Reflection – Storytelling Tool 

 Challenge 

 A common challenge that I have experienced throughout the general manufacturing industry , is hiring ,   retention , and development of direct labor employees .   Often , direct labor employees come and go   frequently , staying for short terms , leaving the existing front - line supervisors and company management   feeling jaded , frustrated , and impatient .   This results in non - existent or unstructured development and   team engagement strategies , as the leadership team assumes , they will be of no use , as each new   employee is just temporarily passing through , until they have proven otherwise by staying after ‘ x ’   months or years .   The issue with this , is the cause and effect perhaps should be flipped .   We stand a   higher chance of the employee staying if we strategize and execute development activities frequently ,   rather than make those activities dependent on whether the employee shows interest and achieves a   long enough tenure .   I am sure this is not a novel idea , as I have read and discussed this on numerous   occasions with many industry professionals , and quite frankly this is a best practice instilled by many   companies globally .   However , the execution of this is still a challenge in many companies and   leadership teams .   And although there are plenty of options around what those strategies and   approaches look like to engage direct labor employees , I would like to focus more on how this challenge   extends to the stakeholders in the previous step , which are the frontline leaders , and how their buy - in is   just as important .   Initial feedback from the frontline leaders was that pay wage was the biggest driving   factor in this challenge .   However , interviews with the direct labor employees painted a different   picture .   Not only did I interview current long - standing employees , but also newer employees , including   those exiting our team upon resignation .   The most common theme around this group ’s feedback was   the communication , mannerism , and treatment from their frontline leaders was one of the most   significant factors in their job enjoyment and reasons for resignations . 

 Selection 

 This is where the Storytelling tool comes in to play .   The most important element of the Storytelling   approach is how it connects to the audience ’s emotions .   In this challenge , I was faced with a group of   frontline supervisors who did not believe in strategic team building and employee engagement   activities .   After speaking with them one - on - one , it was clear that the emotions around their challenge   of seemingly having no control over high direct labor turn - over had taken over their perspectives .   The   feeling of frustration and hopelessness overpowered any verbal directions to simply “ engage your   employees ” or “ conduct performance reviews ” .   Thus , in this situation , I felt that storytelling would be   the best way to “ reset ” their perspective , connecting to their emotions through my own stories , and   subsequently being able to provide a clear path and potential alternative “ endings ” to the stories that   they could relate back to and utilize . 

 Application 

 After the initial journey exploration of both the direct labor employees and the frontline leaders , I set up   one - on - one touchpoints with the frontline leaders .   The Storytelling began first with me recounting   some of my own stories involving my past experiences in other job roles , several of those roles also   being prior frontline leader roles , similar to the ones they held .   Based on the challenges they were   facing , which I also observed , I used my own stories to gain some mutual respect and trust , which   allowed them to understand that I had experienced similar journeys .   More importantly , I focused in 

 equal detail on the parts within my stories that resulted in employees changing their behavior and   perspective .   Through the story , I was careful to explain to them how giving everyone a chance to say   their part and simply listen and take the time to reflect , was sometimes enough to come up with   appropriate responses which encouraged development , motivation , and generation of new ideas .    Again , all of this illustrated through the story with real cases .   I was careful to carry the reflection portion   through to the actual one - on - one session .   As this course explained , the reflection at certain points upon   hearing the story is important . I paused throughout my storytelling to prompt them with questions , both   regarding my own story and directing questions relating to their own challenges they were facing .   There   was a second and third part to this storytelling application .   Through my own storytelling , which resulted   in great open discussion , the frontline leaders were able to begin telling their own stories back to me ,   which in turn helped me to understand their challenges even more .   The third part was that I   encouraged them to use the same story telling techniques with their own direct labor employees as a   way to draw them in closer into the team , especially the new employees , touching on more positive   emotion and sense of front - line leader support .   Most often , I heard them tell stories of their own   development through the business , which gave the new employees a better sense of similar   development opportunities in front of them . 

 Insight 

 One insight that I had during this storytelling strategy was that the story had to be planned .   Plenty of   times , I witnessed past leaders tell their stories very naturally , as if they were able to grab a certain story   out naturally without effort that applied to a particular challenge , that helped the team to work through   it .   I have since realized that this is not without effort .   In fact , this comes with great practice , and there   can be a method behind that practice .   The tips in this course , such as know your audience to connect   with their perspectives and emotions , is key .   I took a couple days of reflecting on my own collection of   experiences , converting them to “ stories ” , and mentally organized them into stories that were   applicable to different groups of employees , and different situations .   I found this similar to preparing   for a job interview . 

 Approach 

 I found that the storytelling approach worked very well in tackling this challenge .   Our company   experienced more positive survey feedback from both employees and agencies working with our   recruitment efforts .   We also saw lower turnover and new employees staying for longer periods .   We   even heard from long tenured employees who reported positive changes they saw in their front - line   leaders .   Given the great results , I would use a similar approach towards similar challenges in the future ,   using the same techniques and insights learned through this storytelling experience .   I think there is   always opportunity though to continue to tweak one ’s stories and focuses , depending on the situation . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Reflection – Storytelling Tool 

 Challenge 

 A common challenge that I have experienced throughout the general manufacturing industry , is hiring ,   retention , and development of direct labor employees .   Often , direct labor employees come and go   frequently , staying for short terms , leaving the existing front - line supervisors and company management   feeling jaded , frustrated , and impatient .   This results in non - existent or unstructured development and   team engagement strategies , as the leadership team assumes , they will be of no use , as each new   employee is just temporarily passing through , until they have proven otherwise by staying after ‘ x ’   months or years .   The issue with this , is the cause and effect perhaps should be flipped .   We stand a   higher chance of the employee staying if we strategize and execute development activities frequently ,   rather than make those activities dependent on whether the employee shows interest and achieves a   long enough tenure .   I am sure this is not a novel idea , as I have read and discussed this on numerous   occasions with many industry professionals , and quite frankly this is a best practice instilled by many   companies globally .   However , the execution of this is still a challenge in many companies and   leadership teams .   And although there are plenty of options around what those strategies and   approaches look like to engage direct labor employees , I would like to focus more on how this challenge   extends to the stakeholders in the previous step , which are the frontline leaders , and how their buy - in is   just as important .   Initial feedback from the frontline leaders was that pay wage was the biggest driving   factor in this challenge .   However , interviews with the direct labor employees painted a different   picture .   Not only did I interview current long - standing employees , but also newer employees , including   those exiting our team upon resignation .   The most common theme around this group ’s feedback was   the communication , mannerism , and treatment from their frontline leaders was one of the most   significant factors in their job enjoyment and reasons for resignations . 

 Selection 

 This is where the Storytelling tool comes in to play .   The most important element of the Storytelling   approach is how it connects to the audience ’s emotions .   In this challenge , I was faced with a group of   frontline supervisors who did not believe in strategic team building and employee engagement   activities .   After speaking with them one - on - one , it was clear that the emotions around their challenge   of seemingly having no control over high direct labor turn - over had taken over their perspectives .   The   feeling of frustration and hopelessness overpowered any verbal directions to simply “ engage your   employees ” or “ conduct performance reviews ” .   Thus , in this situation , I felt that storytelling would be   the best way to “ reset ” their perspective , connecting to their emotions through my own stories , and   subsequently being able to provide a clear path and potential alternative “ endings ” to the stories that   they could relate back to and utilize . 

 Application 

 After the initial journey exploration of both the direct labor employees and the frontline leaders , I set up   one - on - one touchpoints with the frontline leaders .   The Storytelling began first with me recounting   some of my own stories involving my past experiences in other job roles , several of those roles also   being prior frontline leader roles , similar to the ones they held .   Based on the challenges they were   facing , which I also observed , I used my own stories to gain some mutual respect and trust , which   allowed them to understand that I had experienced similar journeys .   More importantly , I focused in 

 equal detail on the parts within my stories that resulted in employees changing their behavior and   perspective .   Through the story , I was careful to explain to them how giving everyone a chance to say   their part and simply listen and take the time to reflect , was sometimes enough to come up with   appropriate responses which encouraged development , motivation , and generation of new ideas .    Again , all of this illustrated through the story with real cases .   I was careful to carry the reflection portion   through to the actual one - on - one session .   As this course explained , the reflection at certain points upon   hearing the story is important . I paused throughout my storytelling to prompt them with questions , both   regarding my own story and directing questions relating to their own challenges they were facing .   There   was a second and third part to this storytelling application .   Through my own storytelling , which resulted   in great open discussion , the frontline leaders were able to begin telling their own stories back to me ,   which in turn helped me to understand their challenges even more .   The third part was that I   encouraged them to use the same story telling techniques with their own direct labor employees as a   way to draw them in closer into the team , especially the new employees , touching on more positive   emotion and sense of front - line leader support .   Most often , I heard them tell stories of their own   development through the business , which gave the new employees a better sense of similar   development opportunities in front of them . 

 Insight 

 One insight that I had during this storytelling strategy was that the story had to be planned .   Plenty of   times , I witnessed past leaders tell their stories very naturally , as if they were able to grab a certain story   out naturally without effort that applied to a particular challenge , that helped the team to work through   it .   I have since realized that this is not without effort .   In fact , this comes with great practice , and there   can be a method behind that practice .   The tips in this course , such as know your audience to connect   with their perspectives and emotions , is key .   I took a couple days of reflecting on my own collection of   experiences , converting them to “ stories ” , and mentally organized them into stories that were   applicable to different groups of employees , and different situations .   I found this similar to preparing   for a job interview . 

 Approach 

 I found that the storytelling approach worked very well in tackling this challenge .   Our company   experienced more positive survey feedback from both employees and agencies working with our   recruitment efforts .   We also saw lower turnover and new employees staying for longer periods .   We   even heard from long tenured employees who reported positive changes they saw in their front - line   leaders .   Given the great results , I would use a similar approach towards similar challenges in the future ,   using the same techniques and insights learned through this storytelling experience .   I think there is   always opportunity though to continue to tweak one ’s stories and focuses , depending on the situation .
### Output: 