Issue 17, March 2015
 

Storming Motivation

One of our newest clients Edinburgh based STORM the full service user experience and digital technology consultancy are living recent thinking on motivation. What's more they are doing it in a way that touches on several aspects of high people performance.

In essence their "Storm Labs" gives all employees up to 12 days a year to think about, research and develop ideas. As part of it, employees seek support from colleagues whose expertise they need to develop their ideas. This is the power of the informal.

For Robertson Training, a people performance company, this aspect of STORM's working environment ties in perfectly with MIT research in motivation. It includes telling us that incentives and bonuses are proven to be counterproductive in roles that have any element of cognitive skills attached. Indeed the initial research quotes cases studies where giving employees freedom to develop their own ideas supercharged their motivation and led to genuine business improvements in new product development and service.

Stewart Cruikshank, Client Services Director at STORM knows that this people process:

  • Matches STORM's value of creativity

  • Motivates staff

  • Delivers genuinely innovative solutions and service add-ons

  • Contributes to enhancing the STORM brand

  • Helps attract and retain people

Stewart's case study shows that modern understandings of people performance begin in research, are picked up by early adopters (like google) and then ought to become part of the people performance toolkit of every ambitious organisation.

Thanks Stewart for sharing.

http://www.stormid.com 

 

People Performance Partnering 

http://www.robertsontraining.co.uk/index.php/partnering/ 

Video Tip: PROVES a Popular Return

 

It's been a little while since we had a video tip. We pick up now with the PROVE model of influencing. Participants tell us it is it is a great way to collect your thoughts before an important conversation. Business or pleasure, to get someone to say "yes" to your proposals more of the time is important. Certainly worth 90-seconds of your time.

 

If this video strikes too close to home and you find yourself in fits of displacement laughter because you know you need to increase the capability of your recruiters, please get in touch with Elaine at Robertson Training on 01786 447548.

 

https://youtu.be/prxNmuCq8KQ

SCDI Forum. Eclipses our previous events 

  • Data has the potential of being the "gold" of tomorrow

  • 8,000 litres of water to make one pair of shoes

  • By 2020 50 million smart metres will be installed in the UK

  • 70% of the world's population will be living in cities by 2030

  • 90% of data generated in the past two years

  • Scotland's OECD ranking 17 out of 32

  • 52 % of our GDP rolled out through the public sector

  • The aim is for every school to offer foundation apprenticeships by 2020

  • 1,100 of SCDI's Young Engineers and Science Clubs across Scotland

19 and 20 March saw two of us from RT attend the SCDI (Scottish Council for Development and Industry) Annual Forum in Edinburgh.

Conferences can be like Forrest Gump's box of chocolate - "You never know what you are going to get." This one has one word to describe it for us "Value".

There hundreds of super delegates all of whom shared willingly, informative speeches from The First Minister and Secretary of State, lots of operational ideas for a fast growing company like ours and perhaps most importantly many thought provoking presentations. The latter lifted our thoughts and frame of reference from the day to day operational to the strategic and indeed global. As a development opportunity it eclipsed many a conference we have attended in the last ten years.

 

Download our "10 Things to get out of a Conference"

http://www.robertsontraining.co.uk/our-resources/downloads/

Quick Quiz

To break up your day or energise a team

After attending the SCDI Forum on the 19 and 20 March we left filled with thought provoking facts to think about.  To link in with this event our quiz this week is a True or False on a range of some interesting facts.

http://www.robertsontraining.co.uk/our-resources/downloads/

Mantra for the month

 

Many readers will know of my fascination with the American Civil War (or the war between the states). This month's mantra comes from Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. A complicated and brilliant achiever he gives us this quote, "You may be whatever you resolve to be."

This is simple and yet so awesomely powerful. He also shows us that positive mental attitude, mental toughness, positive thinking isn't a modern thing. It's something that achievers may always know instinctively.

Catch yourself this month noticing what have resolved to be. Then ask yourself if that works for you?

 

In our next issue

Look out for your next Robertson Training update.

 

Robertson Training

Office One

6 Munro Road

Springkerse

Stirling, FK7 7UU

Tel +44 (0) 1786 447548

[email protected] 

 

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