Newsflash: Your Employees Are Telling Stories

Too often, in pursuit of top quality candidates, employers rely solely on limp mission statements, static career pages and one-way social media promotion, neglecting one of the most basic and primal communications vehicles at their disposal: storytelling. Specifically, employee storytelling. After hours, the most credible, impactful and influential stories about a company and its brand are being told, re-told and shared by its workforce. Studies bear this out. Rather than relying on company websites for organizational information, 52 percent of job candidates now turn to family and friends for the inside story; 14 percent look at feedback and reviews from people who work at the company, according to Harris Interactive. In short, storytelling rules for selling a brand, company culture and open opportunities. With that in mind, employers would do well to empower employees to share their own stories in their own voices. What is an employer brand? That’s easy: your employer brand is your reputation as an employer. Jeff Bezos, CEO and Founder of Amazon.com, famously stated, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” This is why review sites, like Glassdoor, are so relevant to today’s job seekers. Whether you like it or not, there’s a conversation going on about what it’s like to work at your company. You have two options: watch from the sidelines or join in. But first you should do some organizational soul searching and reconnaissance. Would employees recommend your company to a friend? What are job seekers saying about you on social media? What is your overall rating on Glassdoor? The answers say a lot about the current health of your organization and shine a light on the stories your employees are already telling. Employees as storytellers, employers as editors Great storytelling needs great source material and authors. Enter your workforce. Forward-thinking companies already recognize their employees are critical to influencing recruiting efforts; therefore, they should not only encourage employee storytelling but also help direct it, like great editors. Good stories have a beginning, middle and end. Often a tale begins with a situation, a challenge or an opportunity, maybe something as simple as an interview experience, promotion or task. Encourage employees to share their experiences, their likes, even their dislikes. No two stories are alike and every individual’s story is of significance in helping shape and color the overall company brand. Be a supporter of every chapter No matter what part employees play in sharing a story, champion authenticity. Employees and colleagues have lives outside work. But they also can’t help take some aspect of work home. For example, an employee on vacation might praise your PTO policy. A parent coaching a youth soccer team might talk up a spectacular work-life balance. Allowing these stories to be told organically and on their own terms is branding gold. Your story is online, and it’s going to be shared You have no reason to fear social media. Embrace it. Related, Glassdoor co-founder Rich Barton has three dominant “Laws of the Web”:

1. If it can be SHARED, it will be SHARED.
2. If it can be RATED, it will be RATED.
3. If it can be FREE, it will be FREE.

Just as consumers comparison shop for products, travel and accommodations, job candidates visit reputation sites to check out prospective employers during their job searches, forming opinions about brands in the process. (In fact, they read an average of four to seven reviews before forming those opinions, according to a Glassdoor User Survey.) We also know that company culture and values are among the top five biggest considerations job seekers take into account before accepting an offer according to a Glassdoor Survey. In these narratives, make your story easy to find and easy to consume. The most important employment brand messages are competitively positioned, emotionally resonant and drive “reflection related to fit”, according to CEB. On your careers page or Glassdoor profile, help job seekers draw clear comparisons between your organization and competitors so they can decide if they’re good fits for your industry, company and roles. If you’ve done your job, you’ll truly have a best seller climbing the talent acquisition charts.