Adapted from Fluent Media × Yelp and co-facilitated with Dr Lalith Wijedoru
Many modern organisations and their HR departments face similar challenges: low engagement and productivity, high sickness, absenteeism, staff turnover and burnout rates. At the root sits a simple human truth: people stay where they feel seen, heard and feel valued. Research by Gallup in 2024 showed that low engagement costs $8.9 trillion globally, 10% of world GDP.
Increasingly, employees feel de-humanised or excluded. Hybrid work erodes camaraderie, toxic micro-cultures persist below the radar. Research by AIHR shows only 38 % of employees feel engaged; 15 % are actively disengaged.
Drawing on Fluent Media’s Core Voices video programme for Yelp and Dr Lalith Wijedoru’s award-winning CONNECT! methodology, we’ve developed a framework for how HR, employee-engagement or recruitment teams can embed storytelling into their approach towards engaging employees.
Creating a dialogue to help diagnosing the root cause is the first step towards change. Crafting narratives that employees relate to on a deeper, emotional level, bringing them to life through personal stories, helps to foster a sense of belonging and purpose.
“The business of business is relationships.
The business of life is human connection.” Robin S. Sharm
Our approach can be applied to enhance communication across all aspects of your organisation. Encouraging employees to share stories such as the one below helps to build trust, motivate employees and increase engagement.
| Who should use this? | Internal comms, HR, ERG leads, Talent-Acquisition & Employer-Brand teams |
|---|
| Key objectives | • Embed core values in daily behaviour • Boost ERG membership & cross-team cohesion • Attract & retain talent |
1 · Frame — Identify the “Why” and the Win
Inputs
- Define your project objective or overarching communication goals (e.g. launch a new initiative, reinforce company values, increase employee numbers within Employee Resource Groups, celebrate employee achievements)
- Connect to the bigger picture: How does this initiative contribute to the company’s overall mission and vision? Tailor your storytelling approach to the specific needs and interests of your target audience.
- Track employee engagement metrics (participation, completion, feedback, to assess the efforts of your storytelling efforts).
Outputs
- Production of a suite of videos for internal or external communication
- Executive sponsor + cross-functional “Core Voices Squad”
- A one-page Story Charter: purpose, audiences, channels, KPIs
2 · Find — Surface the Right Stories
| Action | Owner / Team | Tips from Yelp project |
|---|---|---|
| List your values or policies. | Culture | Create a simple table with one row per value/policy. |
| Frame questions and prompts around values or behaviours you want to highlight or promote (“Tell us about a time you Be Unboring…”) | Internal Comms | Keep prompts unbranded and informal. Responses rate jumped 28 % at Yelp |
| Story Circles (60-min, 8–10 people, facilitated by Lalith). | Employee Resource Group’s | Psychological-safety check-in + “pair & share” warm-ups. |
| Map behaviours to metrics. | HR | Decide which numbers—participation rates, process adoption, peer recognition—will show the behaviour is spreading. |
| Highlight cause → behaviour → result. | Storytelling coach/ facilitator | Lalith’s Storycraft sessions ensure each mini-doc shows the moment of behaviour and its impact on team, customer or self. |
| “Story Scouts” (trained volunteers) spot candid moments in Slack, Zoom, etc. | ERG’s | Reward scouts with L&D |
| Feed insights back into policy refreshes. | HR | If stories reveal blockers (eg. time-zone clashes killing ERG turnout), adjust guidelines and celebrate the fix in a follow-up story. |
3 · Forge — Craft & Coach
Leverage Dr. Lalith’s Storycraft Sessions (½-day remote session or on-site)
- Clarify the Core – Facts + feeling + business relevance
- Shape the Arc – Hook, hurdle, resolve; 90-second target
- Rehearse for Courage – On-camera coaching, feedback loops
Outcome: ready-to-shoot storyboards and confident storytellers.
4 · Film — Produce “Unmissable Minis”
- Format: 60–120 s vertical videos + square cut-downs for socials
- Crew: student/early-career shadow roles (DEI & skills boost)
- Brand layer: intro sting + value badge + on-screen captions
- Batch cadence: 1 filming day = 6 stories = 3-month content bank
5 · Flow — Distribute Internally & Externally
| Channel | Purpose | Yelp insight |
|---|---|---|
| Intranet “Core Voices” hub | Always-on reference library | 3× rise in average page dwell time |
| ERG town-halls & Slack watch-parties | Spark dialogue, recruit members | ERG membership up 17 % in two quarters |
| Careers site / LinkedIn Life | Employer-brand magnet | Application-to-offer ratio improved 1.4× |
| Onboarding playlist | Culture immersion day 1 | New-hire NPS rose 11 points |
6 · Feedback — Listen, Learn, Loop
- Pulse poll after each story drop: “Did this story make the value clearer?”
- Engagement dashboards: views, comments, ERG sign-ups, referral clicks
- Quarterly retro: retire, remix or deepen story themes
Target benchmark (from Yelp pilot):
• 70 % of employees can recall at least 3 core values unaided
• +20 % ERG event attendance
• +15 % candidate mentions of values in interviews
7 · Fuel — Scale & Sustain
- Hand over a DIY Story Kit (prompt bank, shot list, caption templates).
- Refresh prompts whenever a new value initiative, policy change or crisis emerges.
- Celebrate storytellers with micro-awards and LinkedIn shout-outs.
- Plug standout stories into leadership comms and investor decks.
Quick-Start Checklist
- Secure exec sponsor & squad
- Draft Story Charter + KPIs
- Schedule first 2 Story Circles (Lalith facilitation)
- Recruit Story Scouts across ERGs
- Book one filming sprint (Fluent Media)
- Launch hub + first “Core Voice” video within 45 days
Why It Works
- Psychological safety → higher authenticity (Lalith’s medical-grade facilitation).
- Participant co-creation → boosts engagement and skill-building.
- Evergreen micro-films → flexible across recruitment, onboarding and culture touchpoints.
Adopt, adapt and iterate—so every employee story fluently elevates both your people and your brand.
