23 April 2007

Storytelling seminar shares business benefits

Storytelling improved business and performance among 5,000 employees at Parcelforce Worldwide, delegates at a recent ASPIC seminar heard.

The seminar – the power of storytelling in business – was organised by ASPIC, Item's learning and networking group for communication practitioners.

The half-day seminar outlined the challenges that Parcelforce faced back in 2001 having lost £250 million. Staff numbers were effectively halved, depots closed and products revised to aim for a break-even target within four years.

Head of Internal Communications, Susan Jackson, told ASPIC members that once that target was reached, new energy was needed to revitalise the business and the storytelling approach was used to focus key messages, share stories of success and to capture the hearts and minds of employees to believe in the next stage of the journey.

Today, Susan says the organisation is ‘smiling more' with employees understanding the business priorities, sharing best practice ideas and with profitability £1 million above target.

Alison Esse of The Storytellers who worked with Parcelforce on the campaign shared the top 10 rules of engagement for storytelling, illustrating how it can benefit a business.

Delegates also worked in group discussions to share ideas about how storytelling could be used in organisations, when it wouldn't be appropriate and to identify the key characteristics of storytelling for communicators.

For more details about ASPIC and how to join please visit www.aspic.co.uk