I have a Big Birthday this September. So, I wanted to do something that would shake up my life a little in celebration. I signed up for a marathon and convinced one of my best friends to run it with me.

Except, I’m not a runner. And, even though I *wanted* to do it, I kept dressing in my workout clothes every morning to run to work, but would sit around eating pizza for breakfast and decide to drive or walk instead. 

One day I was leaving my daughter’s daycare, dressed in my running clothes. One of the other moms asked me, “Are you going for a run?”

And before I could snort something like, “Not really, just dressing the part,” she said, “You are so lucky. I wish I worked close enough to run to work. It’s such a beautiful day, too.” 

I ran to work that day and have trained ever since. Instead of thinking how much I hate the act of running, I now think about how grateful I am that I have the time, the health, the commute, and the support to do it. There are definitely moments in every run where I lose sight of this and have to rely on my workout mix to get me through, but I ultimately tap back into the greater purpose of why I decided to run a marathon in the first place: to celebrate living. 

It’s our job as recruitment marketers to find the moments that matter to our employees and share with candidates both at scale and through targeted persona efforts. These moments illustrate culture, and why the team members who are thriving choose to work at your company, with those people, in that job for 1/3rd of their waking hours. 

I shared a personal story, but these stories are everywhere in your company. I know, because Stories Inc. finds them everyday for companies like yours. Here are a few examples. 

Lashika from BAE Systems

“I didn’t know this was going to be a trip that changed my life.” 

Eric from EA Sports

“Video games can touch people on a really, really personal level, and I had never seen that until that very moment.”

 

 

In my session at SRSC Philly this week, we’ll tell more stories, give tips on how to find the #MomentsThatMatter throughout your company, and talk about the elements of a story (not a testimonial). Hope to see you this week!

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Lauryn Sargent is a founder at Stories Incorporated, a company that is half story consultancy and half creative studio. She has been a co-creator of a company currently working with best-in-class and emerging employer brands like Dell and EliteSEM. She has also had a direct hand in creative direction and creation of content that truly reflects the employee experience. 

Before founding Stories in 2011, Lauryn spent years in technical, executive, and everything (corporate) recruiting. She has a Masters in Human Resource Development from George Washington University and a Bachelors in Telecommunications (Audio/Video production management) from Ohio University.