View from the Street: If your people are your firm’s best asset, listen and let their stories be heard
Published
Rachel Watson
Eighteen months ago, the hit ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office got the whole nation talking. Moreover, it finally prompted action from the UK Government on the Horizon IT scandal.
For a decade before that, postmasters across the UK had been embroiled in their struggle against an unjust system, to no great fanfare. A small number of politicians and journalists took up their cause, but it wasn’t a popular concern.
Why then, did that series cut through?
Well, the medium (drama) and the channel (primetime ‘terrestrial’ television) were big factors. But storytelling was fundamental to its success too.
Gwyneth Hughes’s script gave voice to the wronged and drew us in. Toby Jones brought Alan Bates’ story to life for a mainstream audience. Suddenly, we had an emotional connection to the postmasters who had suffered the injustice. The story held our attention long enough for us to see, hear and feel their pain.
What is the best story you’ve read or heard lately?
Whether it was a novel, a tale you heard in passing, or an eye-widening news report, I’m willing to bet it wasn’t a piece of data, financial statistic, or corporate process that made it so memorable.
Having worked as a journalist across both general news and politics for nearly a decade, I have written countless stories. I’ve been told even more. And the ones that always had the biggest impact on me – and resonated most with readers – all had remarkable people at the heart of them.
I remember the grandmother I spoke to about the cancer diagnosis she received after travelling hundreds of miles for specialist testing. The young man who broke the world record for cycling through all 48 mainland states in the US. The refugees I met as they crossed the border from Ukraine to Poland following Russia’s invasion in March 2022.
Of the hundreds of reports I have filed and read in the last decade, it is the personal stories about which I can still recall every detail. Of course, all news stories feature people to some extent – by introducing quotes or some passing references to someone’s role – but I’m talking about tales that are truly about a person or people.
Traditional media is having to evolve to match the changing demands of consumers. And while modern newsrooms may look and sound different, there is one demand from editors that will never change. They will implore their reporters to find what are traditionally the most difficult stories to secure. People stories.
That should present businesses with an opportunity. Bosses and corporate websites often claim that their biggest asset is the people who work in the organisation. And while for many firms that is genuinely the case, we still don’t hear enough about the fascinating people behind those companies.
Are management simply not listening to the compelling stories that exist in their workforce? Or do many of us prefer not to explore our hinterland at work, erecting a barrier between our professional and our home lives?
Perhaps it’s the way we work – with less time spent physically together – and, therefore, the way we communicate with each other. More of those interactions are digital, perfunctory. Direct messages on Teams or Slack, cutting to the chase of what’s necessary to get the job done. Drinks after work have become an exception, not a rule.
One of my clients is St Andrews Links Trust, which means I travel regularly with two or three colleagues from our office in Edinburgh to the East Neuk of Fife. I’ve learned more about those teammates in cars trundling up the M90 and A92 than I have in all the time we’ve shared an office.
My point is that great conversations don’t often happen by accident. Brilliant human stories don’t often just reveal themselves to us – there’s a knack to uncovering them.
The conditions need to be right. It can take time to establish the kind of connection required. Crucially, we need to dedicate time to listening. Truly listening.
Although I’ve jumped the fence from journalism into comms, I still love nothing more than getting behind the curtain to unearth someone’s story just waiting to be told.
Recently, my client, Motability Operations, appointed 17-year-old Ally Chalmers as one of its ambassadors. A hugely promising young athlete, Ally was paralysed three years ago in a Glencoe skiing accident. Although he can no longer compete in downhill ski racing, Ally has become Scotland’s first ever disabled wheelchair driver.
He is an incredible young man – with an equally remarkable mother, Carol – who has overcome adversity and allowed us to share his story to inspire others. I cried when Ally and Carol first told me their story, and I was compelled to help them tell it more widely.
Ally isn’t the only person to overcome adversity to achieve a goal, but it is a narrative arc that never fails to capture our imagination, and the finer details of his story are, of course, unique to him.
We all remember the great stories we’ve read and sadly, sometimes, the worst. Humans will always be fascinated by other humans. We yearn to learn about people, more than things. Personalities, more than organisations.
If you want customers and stakeholders to form a connection with your business and to care about your work, your people will almost certainly be your greatest asset.