Health & Safety storytelling can show us the way to talk about careers
From the work we do, we’d estimate about 75% of people in most organisations aren’t clear on their next career and development steps. We know that having a plan with meaningful actions for growth and development leads to higher engagement, motivation and productivity, so, many organisations are likely missing out on a LOT of untapped, wasted potential!
It seems we continue to cling to the idea that we need to keep our career concerns and aspirations close, sharing only when we have to - those 6-monthly career and development conversations with the boss, feeling safe to only share the good stuff, the definite stuff, and most definitely not the messy, uncertain stuff.
Most of the stuck people we meet don’t know how to get unstuck and without meaningful help it can lead to inertia, or worse, taking steps that aren’t fully thought through or bought into.
What could be unleashed if it was OK to reveal the messy career stuff, without fear of judgement or feeling ‘less than’ because we haven’t got it all sorted? What if people knew that they could look beyond their line managers and HR to access career & development support?
It has made me wonder how storytelling could help create a safe space for more authentic career conversations to happen, and whether Health & Safety storytelling offers an example to emulate.
What are the lessons we can take from Health & Safety?
Organisations that encourage and embrace sharing personal H&S stories are able to create a safe space for humans to connect through their shared experiences.
Done well, these stories help us to recognise and understand that our human fallibility and feelings of uncertainty are universal. It’s relatable. That psychological safety stimulates reflection and makes it possible for others to share their experiences, observations and uncertainties, and together work out ways to be better in future.
So what would it be like if the messy career stuff was more readily shared? Would it help create a sense of connectedness and openness for career and development exploration? Could that in turn lead to more people arriving in and thriving in jobs they love? I would like to think so.
We’ve met many hundreds of people on our career planning programmes and we know how powerful storytelling is. Here is what we see.
The majority of people we meet in our career planning programmes (who are considered ‘talent’ in their organisations) are unsure of their next steps. The crazy thing is, a lot of them think they are the only ones in that uncertain spot. You can literally see the relief around the room when they realise they are in the majority. (Who knew?)
We invite our participants to reflect on their careers to date and share stories of what they have learned from their successes and crashing failures, and what they would like to take forward. The energy in the room as people share their journeys is obvious. We notice connections being made as people bond over the trials and the triumphs, not to mention those surprise moments of “I’ve known you for five years and didn’t know you once were….”
They share stories about their values, when they feel most energised at work (and not!), how they hope to use their skills to make a difference, and share their ‘sensible’ and ‘crazy’ career ideas. We see how fully engaged the storytellers and their listeners are, how moving the stories sometimes can be, and how willing others are to get on board with suggestions and support.
We invite senior leaders into our sessions to share their career stories. Those leaders who share their failure stories as well as their triumphs are the leaders who get the interesting and searching questions from participants.
Hearing about colleagues' career journeys, challenges they faced and overcame, how they grew from their experiences, (good and bad), achieved their goals, and their future aspirations can be incredibly inspiring and motivating for others.
These stories demonstrate the possibilities within the organisation and can encourage others to dig into the question of what they want out of their work and to pursue their own career aspirations, and perhaps also offer a helping hand to others.
The take outs from all this are, given a safe, non-judgemental environment, people really do want to talk about this meaningful stuff, and others are keen to get on board in support.
Ideas to give storytelling a go
If humanising the challenge of managing careers makes sense, and you want to give storytelling a try, here are my ideas on what you need to get started…
A frame - Communicate your particular reason for trying something new, what you hope to achieve, and what you want to try. Is it learning from each other? Supporting each other? Removing the mystery of career planning? Enriching the experience of career exploration? Set the scene before you get started.
A measure of patience and flexibility - storytelling won’t be for everyone, right away. It might take time for some to feel the environment is safe to share. Try it in safer, smaller settings like a team meeting, or even a one-on-one and see how you go.
A theme - Think about a topic that could be helpful to explore and share a story based on that theme, which can then be opened up for discussion. When you get underway you may find others will volunteer themes they want discussed.
A measure of courage - you go first!
Equal (large) measures of humility and vulnerability - Resist the temptation to offer up only the curated, instagram-worthy versions of your experiences and share your warts and all tales and how you felt at the time. Afterall, it is the messy bits that people relate to. Polished success stories tend to intimidate rather than invite.
A dose of brevity - Think about what you want to share in advance and trim out all the extraneous details.
Some good questions - Follow up your story with a question. You may not want to open the floor for a full breakdown of everyone’s career history in one hit, so invite people to reflect on an aspect of your story and see who might be up for sharing a story of their own.
A dose of curiosity - Listen actively. Tune in to the story being offered and reflect what you hear and feel about it.
Finish well - acknowledge those who offered up their stories, the courage, authenticity, vulnerability they expressed, and acknowledge the growth or wisdom they may have gained from their experiences
Over the many years we will spend in the workforce, our career and development journey will have lots of twists and bumps. Times of smashing it and growth, times of cruising and perhaps stalling, and even times when we know we are in the wrong job. These experiences are universal, no matter what level we are at.
Imagine what kinds of meaningful conversations could be triggered if, through the storytelling and shared experiences, people felt safe to talk about their career uncertainties with people willing to listen, and felt safe knowing they are not alone!!
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