4 Ways Storytelling Can Drive Better Results in Business

We’ve all heard about how important company culture is for productivity and the reduction of risk. What surprises people is how critical of a role storytelling plays in establishing a positive culture, and improving the business overall.

Storytelling in business is a lot like reading a good novel. It paints a picture of the characters, providing background on where they came from, what they went through, and how they overcame challenges. The descriptions of various sights, sounds, and emotions help readers connect to a situation they were never in, and allow them to understand the importance of certain events or outcomes.   

Storytelling in business can accomplish the same thing. Providing background about your foundation and explaining company goals helps employees understand the “why” of your existence. Creating a narrative for what is happening to make necessary changes can also help them grasp what’s coming next.  

In short, there are plenty of benefits to storytelling. Here’s why it’s so important for your organization.  

Storytelling in business can inspire new hires

When new employees think they are starting “just another job,” they are less likely to become fully engaged. They need to understand company culture right from the start, and their place within that culture. 

Orientation should begin with a narrative in which new hires learn of the company’s beginning and purpose. Perhaps the CEO of a pastry company started baking in her small kitchen 20 years ago, sold muffins at church to raise money for her son’s special needs, and eventually branched out to mom-and-pop markets throughout the country. Perhaps her son is now running the marketing department, and the company now donates to a foundation for kids with the same needs as his. 

According to a study by BambooHR, employees with a positive onboarding experience are 18x more loyal to their new company. Right from the start, employees need to learn that anything is possible with enough hard work, and that they are becoming a part of something that makes a difference. Using storytelling during onboarding can do both of those, resulting in team members who stick around longer.

With the right narrative, employees understand and accept change 

Changing strategic direction or incorporating new processes is often difficult for employees to grasp. Uncertainty is scary, especially when team members don’t know how their jobs will be affected. But with a compelling story of why these changes must happen, and how they will benefit the end goals of the company, employees are often less resistant to (and even excited for) what’s to come.

A story that articulates a vision for the future should start with something positive, such as the founding values or goals of the company. It should then explain a problem or conflict that is causing those things to shift, and spell out how upcoming changes will address those issues. The tone should be comforting so employees aren’t left feeling threatened, but instead are ready to become part of the solution that moves the company forward. 

Brand storytelling can humanize your business

Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran once said "storytelling is everything,” particularly when it comes to whose invention she decides to back. If you’ve ever watched the show, you’ve seen how the investors quickly become uninterested in a product that doesn’t elicit emotion. But as soon as an entrepreneur describes personal reasons for creating their product or how they want it to impact their customers’ lives, the investors become intrigued. 

Even after a young mom who pitched her swimsuit line admitted to having no business experience, Barbara chose to provide her with funding. The mom explained that she worked extremely hard through the years to help her son with ADHD keep up his grades. As the parent of a daughter with ADHD, Barbara was moved to make the investment, stating that she knows how much blood and sweat that actually takes. 

Repeated storytelling facilitates consistency

Redundancy might be boring in everyday life, but in business, it’s key to success. Leaders that repeatedly tell the story of the company’s past, present, and future are more likely to reach employees across the board and accomplish their goals. 

Research by Harvard Business School’s Tsedal Neeley and the University of California’s Paul Leonardi shows that company leaders who were intentionally redundant in their communication moved projects forward faster and more smoothly than those who were not. In an interview with Harvard Business Review, Leonardi said that clarity is often thought to be the key to good communication, when in reality it’s about making your presence felt. 

“Employees are getting pulled in many directions and reporting to lots of people and getting tons of communications,” he said. “So how do you keep your issues top of mind? Redundancy is a way to do that.”

In order to be memorable, leaders should tell the same story in interviews, meetings, and one-on-one sessions. The story of the business should also be incorporated into training videos and presentations, since the human brain processes images around 60,000 times faster than text. 

When employees can truly grasp the purpose of their work, they’re more likely to help businesses achieve their goals. Interested in how to teach the basics of storytelling in business to your teams? Ask us about our storytelling content.