Why HR Should Share Internal Company Stories

Why HR Should Share Internal Company StoriesNothing makes HR groan more than discovering theres a company crisis afoot. Three hamburger King employees are the most recent bad apples to join the ranks of HR headache-inflicting employees everywhere.In case you missed it, a photo supposedly snapped at an independently owned Mayfield Heights, Ohio, Burger King is making the rounds online, grossing out whopper-loving patrons everywhere. The photo, which shows an employee standing in lettuce bins, came captioned with, This is the lettuce you eat at Burger King. The three employees deemed responsible for playing with Burger Kings product have since been fired, but their disgusting viral behavior will continue to intimidate HR from sharing internal company stories.Despite disgusting viral behavior like Burger Kings latest incident and the dirty Dominos employees from 2009, sharing internal company stories publicly is a brilliant company strategy HR professionals should embrace. Heres whyCust omers Like ItEngaging customers is becoming an increasingly difficult task for companies. More and more customers ignore marketing campaigns and instead search for the companies offering the best coupon. Whats worse is that customers minimally engage with companies that spend time and money on social tools, causing brand influence and profits to decline.Sharing internal company stories is a great way HR can humanize its company and employees to customers. Much like spokesperson advertising, internal company stories tie a product or service to a face, giving customers an overall positive feeling about the people who are responsible for creating and distributing the companys products or services. Creating video clips of charismatic internal employees is one great way to engage customers.It Attracts TalentHR professionals know that not every employee at their company is 100 percent satisfied with his job. But, for every unhappy employee a company has, there are plenty of respectable, e xcited employees with great stories to tell.Take Groupons Sam and Amy for example. Back in March, the couple shared their love and engagement story to deal-loving customers everywhere. The simple blog post shows potential talent that Groupon is a fun, easy-going place to work where you may even find love.Find outgoing employees with great stories to tell at your company and encourage them to share externally. The feel-good approach may make your company more attractive to potential talent.Itll Get You PressSure, releasing great finances and stock increases will certainly get a company press, but pure financial reporting has grown increasingly complex and even downright boring for the average media consumer to read. Journalists, after all, are storytellers, so embracing sharing internal company stories will likely get you some press attention.Additionally, if an unsatisfied employees antics go viral, like in the case of Burger King, you better believe itll be all over media outlets w ithin days. While these internal company stories are the kind HR dreads, its a common strategy to combat the negative with positive employee testimonials. HR should embrace communicating positive internal company stories because, in times of crisis, they can salvage a companys reputation.Does your company share internal company stories publicly? Why or why not?Image courtesy of Flickr.