Involve staff in the development of your business strategy and story
How to involve your employees in the development of a narrative and business strategy and how this can benefit your business.
Involving your employees in developing your narrative and business strategy can help them make a personal connection to it and strengthen their commitment to achieving your business goals.
Your narrative has to mean something to your employees so get them involved in telling the story highlighting key milestones you shared together along the business journey such as winning key contracts, business awards, or launching new products or services. It has to be about more than facts and figures. You could make it more personal by including photos or videos of various staff members and their contributions to your business over the years.
How to get employees involved
There are many methods you can use to involve your employees to contribute to your company story and business strategy. Here are some approaches you could consider:
Workshops
Hold a workshop or series of workshops for employees to help them contribute to the business narrative - download a sample format for a strategic narrative workshop (DOC, 18K).
Staff suggestions
Ask employees to submit their views, for example, you could set up a suggestions box or create a diary room and invite employees to give their views on three or four questions about your business.
Involve all staff
Involve employees who work remotely or from satellite sites - try to visit them or organise conference calls.
Employee engagement champions
Identify employee engagement champions in different departments or teams who can identify and share examples from their parts of your business - they can have a key role in linking managers with the ideas and experiences of employees
With any method you use collate the results, identify key themes, and discuss them with your employees.