Find Fulfilment and Mental Freedom with Framing

The systems go down in work. Person A panics, they were just dealing with a customer and when the phone line cut off, they felt like they have let them down and guilt settles over them. Person B raises their arms in the air “woohoo, paid break! Might as well grab a brew!” Person C grumbles “great, last time this happened they sent us home unpaid. Why do bad things always happen to me?!” Person D looks around for something else they can do whilst the systems are down.

That’s just the first 4 people, in an office with 100 employees, 100 of them may have different reactions. So Why does this happen? It all comes down to how we choose to view the world. A room full of people may witness an event but each will have a slightly different take on what happened, how it happened and why it happened. The reason? It all comes down to Framing. Join us in the article as we explore what framing is, the benefits of changing your frame and how to change it.

What is framing?

If you are walking down the street and see two people fighting, you may be thinking all kinds of negative things about the people involved and of avoiding them as much as possible. If you change the frame of it being a street however and put the fighters in a ring with an official ruleset, the likelihood is that those negative assumptions will turn into positive thoughts about skill, Resilience and hard work. Instead of avoiding them, you will want an autograph. 

What’s happened here, is you have changed the frame in which you view the fight. At the end of the day, the raw data is still two people fighting, you have just changed the context in which you see it. By changing the context, we change the way we see the situation. It is therefore a powerful tool to help yourself and others overcome obstacles and see the world from a different perspective. 

The benefit of changing your frame

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could change how you react to a situation? Well, that’s the power of Framing, it allows you to change your perspective on something in order to view it from a different perspective. This empowers you to change how you react to it.

Consider how you would act to the below:

• You see a man run up to a woman, take her handbag and run back the way they came from.
  • What would you be thinking?
  • How would you be feeling?
  • What action would you be driven to take?
• You keep watching the man who runs up to an elderly lady on the floor, helps her up and hands her the bag.
  • What are you thinking now?
  • How are you feeling now?
  • Would you still be driven to take the same action as before?

The likelihood is that you have assumptions and beliefs about a person taking something from another person – that’s the frame you saw it through first. When you see a person hand something to another person, again – it triggers thoughts and feelings based on how you see the world – based on the frame you are looking through.

It is impossible to know the whole context of any situation, so we are always looking at life through our chosen beliefs and values. One of the most useful frames in life is this:

“Everyone is trying their best with the resources and tools they have.”

This frame allows you to be patient, compassionate and empathetic.

Someone’s shouting at you? – They don’t have a better way to deal with their emotions.

Someone’s stealing? – They don’t know a better way to get what they need.

Someone’s taken credit for your work? – They don’t have confidence in their own work, they have a need to feel valued and they don’t have the tools to do it themselves.

What’s important is that you still set healthy boundaries and expectations. Seeing the world this way isn’t about being walked over, it’s about avoiding the trap of spiralling negativity. It’s about looking for the good (because the more you look for it, the more you see). 

What’s going to make you more effective:

Seeing and expecting the worst in others?

Or

Assuming that everyone has good intentions, they just need to work on their execution?

How to change your Frame

There are a few different frames you can look through at any given time to change yours and another persons perspective.  Whilst you can create your own frames for how you see the world, we cover some basic NLP frames below alongside some sample questions that should help you elicit this Frame:

The Outcome Frame

This frame is great for evaluating actions and behaviours against the outcome you or your coachee wants.

Sample questions for this frame:

Did this get us closer to the goal?

Are we where we wanted to be?

What could have gone better?

What do we need to do next?

Has this changed my next step?

Ecology Frame 

This frame works well if you want to see the larger impacts of actions taken. If you feel uneasy about an action taken, its a good opportunity to use the Ecology Frame.

Sample questions for this frame:

How has this impacted (positively and negatively) our family/team/company/customers/community/culture?

Does this align with our values?

Does this show respect to others involved?

Would this stand up to public scrutiny?

Have we acted with integrity?

If someone did this to us, how would we feel?

As if Frame

If you’re looking to get creative with finding solutions, this Frame may work wonders for you. When working with a Coachee, this Frame can motivate them to act. To use this, think ‘as if’ things had already happened or were possibilities.

Sample questions for this Frame:

What would happen if ‘X’ was different?

What options would you have if ‘Y’ wasn’t in your way?

How would you feel if you had ‘Z’?

Once you have achieved your goal, what will you see, feel, hear, taste and smell?

If there were no barriers, what would your ideal life be like?

Relevancy Frame

This frame is superb for getting conversations and situations back on track. Use it in a meeting or coaching session when things go off topic or ideas don’t quite add up to the ideal outcome. 

Sample questions for this Frame:

How is this relevant?

Could you tell me how this will help us achieve the goal?

Are we still talking about ‘X’?

We seem to be stuck on ‘X’, should we focus on ‘Y’?

I’m sorry, I thought we were talking about ‘X’, can you help me understand where we are now?

The Contrast Frame

This is a great tool we can use as coaches and Leaders to help someone pick between contrasting options or understand the difference between where they are now and where they will be once the accomplish their goal. The second way this cam be used is to provide 2 options that give the illusion of choice – parents likely do that with “you can do it now or in 5 minutes.” – the task is getting done regardless but the other person feels in control of an element. As a Coach be mindful of how and when you use this, remember – it’s our job to extract information and help people find solutions, not pin them down with set choices.

Sample questions for this Frame:

What will be different once ‘x’ happens?

How will achieving ‘Y’ make you feel different?

How will your life be different afterwards?

What skills will you have attained at that point?

You can do ‘A’ or ‘B’, which is it?

It sounds like you need to do ‘A’, is it better to do it now or later?

What’s the difference between doing it now or on Monday?

‘X’ needs to be done. Would you rather do part ‘A’ or ‘B’

The Agreement Frame

This is a useful tool for avoiding conflict and looks to expand on what a person has said, even if you are positioning an alternative view. Avoid the terms; ‘but’, ‘however’ and ‘I understand” at all costs for this frame to work. The reason for this is that ‘but’ and ‘however’ disregard anything you have just said prior to these words being used, showing the other person that you are about to disagree. ‘I understand’ can come across as patronising unless it is applied tactfully.

Statements for the Agreement Frame:

I agree and wanted to add…

I respect your opinion. We also need to consider…

You seem passionate about this issue, have we taken into account for…

I appreciate your honesty here, I just wanted to add…

Custom Frame

If you Wanted to create your own Frame that you feel would benefit your life and who you want to become, consider a value or belief that you are choosing to see the world through. Create a bank of questions you could ask yourself to test whether or not you are operating within that value and belief.

Whilst there are more frames available in NLP, such as the Backtrack, Open and Appreciative frames – the above are some of the most useful when coaching yourself or others.  

Summary

Frames are extremely useful ways of changing how we think about a situation. They help us take a different perspective, Understand our goals and resolve potential conflicts. Some useful Frames to use in Coaching are; Outcome, Ecology, As if, Relevancy, Contrast and Agreement. You can find a great video by Stephen Covey called ‘Paradigms’ which explores the effects of beliefs and perspectives on our lives. What do you think the most valuable thing about Framing is?

 
This Blog was written by Simon Tickner from Develop the Edge

 

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What are Mobile Apps?

Mobile apps are something that are commonly seen in almost every person’s day to day life. It’s hard not to see someone using one, or using one yourself, even if you don’t know the term.

What are Mobile Apps?

If you’re wondering what they are, Mobile Apps are applications and software that are designed to run on a mobile device, like a phone or tablet for example. Basically anything you use on a phone is a Mobile App; games, social media, even the basic apps like contacts that comes with the phone is a Mobile App.

How can They be Used?

Now, you’re probably wondering how they can be used for business, the most basic way is to use already existing apps to benefit your business. Microsoft Teams for example, can be used to hold virtual meetings and connect with far away partners and staff, without the worry of having to schedule a venue, time, costs of travel and all that. Teams means that just the meeting time would have to be decided, and then everyone could join from their own homes, let alone from their offices.

Some Mobile Apps are services that are already online services rather than apps, like the Google Drive app for example. Meaning you could do any work you needed to from anywhere, and there is even a ‘work offline’ option, so an internet connection wouldn’t be needed. There are many apps like this as well meaning employees can work from home or wherever they currently are, not to mention as well these services allow easy sharing of files with colleagues – making workflow easier and tasks finished faster. 

Another way Mobile Apps can be used is having access to your emails, if an important email comes through whilst you’re away from your main computer, rather than leaving the reading and replying to when you’re back, depending on the importance – it could end up creating issues, you can access it any time and respond at any time, anywhere.

Same way with social media apps. If you advertise your business through these apps, having quick access to them from anywhere at any time is very useful. Especially if there’s someone who has a query, say if it’s the weekend, instead of leaving them hanging until Monday – you can answer their question straight away. 

More Complex Uses 

There are more complex ways of utilising Mobile Apps, for one, you could create your own business’s app for users to access your services better, that would be affected by what kind of business it was. But by having one, customers can use your services on the go, or check what they need to involving your business anywhere, makes it better for customers to use your services and makes your business look better as well – especially if the app functions well.

Doing so also increases your brand’s strength without extra advertisement, having a useful app that’s branded to your business will gain the user’s trust and approval, meaning they’re more likely to keep using your service and even recommend your business to other potential customers – essentially free advertisement.

With a Mobile App, there is the potential for use of loyalty schemes, which for the customer can offer rewards and product recommendations, and for the business, you can encourage social sharing which can lead to more potential customers being exposed to your business. For example, you have Sainsbury with their points system, where the more you spend, the more points you get – and with these points, if you have enough, you can buy items at a huge discount. They have an app that recommends specific items that will give you extra points when you buy them, encouraging customers to come shopping with them, rather than any of their competitors.

Benefits of Mobile Apps

As what has been stated above, Mobile Apps can bring many great benefits to a business. They can increase the customer engagement that you already receive, and if done correctly, can give you an edge over your competitors.

There is also the opportunity for personalised advertisements to customers and potential customers, which would be more likely to receive more conversions than the typical advertisement.

Customer service can be vastly improved with the ability to respond to questions and queries from anywhere, with much improved speeds than usual, even if you were still working in the office, you could use a mobile device to respond to customer questions whilst you worked on your main tasks on your computer.

Drawbacks of Mobile Apps

Whilst there are a lot of positives to Mobile Apps, there are some negatives as well. For one, most Mobile Apps will require a stable internet connection, and depending on the app’s content, it might need to be fast as well as a stable connection. Not everywhere has internet or at least reliable internet connection, meaning that the whole idea of mobility would be made naught if there is no way to access it, where you currently are. 

Creation of a mobile app can be difficult as well, and then publishing the app can be tricky on some platforms. And most likely a business would have to hire a programmer to create and maintain the app for them. Not to mention as well, depending on your business, the app you seek to make could be in a heavily saturated market, which means you would have to come up and create a reason why your app should be used over anyone else’s.

Are They Worth it?

In conclusion, yes. Mobile Apps are almost always worth it for the majority of businesses, and for those in sectors where it wouldn’t work so well, you have yourself a perfect niche to create something unique, so try before giving up on creating a Mobile App. In general every business could make use of apps that currently exist like Teams, Drive and Email apps like Outlook’s app for example, it would vastly improve the business’s digital infrastructure. 

 

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Which Social Media Platforms should you use for your business?

Now that you’ve identified your target audience, you need to know which social media platform best suits your business. Not every social media site is going to work for your business and generate leads so you need to find one that will work for your brand.

Twitter for Businesses

Twitter is best used for snappy, quick and to the point content. Tweets have a much shorter lifespan. Twitter has a trending page which changes what people tweet about, depending on what’s trending, Twitter posts also have a 280 character limit which means you are restricted to how much you can talk about your business or your product / service.

Twitter has the option for users to ‘retweet’ your posts which is a great tool as it can give your posts so much more exposure which could lead to others purchasing from your business if they can see what you have to offer. Hashtags are another way for people to grow their followers as using hashtags that people follow can increase your engagement by a lot.

The largest demographic group of Twitter users are between the ages of 18 and 29 (37%). 25% of users are between 30 and 49 years old.

Facebook for Businesses

Facebook is probably the most versatile of the platforms, in the sense that it suits all types of content. Think of it as a way to communicate and engage with your audience. You can post everything from informational and statistical content, to a special offer or some light-hearted posts. Facebook groups can also be created as a way to stay in touch with customers and create a line of communication between you as a business owner, and your audience.

Facebook also has the option for you to tag a product in your post which will take a customer straight to your website if they click on the tag which is great for businesses that have products to sell rather than services. 

Facebook has a very mature audience, Overall, 25 to 34-year-olds made up the biggest demographic group of Facebook users. 

Instagram for Businesses

Instagram is best for sharing visual content and eye-catching images – it’s a bit like your online gallery. Short videos can also be uploaded daily on Instagram stories to reach your consumers and create a more personal and relatable feel. With more filters and features being added to Instagram Stories every day, there’s always a new way to interact with customers, like question stickers, polls and more.

Just like Twitter, use relevant hashtags to boost your presence in your industry. Adding a location to your post is helpful for local discoverability. Although Instagram works best for lifestyle and visual brands who can benefit from showing off their products or services, any business can have a successful Instagram presence if they know what their target audience likes to see.

59% of internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 use Instagram and 33% of internet users between the ages of 30 and 49 use Instagram.

Now you have more information and demographic stats for all the relevant social media platforms, here are some final tips to help you pick the best social media platform for your business:

1. Go to where your audience is. Don’t set up an Instagram account if you’re trying to target 50-year-old professionals and executives.

2. Only pick two or three social media platforms and post on them regularly, you want your brand to be imprinted in peoples heads.

3. Look to see which platforms your competitors are using to get an idea of what content goes where and how your target audience is being reached.

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Tips for 3 Different Learning Styles

We all manage situations differently, we all remember information differently and we all have different learning styles. Your learning style can be one of three – visual, auditory or kinesthetic, or even a mixture of all three. If you recognise yourself in any of the following characteristics, here are a few top tips that could help your studying and learning.

Auditory Learners:

As you might’ve guessed, an auditory learner retains information better through hearing and speaking and therefore is able to interpret the meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch and speed. This type of learner also benefits more from being given verbal directions then summarising the main points out loud themselves to help with memorising it. 

TOP TIPS

• Record lessons and listen to them, you may have missed important points
• Repeat material from textbooks for example, out loud and in your own words
• Discuss material in study groups
• Listen to instrumental music while studying

Kinesthetic Learners:

This would be somebody who likes the hands-on approach when learning new material; a kinesthetic learner usually excels in subjects such as Maths and Science, needing to handle and manipulate objects when studying or listening. 

TOP TIPS

• Take breaks often, cramming and all nighters are not for you
• Learn new material while doing something active, for example read a textbook while on a treadmill
• Watch demonstrations on work you don’t understand, either by your teacher or check YouTube
• Work while standing where possible

Visual Learners:

As the name suggests, a visual learner will understand best from visual displays and use objects such as graphs, charts and pictures so that they can see the information they’re given. Not only do they require this for studying but, at all times, a visual learner will be an observer, scanning everything and enjoying visual stimulation such as diagrams and colour. This also means that they can memorise and recall information which is written down, causing visual learners to take very detailed notes.

TOP TIPS

• Turn your notes into pictures, charts or maps
• Make mind maps instead of general outlines
• Colour code your notes focussing on the important aspects
• Use flashcards when studying vocabulary

If any of those characteristics sounded like you, try adopting one or two of these top tips. Or if you’re a trainer, by understanding a learning style, you can adapt your teaching to suit, in some cases, a mixture of the three.

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What is Search Marketing?

Not everyone may have heard the term Search Marketing, but if you have a website or business, the chances are that you have used search marketing, even if you didn’t know the term. And definitely all of us have been a part of Search Marketing as well.

What is Search Marketing?

Search Marketing is the term given to the strategery of gaining an online presence from paid and unpaid means, usually from search engines like Google, but it can apply to Social Media as well.

When you search up a topic, the search results are due to Search Marketing, the first results that show up have been deemed to match the search term the best, and proven to be the most popular choices. And usually above, or to the side, are the advertised search results, these are the same as ordinary results, being related to the search topic, except that they have priority and appear before the organic search results, as these are paid for adverts.

How Important is Search Marketing?

Search Marketing is very important for an online business, it’s the main way for them to reach out and make a connection with a potential customer or client. The same methods can also be used on Social Media, although they don’t work exactly in the same way. Whilst regular Search Marketing relies on other users with click-through-rate playing a huge part, on Social Media, the reliance on other users is much larger, not only relying on views, but the amount of followers, interactions with posts and how hashtags, Social Media’s version of Keywords, are used.

How does Search Marketing Work?

There are two main ways that Search Marketing can work, Paid and Unpaid, both with differing effectiveness.

Paid

The main method of Paid Search Marketing, is what is called Pay-per-Click, this is when the user pays to create an advert to draw in potential customers or clients to their website. How this works is that the creator of the ad tells Google for example, the keywords that they want the ad to show for, a product or service in this case, and then place a bid for the ad, which will add to the cost of the advert.

How much the bid is worth affects what position the ad will be placed, but the quality of the ad itself also has an effect on the positioning it would take. As well, this means a higher quality ad would not have to spend the same amount on bids as a poor quality ad. However, a higher quality ad would not only cost less, but would also be more appealing to the users seeing it, and might make them click on it more than they would through Unpaid Search Marketing.

The cost is only paid when someone actually clicks on the advert to go to the website, meaning it is an effective way of advertising, however it can be costly for those with lower quality adverts, and in fact you would have to pay for it as well compared to Unpaid Search Marketing. Not to mention, just because it appears first, doesn’t always mean it will be clicked first, for example some users might have an ad block installed, which means no adverts would show.

Unpaid

The main method of Unpaid Search Marketing, is the use of SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation. SEO is where the owner of the website will ‘optimise’ it, to make it more appealing to Search Engines, this would entail making your content; high quality, filled with relevant keywords, links and the website being unique.

Keywords are a part of the method as well, in recent years, it’s been shown that Google prefers Meta Description over Tags, so don’t forget to include those keywords in the Meta Description and Titles, as well as blending them into the content. However, it isn’t advised that you completely forget about the tags either, still include some for the best chance, but not too many – as Google might think you’re ‘Keyword Stuffing’.

SEO may not cost anything in terms of money, but it definitely can be time consuming, especially with the fact that anything you do could take up to six months to see a visible effect, and how it currently works can be a bit unfair on smaller businesses, as how many times your link appears in Search Results and is clicked (known as Click-Through-Rate) has a big impact on your result rankings as well – meaning a more established site will appear first. 

What to use?

Whilst both have their pros and cons, the most effective Search Marketing strategy would be an implementation of both.

To sum up what was said before, the Paid method is most likely the fastest way to get results, and people clicking on your ads, it still costs money and is not a 100% guarantee that someone will click on it just because its first – however this doesn’t cost anything but might hurt your ad ranking. Unpaid is slow but eventually will guarantee that you would climb the result rankings for free, if the website optimisation is handled well. SEO alone would not be good for a new website trying to get popular fast, but in time the website would climb for free.

Whilst separate, you can see where each has its flaws, but implemented together at the same time, you can see where the synergy would come in where they would cover each other, for example; Paid can get the initial traffic in, whilst SEO would keep it consistent, even after the advertisement has ended.

 

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Understanding PPC

Pay per click, also known as PPC, is an online advertising method in which advertisers pay each time a user clicks on one of their online adverts. There are 8 different pay per click methods that businesses use in order to promote their business.

Search Ads

Firstly, search ads. This is the most common PPC method and is usually the first method businesses use when experimenting with pay per click advertising. Advertisers choose keywords that they want their ads to show on. They then tell Google Ads what ad copy they want to show when a user searches for their keyword as well as input the maximum amount that they are willing to pay if their ad is clicked. The most common search engine that is used is google ads followed by microsoft advertising. Prices do vary for each business but it could be as cheap as $1. Which could be great for businesses who are just starting out or companies that aren’t bringing in much work.

Paid Social Media Ads

Paid social media advertising means your product / service popping up on people’s social media feed. There are numerous social media platforms this could be done through including Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat or Tiktok. Different platforms offer different prices to individuals and businesses depending on how many times you want the ad to pop up on people’s feed, which area you would like individuals to see the ad etc. A lot of businesses like the idea of this method but a study has reported that 71% of businesses do not like this chosen method as the business has to create the social media poster themselves to be displayed on individuals pages.

Gmail Sponsored Ads

Sponsored gmail ads allow businesses to advertise their product / service through their gmail services. This is great for businesses that use google search ads to promote their company as they can easily branch out and start to use gmail to advertise their businesses. 

As you open up the emails they would pop up on your screen like on the image above, once you click on the email the advert will expand. Gmail ads are a great way for businesses to increase their brand awareness and get more traffic to their website.

Display Ads

Display advertising is another form of paid advertising where you advertise your product or service to people while they are browsing the internet. Display advertising differs from PPC search advertising in that with a Search campaign; your ad can potentially appear in front of users who are currently searching for your product or service. Display advertising is often used to increase awareness of the advertiser’s brand. So, if you have a relatively unknown product that you want to build awareness of, then Display advertising could be the option for you.

Remarketing Ads

A remarketing campaign shows ads to people that have previously visited your website. As the user has already shown some form of interest in your products / services, a remarketing campaign is a very safe option for those who don’t want to spend money on an ad with no guarantee of people viewing it. The remarketed campaign will have much more information on as they want to give the customer more information to lure them in to buy their product or service. It is also great for businesses as if someone has bought a product from you, you can advertise another product which might convince them to buy another product from you. Here are some examples of audience lists that are created via a google remarketing campaign:

-watched a youtube video

-signed up to your newsletter

-all previous users on your website

-people that have started shopping on your website but stopped for whatever reason

Video Ads

With social media platforms like youtube and tiktok, video advertising is becoming increasingly popular. Studies show that 85% of businesses use videos as part of their marketing campaigns. The benefits of paid video advertising over organic video advertising are that you can get your videos in front of people who are not currently aware of your business or following you. You do not have to do the work to build an audience first. Just like gmail, if you are already using google ads to advertise your product you can also use paid ads to go on youtube. Video ads might not be for everyone as time and money will have to be put into it to look professional, so if you’re willing to spend money on a professional camera and create a 30 second advert, video advertising could be great for your business.

Amazon Advertising

This way of PPC is specifically for businesses that sell their products through amazon. With so many businesses on amazon trying to sell their products it can be hard for companies that are trying to sell the same product but aren’t appearing on people’s pages. This is why Amazon offer Amazon advertising where businesses can use a pay per click model to get their products in front of people who are searching for your products.

Shopping Ads

A Shopping campaign allows ads to show on search engines just like with a Search campaign. However, unlike a Search campaign, Shopping ads contain a picture of the product being sold, the price, title and a description of the product. A Shopping campaign can be created by e-commerce businesses that have products and not services to sell. A Shopping campaign can be one of the most profitable parts of a business’s PPC advertising efforts. This is because the user has already seen a picture of the product and the price. They know a lot more about the product before they click and cost you some money. This means that the conversion rate on a Shopping campaign is often higher than a Search campaign.

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Getting Radical Results with Reinforcement Theory

Shoulders slumped, half closed eyes, slow robotic movements and one word answers. These are some of the most obvious signs your team has lost their motivation and it’s a call to arms for any Leader that cares about their people. If you’re here, then there’s a good chance that you care about your team, their performance and want to create a culture that’s full of contagious inspiration and motivational drive. Whilst all people and teams go through dips in motivation, it’s important to understand some of the key contributing factors so we can put our teams in the best position to feel motivated and engaged, which in turn will improve performance and feelings of fulfilment.

In this article we are going to look at what Behavioural Reinforcement theory is and explore 2 models that cover it: Herzberg’s Two Factor theory and McClelland’s Needs Theory. We are going to challenge ourselves with questions and consider how we can utilise these theories to bring the spark back in our teams.

What is Behaviour Reinforcement Theory?

Behaviour Reinforcement theory looks at how people respond to both positive and negative feedback. It also looks at the correlation of employee behaviour with what they think the outcome of their actions will be. In short, its cause and effect, for example:

• If you achieve your targets, you get recognition.
• If you complete more than the allocated workload, you are massively helping the team.
• If you act in a way that is considered gross misconduct, you will be fired.

Reflective question: Think back to a time where someone shouted at you or chastised you for something you did or said. How did that make you feel?

Reflective question: Did it make you want to avoid getting that reaction again? Did that change your behaviour or action?

Reflective question: Now let’s turn that question around a bit…Think back to a time when someone celebrated an action or outcome you achieved, how did that make you feel? 

Reflective question: Further to this, did it make you want to do the same or similar again?

With this in mind, we can understand how feedback can reinforce the right behaviour. If you think about when you have been recognised for an achievement and how that made you feel, it is soon clear how this may work. Positive reinforcement encourages a repeat of the previous behaviour as we find the reward motivating. In fact, in a recent CIPD paper ‘employee recognition and non-financial rewards ‘, they found that positively recognising an achievement encouraged performance and engagement…they also found that generic recognition vs specific, achievement based recognition decreased motivation, performance and engagement. So whilst recognition is definitely a tool to use, if you’re recognising your people, do it for the right reasons, for the right behaviours and for key accomplishments.

Alongside this, if you embed an environment of reciprocity, your positively reinforced team will begin to positively reinforce each other as well, increasing the motivational climate. Encourage your team to celebrate hard won victories but just as important, if someone fails – acknowledge and thank them for their hard work and attempts before working with them on improvements.

Feedback isn’t always positive though and we all know that some people can take constructive feedback poorly no matter how it is positioned. Depending on whether the person you are feeding back to has a Growth mind-set or a Fixed mind-set will wildly influence how they take on board your feedback…so do we need to consider upskilling our team’s mind-set?

Whether giving positive or constructive feedback, the way you implement this to create a motivational climate is to always be open and honest. Ensure you include these in your values and live by them. When people know that all feedback comes from the place of support, development and growth, they will be more open to improving their skill sets and less likely to push back against it.

Now we know what Behaviour Reinforcement is, let’s discover two theories that can help us harness the power of motivation to drive our teams to victory.

Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory

Herzberg’s theory looks at what motivates people to perform and splits these into two factors, Motivating agents and Hygiene agents. Hygiene agents are what people expect as a standard, they don’t improve morale or motivation but a lack of their presence leads to a decrease in job satisfaction. If you are missing any of these, fix this issue instead of throwing Motivating agents at your team. 

Looking at the Hygiene agents, relationships and supervision really highlight the importance of feedback within a motivational climate. Without the correct supervision, employees may become disengaged with their work as they are not receiving any guidance. Relationships come in all shapes and sizes but fostering an open and honest environment will help people feel secure and build trust, making it an essential factor for a motivating climate. 

When we look at company policies and supervision, we don’t mean that you should micromanage or remove any independence (that’s a superb way to disengage people) – what we mean is understand what levels of support and autonomy each member of the team needs and ensure they have it. Both Servant Leadership and Situational Leadership can give you great insights into different styles of leadership you can use to support your people.

Looking at Herzberg’s Motivating Agents, we can see that achievement, advancement, growth and recognition all lead to an increased job satisfaction. All of these can be the basis of feedback, which highlights how important it is towards fostering a motivational climate. 

Reflective question: How are you setting your team up to achieve? 

Reflective question: How many Hygiene and Motivating Agents are you fostering?

One important factor that we can see from Herzberg’s Hygiene agents is that salary is not a motivating agent, indicating that financial gain is not enough to develop a climate of motivation. Whilst some people will be driven financially, this should help employers understand that high wages and bonuses on their own are not enough to encourage top performance. As a Leader, you can therefore focus on the motivating agents, which all focus on self-actualisation and achievement.

Now that we have discovered Herzberg’s Two Factors, we can explore McClelland’s view.

McClelland’s Needs Theory

McClelland created his Needs Theory, which looks at a person’s needs as the root cause of their behaviour. He broke motivation down into four main needs; achievement, power, affiliation and avoiding failure. It is time to explore these needs further.

The need for achievement

The need for achievement focuses on a person’s desire to accomplish. We are driven by that sense of achievement, like an adrenaline rush it drives us to achieve again and again. We see this with sporting personalities, often when they achieve, they push themselves to keep achieving and when they retire they often say there is no feeling like it and unless they have a new purpose or goal to focus on, their behaviour can become self-destructive. The best way to nurture this need is to set stretching goals, which will challenge your follower and increase their sense of achievement when they accomplish their goal.

Reflective question: What stretching goals are you setting with your team?

Reflective question: How do your team know when they have achieved their goal?

The need for Power

The need for power looks at how people need to feel respected and authoritative. People with this need want to control and influence others, enjoys status and recognition, wants to win arguments and likes competition (and of course winning). 

Reflective question: How could you use the need for Power to motivate people without excluding others?

When not kept in check, this need can become toxic and destructive for the team so be mindful of creating an inclusive environment and using multiple criteria for success – this enables people to achieve in an area that plays to their strengths.

For example, could you run an incentive that included all of the below:

• Productivity
• Quality of work
• Impact on long-term objectives
• Team work

One key question to consider when planning an incentive is “what behaviours and values do I want to drive?”

Reflective question: How do your team know their power, influence and status?

A quick lesson can be taken from Jocko Willink, a navy S.E.A.L that was in charge of team Bravo. He renamed them Team Bruiser. This helped the team understand that even though there was a Team Alpha, Team Bruiser were second to no-one. The team rallied behind this identity, it became a symbol of pride, power and influence.

Reflective question: What can your team be known for that they do better than anyone else?

The need for affiliation

The need for affiliation is to be accepted by others and your wider group. Most people want to fit in, at least on a subconscious level. We are drawn to people that are like us and that identify as we do. In general, we adopt the mind-set, values and behaviours of the group we are part of to help us fit in and feel part of something larger than ourselves.

Reflective question: Have you ever felt the drive to be accepted by a person or a group of people?

Reflective question: Have you ever felt rejected or like you didn’t belong? 

Reflective question: What strategies could you utilise to create positive values and behaviours?

You can typically motivate people with a need for affiliation by encouraging a team mind-set to your organisation, encouraging big picture thinking and facilitating a team charter, where the group decide on an setting norms, values, beliefs and expectations that lead to positive results. If the team are aligned in this vision and helped create it, simply reminding people of the charter can be enough to motivate the desired behaviours.

The need to avoid failure

The need to avoid failure was added later and is a major motivator. People are often afraid to try because they feel they will fail. We now often call this a ‘Fixed mind-set” and you will hear people with one say things like:

• “I can’t do it!”
• “I’m too old to start!”
• “That just isn’t me!”

A simple and powerful method for reframing moat of these limiting beliefs is to add “yet” to the end of them or simply repeat the statement as a question: “You’re too old to start?” 

At the end of the day, when a person has a fixed mind-set, we need to understand that it’s their ego that is holding them back, the fear of failure and ridicule is stopping them from growing.

It is the leader’s job to encourage trying new methods and embracing failure as a chance to learn and hone skills. 

Jeff Weigh, author and facilitator once explained the ‘IF, THEN…’ mind-set at a workshop I attended. Quite simply, tell the fear voice “if that happens…then I will”

For example, if the fear voice is saying people will laugh at your presentation, simply state: “if people laugh at my presentation, then I will…”

This mindset focuses on solutions instead of catastrophizing the event. Simple solutions could be:

• “Then I will make a joke about the presentation myself and then Refocus on why what I’m saying is important.”
• “I will pretend I can’t hear them and carry on.”
• “I will deliver my presentation and ask for feedback.”

As a leader it is your responsibility to understand you team, their values and their needs in order to understand their motivators. By doing this, we can work to link their values with the organisations values and therefore their work. Where possible, let people see the impact of their work on the wider objective, and celebrate what their hard work means.

Conclusion 

Motivation is a state that comes and goes in most individuals and teams. When people feel motivated, they are more engaged, more productive and find it easier to be fulfilled by their tasks. 

Behaviour reinforcement theory uses cause and effect or consequences to shape a person’s behaviour. You can positively reinforce ideal behaviour and add consequences to inappropriate or insufficient behaviour. Be mindful in how you lead like this and ask yourself what is appropriate for: the team, the business and the customers. Remove how you feel out of the equation otherwise you may be more likely to react with your ego where a more supportive style would have been better.

Herzberg’s 2 factor theory identified 2 types of drivers for people; Hygiene agents and Motivating agents. People are not motivated by Hygiene agents but expect them to be there. If they are not present, Motivation will decline. Hygiene agents are; policies, supervision, relationships, work conditions, remuneration, salary and security. 

Motivating agents are; Achievement, advancement, growth, recognition, responsibility and the work itself. If you focus on these motivators and cater then to each individual needs, you will begin to see motivation levels increase.

McClelland’s Needs Theory looks at 4 human needs that can be used to motivate, whether that’s reinforcing positive behaviour or adding consequences to unacceptable behaviours. The human needs are; Achievement, Power, Affiliation and Avoid failure.

Want to test your knowledge?

We’ve prepared some questions for you below that will help you to embed the information and apply it in different situations. 

1. In your own words, what is Behaviour Reinforcement theory?
2. List the Hygiene agents
3. Explain how a person’s motivation level may be impacted by each of the Hygiene agents 
4. How could you ensure the Hygiene agents are present?
5. List the Motivating agents
6. Discuss and write down situations where you could utilise each of the Motivating agents
7. List the 4 Needs according to McClelland
8. Discuss how you could use each of the 4 needs to positively reinforce the ideal behaviours
9. Discuss how you could use the 4 needs as a consequence for inappropriate or inadequate behaviour.

 This Blog was written by Simon Tickner from Develop the Edge 

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Management Routes with Oracle

Oracle can offer you different routes into a management role, for example we have different apprenticeship positions to progress through as well as multiple training courses either as an introduction to management or to expand existing skills and knowledge. Our other apprenticeship sectors can also be an introductory point for management, for example to gain experience in a Digital or Finance role, then by completing a Management apprenticeship you can combine these skills and apply your previous experience in a team leader or project management position.

Apprenticeships

• Operations Department Manager (30 months, Level 5)
• Team Leader / Supervisor (12-18 months, Level 3)
• Event Assistant (18 months, Level 3)

Training Courses

• Level 3 Diploma in Management
• Level 5 NVQ Diploma in Management and Leadership
• BTEC Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership

How do these benefit the learner?

– Improve communication skills with internal and external people

– Improve decision making skills which then improves efficiency throughout all projects

– Lower qualifications introduce you to leadership strategies, helping to develop a skill set useful for aspiring managers

– Learners develop a better understanding of change management and can therefore implement this with the least interruption on productivity

– Develops ability for personalised feedback as well as self-evaluation

How do these benefit the employer?

– Able to monitor your employees work to ensure they and the business are performing well

– Ensure the success of all projects completed within your business

– Give staff the opportunity to progress and develop through the company, increasing employee retention and gaining an employee with a stronger understanding of all working aspects of the business

– Positively impact company morale with additional qualifications for existing managers as they feel more secure in a position where the company invests in growth and development

– Implementing qualifications across different departments improves how these areas work together and therefore enhances business performance

For more information on our range of apprenticeships and details on each individual management qualification, visit the pages below or contact us with any questions you have.

• Apprenticeships
• Management Qualifications

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The Customer Lifecycle

Basically every business will have customers, from one time, to new and even loyal customers. But not every business knows about the customer lifecycle, there’s five stages that a customer will go through whilst interacting with your company. 

Reach

The first stage is referred to as ‘reach’, as this is the time where the potential customer would search for the product or service, and would reach you. They would see what you offer and become interested if it suits them.

This stage is where marketing and SEO will come in most useful, as having a great outreach would make it easier for potential customers to access and reach your business and see your offer. Being successful in this stage is piquing the interest of the customer to begin contact.

Acquisition 

When the potential customer makes that first contact, whether that will be emailing, calling or entering your website, they’ve entered the second stage – the ‘acquisition’ stage.

Depending on the way they’ll contact you, this stage will vary the most, someone entering your business’ website could access the information they need, whilst if they call, you can answer any of the questions they may have there and then.

Whatever the route the potential customer takes, providing them with the adequate information they need, and having persuaded them to make a purchase, they will move to the next stage.

Conversion 

At the third stage, known as the ‘conversion’ stage, the potential customer has made their purchase, and is now officially a customer. At this stage, you want to make sure that the new customer is happy with their purchase, and you can now move to the fourth stage in an attempt to keep them as a customer.

Retention

With the previous stage, you have gotten a customer, however at this point they are a one time customer. The fourth stage is called the ‘retention’ stage, as the name suggests, this stage is about retaining the customer to keep their business. 

You can do this many ways depending on the service, you could send a follow up email after the customer has made the purchase to see how they enjoyed the product, or if they need any help with the service. You could even offer incentives for them to return and buy another product or service at a discount.

Doing so can lead to the next stage, and turn your one time customer into a loyal customer.

Loyalty

The final stage is the ‘loyalty’ stage, at this point you’ve successfully created a loyal customer, whilst it’s not a quick process, a loyal customer can be a great benefit to your business. A loyal customer will trust your product or service over others, most likely will come back for said product or service when they need it again, and are more likely to recommend your business to people they know, effectively becoming free advertisement.

Having a loyal customer, in turn, can make more customers, and even more loyal customers, so attempting to create some loyalty is important for a business.

The Customer Lifecycle itself is something very important that you should know about, you may have heard it before, or even know of it, but it is something that you should always keep in mind.

 

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Can we go back to 5-day working weeks?

There’s no doubt that the past two years have been one of the strangest in modern history; and it has affected the way we live, communicate, how we work and where we work.

The ‘work from home’ culture has been widely embraced, and although the presence of colleagues physically has been missed; can we really see ourselves going back to working five-days-a-week in the office?

The introduction of hybrid working has allowed employees to be flexible with the way they work, whether that’s in the office or from the comfort of their own home. The most common option has been allowing workers to operate from home a few days a week, whilst spending the rest of the week in the office. The government has also encouraged workers to go back to the office as long as it is safe to do so, in a bid to help boost the economy and get things back on track.

As we see more hybrid model opportunities arise, the UK is now questioning whether we should have 4-day weeks rather than 5. As a result, the UK has now trailed the 4-day working week for 6 months – with up to 30 UK companies taking part in this trial. One of the perks employees will find is that they will be paid the same amount working 4 days a week, as if they were working for 5 days.

Iceland conducted a 4-day working week in the summer of 2021; hailing it an “overwhelming success”.

What are the potential benefits and risks of a 4-day working week?

The possibility of working one less day a week sounds very appealing to many, and one of the reasons for that is: it keeps employees feeling refreshed and productive. In addition to seeing an increase in productivity, it also adds into work-life balance which is what employees strive for. Additional benefits include:

Equal opportunities for all – Whether it’s childcare duties or other outside commitments, a 4-day work week enables equal opportunities for everyone who may not be able to be in the office five days a week. This way employees can spend more time with their families.

Effective employee engagement – Going back to our main point, four working days a week can lead to happier and more productive employees. As a result of this, communication between colleagues is much more effective. Employees who are fatigued are not likely to be highly engaged.

Environmental benefits – Reducing the work week from 5 to 4 days could have an environmental benefit too. As a result of less commutes to work, this means large office buildings are not in use as much.

Although there are benefits to a shorter work week, there are also some potential disadvantages.

Unsatisfied satisfaction – Although working less days a week could have a positive effect on employees, customers may be the ones who don’t benefit from a reduction in working days. Less days will mean customers may not receive the support they need on a regular basis if offices are closed.

Could it be approached in the wrong way? – Though workers will work less days, they are still expected to cover 35 hours across four days. This leads to increased hours over a shorter time – could that cause fatigue and lower levels of productivity?

Whilst we’re only seeing trials of the 4-day week, it is certainly a possibility that we should be ready for. There have been discussions about the future of work and how we can support employees’ wellbeing and a 4-day working week along with technology could be the key to enhancing business activity and giving employees the work-life balance they seek.
 This Blog was written by Simon Ticker from Blu Digital

 

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