How a Story Can Impact Your Workforce Management

When it comes time to examine your workforce management, what elements are important? Do you measure the availability of your staff against the expectations you have in terms of anticipated volume? Do you look at actual performance in comparison with projections on your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)? In doing so, are you able to affect positive change or do activities just stay the course?

The elements you need to consider in support of the workforce look great on paper, but how do they play out in execution? Are employees paying attention to schedule adherence simply because you asked or do you have to put policies in place for consequences? Are KPIs at exceptional levels because employees love their jobs or are you constantly working to get these metrics to an acceptable level?

If you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, are there ways you can better manage the workforce that give you better payoffs in the end? In other words, what would your workforce management look like if your employees were motivated by the way you do business?

A recent Huffington Post (News - Alert) blog examined a group of businesses making money by making a positive difference. Profits were grown by positively impacting customers and focusing on making the world a better place. Known as Conscious Entrepreneurs, these business owners understand the impact of their mission and the importance of service to overall success. In acting on these initiatives, they attract the best employees and inspire customers to become advocates.

So how do you become one of these companies, even if you didn’t start out that way? First, tell a good story about the positive impact your company makes. Even if your workforce management focus in the past was on the numbers, you still likely have a powerful story where you’re making an impact. When you make it a point to share these stories with your employees, you create positive feelings and cooperative behavior. They want to be a part of what you’re doing.

Second, do your employees understand how the company got started? There was some reason, some passion that led the founder to take the risk in the first place and create an environment where they get to come every day. Share that story with them on a regular basis, make it part of your values and ensure they understand why it still matters today. If you make it part of your ongoing story, your employees will own it.

Finally, learn what motivates your employees and incorporate that into a new story. It’s likely you already have incentives and other programs in place, especially for above standard performances. This story is more than that – it’s about the passion your own employees bring to the job. Tie that into your workforce management focus and the outcome is bound to produce better results than you could have imagined.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi

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