Numbers vs. stories

For a few moments today, I had the library cafe to myself.

I come here every few weeks when I’m in need of a change of scenery and good coffee.

It’s where I write my faltering first drafts and chase writer’s block away.

The beautiful light and big airy space always clears the cobwebs from my brain.

And so, with all the other chairs empty, I had written a whole section on talent attraction before I looked up from my screen.

Slowly but surely, people had started to trickle into the cafe: the tired mothers holding sticky-handed toddlers by the hand, the group of silver-haired runners fueling up before they headed outside, the students weighed down by backpacks filled with books.

There are people aged from a few months to well into retirement.

Everyone greeted by the barista with the same remark: “Hello, friend. How can I help you today?”

I watch her go the extra mile, delivering coffees to tables, chatting to kids about the teddies they are clutching, asking the newcomer about her book choices.

And I think about talent attraction some more. This is what it looks like when it is done well: the right person found for the right job. And a puzzle piece falls into place.

Even though the company whose report I am writing makes billions of dollars in revenue each year, it helps when a number (XX,000 employees hired) down can be told by a single story.

I am reminded again that numbers are fleeting in the brain but stories stick.

So I add a note to the file suggesting an employee profile story and take another sip of my coffee.