OHS safety messages, OHS videos, safety communications in workplace safety, safety messages, workplace performance, workplace safety communication, workplace safety messages
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As mentioned in ” How to Develop a Workplace Safety Messages  Campaign” Part 1, marketing is the key to getting your safety messages heard and understood.

But how does the ordinary safety professional instigate a marketing campaign to educate staff about safety initiatives?

Let’s do some Marketing 101 lessons, to look at the steps you need to undertake to deliver your marketing (oops, safety) strategy.

  1. Who is your audience? You need to work out who your target audience is and their demographics.  Are they mainly males 35 – 55 years?  Or a combination of both males and females, but aged 15 – 25 years?  By working out exactly who your audience is, you can better work out the types of communication they are more likely to watch, read and hear.
  2. What are your objectives? What are you trying to achieve?  How can you measure the success of the communication program?  What data can you measure both before and after the launch of the new safety campaign?
  3. What is your message? What is it that you want to say?  If it is to raise awareness about safe forklift driving, why do you need to let people know about this.  Ensure that you let people  know what the safety initiative is and why it is important.  How can you ensure all departments have the same consistent message?
  4. What communication methods can you use? Ideally, use multiple types of communication and deliver it multiple times.  Put together a strategy as to how you can communicate the same safety messages daily, weekly or monthly.

Let’s take a look at an example.

Gypsum Board Manufacturers of Australasia (GBMA) needed a manual handling training program to train 3,000 workers from five different companies on how to handle plasterboard safely.  In the plasterboard industry, manual handling injuries are the most common of injuries.

The training program was treated as a marketing exercise.  An iconic plasterboard man was designed who featured on all of the communication.  A slogan was also created “Move it – The GBMA Way”.  Both the iconic man and the slogan were a way of reminding workers on a daily basis about the training they had received.  Training centred around a 20 minute training video that also included medical animations to show how the back works.  A trainer’s manual, PowerPoint Slides and employee handbook were used for training.  The employee handbook was A6 size to encourage workers to keep in pockets or lockers for easy reference.  Posters were also designed with the same theme as a daily reminder.

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“The training material components were key in engaging roles such as Team Leaders to deliver the training to their teams effectively.   One of the keys to getting engagement with the safety messages on a daily basis has been the handbooks and posters to prompt training information.”.  Gerard Crosswell, GIB NZ
Effective safety communication needs to be very specific to your organisation and tailored to your workplace demographics and culture.

It must integrate with a company’s day to day activities and be of value to the workers watching it.  Slick communication materials are not the answer.
Care needs to be taken so that communication materials are credible and easy to understand.
But more importantly, any safety communication needs to provide daily reminders to staff while they work, for the best results.
How can you best communicate your new safety initiatives?
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7 Tips to Improve Induction Training Materials

Written on July 20, 2010 by Marie-Claire Ross in company induction training, customer training videos, improving safety standards, induction videos, OHS videos, safety videos, shift work training, staff induction videos, staff training videos, training videos, workplace performance
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1. Use more Visuals - 83% of human learning occurs visually.  Use lots of photos, videos, diagrams and colour to present training information.  Avoid relying heavily on text based training.  After all, we only recall 10% of what we read compared to 50% for what we both see and hear.

2. Tell Stories – During training, tell stories of exemplary staff behaviour that typify the type of action you want staff to do.  Stories help people make emotional connections.

3. Lead by Values – Let staff/contractors know what your values are.   Using values, empowers workers to make decisions based on company values.  Difficult for staff to make the right decisions if they only have rules to follow.

4. Positivise it – Remove negative language.  Tell people how you want them to behave, rather than telling them what you don’t want.  Remove words such as ‘no’, ‘can’t and ‘don’t’.

5. Involve senior management - Senior management play an integral leadership role in establishing culture.  Effective leadership whether it be concerning safety, a new sales method or business structure must be led from the top.  They must be involved in the induction process.

6. Reduce complication - Get rid of long sentences, jargon and big words in training materials.  Keep it short and tweet.

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‘Words are how we think, story is about how we link’ Christina Baldwin

7. Ask more why questions - Teach people why they need to do something, so they can always figure out the how.  Otherwise, company processes keep getting perpetuated without people ever questioning why they do something.

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How to Communicate Workplace Safety Messages

Written on July 9, 2010 by Marie-Claire Ross in company induction training, improving safety standards, induction videos, safety videos, staff induction videos, staff training videos, training videos, workplace performance
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Safety training comminicationAccording to Steven Bell, senior associate with law firm Freehills, in January 2012 the new Australian OHS laws will expect companies to drive safety management internally and push greater alignment between key messages and action.

The new laws will introduce a level of personal responsibility that will help drive the changes needed for better OHS.  This means that senior managers will be expected to foster a positive workplace culture, receive regular safety reporting and a practical understanding of what is happening on the ground.

This is a great step forward as senior management actually drive the safety culture of a company.

Currently, most companies promote a safety culture, but send out mixed messages when it comes to a safe workplace.  For example: A fairly standard grumble by many workers is that they are expected to work safely, yet at the same time they are told to work faster or in a way that involves safety risks, to drive productivity.

So with the new requirement to promote safety messages and show evidence of a positive safety culture, what is the best way to communicate workplace safety messages?

With any communication program, it is important to take into account that people absorb messages differently and the more they see it, the more likely it will be taken on-board.  Therefore, any workplace safety communication messages need to include a variety of communication approaches such as posters, training videos, staff newsletter and ‘toolbox’ talks.  They all need to be branded with the company’s unique safety messages.

In addition, the workplace safety communication must be personalised to the company.  Generic safety messages won’t cut it.  Instead, it needs to be formulated according to your culture and demographics.  And then it needs to be followed up with action.

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Training videos are more persuasive than written material which is perceived as less important and credible.

A lot of companies that we have worked with have successfully used a customised training video as the main communication medium to drive OHS behaviour change. They have then supported the training video with posters, newsletters and other safety specific materials.

A staff training video is an ideal way to connect with staff.  Made correctly it will positively and believably demonstrate your company commitment to the healthy and safety of your workplace.  After all, research has found that training videos are more persuasive than written material which is perceived as less important and credible.

In order to take into account the new laws, consider creating a customised training video that includes:

  • An introduction by senior managers talking about the importance of safety to the staff and company.
  • Safety rules/explaining that poor safety effects the viewer and other workers
  • Procedures
  • Summary

Of course, just playing a training video doesn’t automatically ensure that staff will know your training messages.  It needs to be followed up with a consistent workplace culture that always considers the safety rules/message in every activity.  Not just when played on a training video.

More importantly, senior management must support and agree with all the safety communication tools.  And refer to them often.

After all, staff won’t believe that the company backs its safety messages, until they see the proof of action.

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Telling Stories to Improve Company Staff Inductions (Part 1)

Written on October 28, 2009 by Marie-Claire Ross in company induction training, improving safety standards, induction videos, OHS videos, safety videos, staff induction videos, staff training videos, workplace performance
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Company induction training is all about communicating the company’s core values and its nature, in order to motivate new employees to adopt behaviours that translate into action on a daily basis.  It is about shaping staff’s work values and sense of identity with the company.

Typical information includes a company introduction, history, nature of the business, organisational philosophy, human resources policies and procedures.

In a Management Research News article (August 2003), Cirilo and Kleiner found that highly effective induction training painted a vivid and detailed picture of the firm and used corporate story-telling techniques.

In “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits” author Verne Harnish also concludes that corporate storytelling is crucial for successful staff indoctrination.  He believes that a little bit of story and legend is needed to cement the bond between the CEO (or other senior manager) and employee.

For example, US company Nordstrom is renowned for its customer service.  Their orientation of new hires consists of telling stories about heroic customer service (e.g., the employee who ironed a shirt for a customer who had a job interview on the day of the purchase).

Effective induction training allows for the new employee to possess a good sense of what actions are valued and how they can manifest it in their own behaviour.

Rather than just telling staff what to do or giving vague parameters, corporate story-telling raises the bar further and encourages staff to undertake exemplary behaviour.  Or just understand the company history and values in a more detailed way.

And of course, corporate story telling comes to life in video format.

Stories can easily be incorporated into induction training videos.  The story can be told by senior managers or those involved with the story.  This only involves a small amount of time to be filmed which can be used to show many staff across many locations for years to come. Reenactments can be filmed to make the story come to life.

Can you think of ways to include storytelling in your inductions?

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