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This post was written in collaboration with Pamela Kaye, an internal communications expert and Founder of PK Communications. Fun fact: Pam also was a Stories Inc. intern from 2014-2015!

A hill I’ll die on: Employees should be treated at the same level as the customer and candidate audiences. Companies need engaged, happy employees to operate at their fullest potential, so doing right by employees is doing right by the company, in addition to just being the right thing to do. 

And if those reasons didn’t convince you, remember, “job hugging” — the current trend of employees holding onto their jobs out of fear of uncertainty — won’t be a thing forever! Now is your chance to position yourself well for when the pendulum swings back to the other side, an employees’ market, because it will. 

That’s why employer branding can’t stop at talent attraction—it needs to work internally, too. Employee stories are powerful tools to reinforce culture, core values, and employee recognition. When done right, they drive alignment, support change, and deepen employee connection to your company’s mission.

Here are five places where storytelling has an outsized impact in internal communications, in service of employee performance, productivity, and retention.

1. Onboarding

Onboarding is such a crucial time in the employee lifecycle. (Some say it’s THE most important time, since 70% of employees decide if the job is the right fit for them within the first month.)

Creating space for stories – not just HR policies – at this point in the employee journey is key to instilling your mission, vision, and values, and storytelling is a compelling way to communicate those. A great example is this Sea Island History Overview – an impactful collection of origin stories to orient new hires to what the company stands for.

2. Employee Events

Whether at town halls, team meetings, or specific recognition events, stories are an amazing way to communicate the behaviors that the company wants to see. (Bonus points for centering recognition around the company’s core values!).

They’re also a great setting for launching a soon-to-be-external campaign. If you’re launching a new employer brand or content series, consider debuting it at an employee event. Employees will appreciate getting to see it first, and they can then help drive engagement around the content as it launches externally.

The Knot Worldwide took this approach to launching their first employee story series, driving more than 50 hours of watch time in three days. Here’s one of our favorites from that series below.

3. Internal Social Media or Newsletter

Employees love seeing the people behind the work—especially teams they don’t interact with every day. Story-driven employee spotlights are a simple, scalable way to celebrate your people, boost recognition, and connect day-to-day roles to your company’s mission.

Since 2023, the automaker Stellantis has launched a Meet the Makers employee spotlight series highlighting the people behind the iconic vehicles. The series has been a huge hit internally, celebrating different locations and jobs around the organization.

4. Increase Leader Visibility

Humanizing leadership goes a long way for building trust throughout your organization. Doing it well in the good times is what minimizes the risk in the bad times. Interview your leaders and spotlight their career journey, company vision, and more throughout your internal communications channels.

We love this CEO spotlight from HEI that highlights his personal journey and how it has shaped his work ethic and leadership.

5. Change Management

From new company direction and priorities to a new IT overhaul, change is such a big part of today’s work landscape. Telling the story of how things were, and how they are now, can strengthen employee resilience and engagement.

Change communication is centered on meeting employees where they are and bringing them along for the ride: Stories here, especially by a peer change champion group, can help the employee audience see what’s in it for them and assuage their fears.

We know that people trust their colleagues, so let’s ensure that we’re helping them in a way that makes sense for them in what can be a stressful time.

Use stories to support employee retention and productivity

You want your employees to excel and to stay. These applications of employer branding storytelling to supercharge your internal communications are an excellent way to support just that.