The Secrets of Activating"The Seeking System" to Increase Employees' learning and Engagement

Imagine if you learn to use a tool that help you to increase your team engagement and learning, without spending too much money or changing the pay structure! How this will sound to you? Amazing, right!?

In this article, I'm sharing some information about "the Seeking System" that you can use to trigger the best motivation of your team and make them open to learning and engaging.

Weeks ago, I was lucky to attend a webcast with HR Congress , hosted by Mihaly Nagy , I've listened to many fabulous HR speakers, and one of the greatest was prof. Dan Cable A professor in London business school, started the session with a simple question:

"Do people love the change? And How do leaders stimulate emotions that make people want to change and learn?

He starts with an intro about "The Seeking system" which is a part of the brain called "Ventral Striatum". that's first presented by scientist Dr. Jaak Panksepp , (1943 – 2017) who has groundbreaking research and many books in that field of the neurobiological and nature of emotions.

The Seeking system is one of the seven main emotional tendencies of the brain, that is integral to our motivation to explore and desire to understand, it's responsible for the positive experiences we seek in our lives, and it has some responsibility for our innate desire to explore, learn, and develop. In addition, this part of the brain uses "Dopamine " to reward this behavior, so we're feeling positive after such a learning experience which makes us want to repeat it again.

The image below is a brain MRI that demonstrates?"The seeking system" as it gets activated when an individual works on specific tasks that ignite his motivations

So., How this part of the brain -"Seeking System" is related to making us open to explore and learn? And what type of activities are able to activate it?

Dr. Jaak Panksepp did a science experiment, that replicated many times, he puts two rats in a cage, and monitored their normal behaviors of playing, chasing each other, and exploring around, then he put a cat's fur inside their cage and watched their reactions. They react differently this time that all kinds of their playing and chasing each other are stopped! they became conscious of the danger that they might be in, and they remained silent?at the corner of the cage. even when the scientist decided to remove that fur they didn't come back to play either! it takes them three days until they're back to play. however, they didn't come back with the same level as they had before the cat's fur experiments

It appears when that part of the brain -"the seeking system" is activated, it is triggering the feeling of curiosity, makes us?open to exploring new things?around us, and opening to learning.?However, the opposite happens when the?emotion of fear comes, it is activating a different system -"the fear system"?which leads us to be more conscious, focused, and hyper-vigilant however it?doesn't allow?us to learn or try new things.

And as it's apparent and essential for many organizations now to have a culture of?adoption?and learn to cope with?today's challenges, they need to maintain?psychological safety?for their employees,?empowering?them, and remove these feelings of fear and anxiety to allow the positive emotions to surge. And this will drive them to be more innovative and enable us to create a culture of change and winning.

Three famous triggers that leaders can use to stimulate and activate the "Seeking Systems"

• Prompt curiosity through experimentation
• Emphasize unique strength and perspective
• Experience impacts beyond the money

Now, we'll explore each of these triggers through the lens of actual experiments by different companies.

1- The first trigger is Experimentation: which means playing with boundaries of how we usually do things to understand if we can create better results and effects.

A decade ago, the Dutch airlines' company "KLM" decided to use social media in business to communicate with customers. At that time, most companies were not using social media in business yet. So, KLM wanted to take the initiative and try something new. They looked at their clients' social media figured out what doing then bought them personalized little gifts and presented them at the airport. This was a good win for the company as the clients talked about it over social media.

Another success?for KLM, back to?2010?in The?ash crisis?caused by the erupting?Icelandic Volcano, that forced most flights to stall for six days, so KLM provided airport services updates on Facebook and Twitter, which came with positive public feedback and Gartner Blog Network talked and posted about it?

However, The KLM's social media experiments didn't always work exactly as planned since the employees were still learning and experimenting. For example, At The world cup in 2014, after the Netherlands beats Mexico (2-1) by a penalty at 94 minutes, while emotions were running up high, A KLM's employee tweeted a picture of an airport departures' sign under the heading Adios Amigos Next to the word Departures was a photo of a man with a mustache and sombrero.

KLM got a lot of exposure as the post went viral, creating millions of social media movements. On the other hand, Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal tweeted to tell his Two million-plus followers that he would never fly with KLM again.?

The company apologized to the public and deleted the post. The KLM spokeswoman said, “It meant to be a joke, but there was too much negative reaction” And, Marnix Fruitema a general director of KLM in North America wrote: “In the best of sportsmanship, we offer our heartfelt apologies to those who have been offended by the comment.”

The point here is how the KLM handled the situation and make benefit from it, They could fire the employee and shut down their social media experimentation however, they apologized to the public and tried to learn more and better about using social media communications. KLM's management believes that their employees have the freedom to use their strengths and interests to contribute to the team However, they need to learn more about how to use this freedom within the frame of customer commitments and legal regulations. So they look at their experiment from a different angle and think: What we've learned? What we can do more? What we can do better? They look into their experimentation as if they were "one organization" We tried something new, and we learn a lot, So let's try to roll that in the organization.?

So the experimentation is essential?for innovation however, innovation doesn't mean execution, And since we're saying "innovation" We know that nothing always goes perfectly, so we can celebrate the learning without punishing the learning process!?

And, as always saying that money talks, KLM’s experiments with social media have helped them stay connected to tech-savvy customers, and now they have 150 social media customer service agents who generate?$25 million?as annual revenue. Furthermore, the company regularly voted as?the most social-media-relevant airline.

2- The Second trigger Emphasize people's unique strengths:?Let them understand and realize their genuine strengths and potential. What they're capable of -?what are they good at doing & like doing.?The famous psychologist?Martin Seligman ?called that - "signature strengths ". And as Dr. Dan said when we highlight people's unique strengths, it seems like an "Ignition switch" that makes them authentic to?try?and make them want to?pursue?the potential that they have. Because when people seek, find, and fulfill what is?the best and unique about themselves?it gives?meaning?and?direction?to their lives.

There is a?real experiment?that Dr.?Dan?collaborated with other professors, profs?Francesca?Gino and?Bradley?R. Staats -?Harvard and North Carolina.?The study was published by?MIT Salon . It was over a tech firm in?India?called "WIPRO" they're running an outsourcing?call center business, and they were suffering from massive?turnover. As they used to hire and train employees for Six weeks and after a month or two the new employees resign and might even go to the competitors.?

The experiment was at the - "onboarding process" The newcomers were randomly divided into?three groups?with?three different conditions. The?Frist group-?was asked to write?stories?about their?best characteristics?that describe their best?selves?and?best contributions. Then, they were asked to?present?themselves by?sharing?these stories with?the group. At the end of the session, these participants have received a?personalized badge?and fleece sweatshirt.

The 2nd group -?They listen to a?Sr. leader & star performer?talks about the "Company values"?and why?Wipro?is an outstanding organization. Then they were asked to spend 15 mins reflecting on what they had just heard - (e.g., “What did you hear about Wipro that makes you?proud to be part?of the organization?). After discussing their answers, these participants have received a?generic Wipro badge?and fleece sweatshirt.

The 3rd and last group?is the?control group, They normally went through the regular Wipro’s onboarding that focused on skills training without any changes.?

After tracking all participants for?six months, professors found that?1st group?who placed in the -?"best self"?condition?were?outperforming?their peers in?the 3rd group (control group). Since The customers, for example, reported?11% higher satisfaction.?And they found that the 1st group - the “best selves” were more likely to?remain?in their jobs, and their?retention?has improved by a?whopping 32 %?compared with the?3rd group?in the normal control condition.?Results?also showed that -?(the second group)?that talking about?Wipro’s values?has helped to?reduce?the?turnover?by?14 %,?however, It didn't lead to?significantly?better customer satisfaction results.?

So the point?here is that many organizations focus on?highlighting?people's?weaknesses?by looking for the problems, limitations, failures with their teams and trying to?highlight?that and say these are where you?missed up! So you have to do better, but?unfortunately, this way?doesn't activate?the "Seeking System" it's shut it off.?to activate?the "seeking system," you have to look for ways that make employees feel?unique?and?valuable?in terms of what they can bring to the party!

In the last experiment, they reduced the turnover?by 32%?without changing the pay, or the technology, or even the bonus structure, They simply allow their employees to?introduce themselves?as their?best selves and highlight that. In addition, the?clients?became much happier! And it connected employees more closely to their organizations.

3- The 3rd trigger - "Experience that impacts": Means the?purpose?of our work, and the?"why"?of the work, the?impact?of what we do all workday long, that?urge?within us is to?understand?the?cause and effect of our actions. Although so many of us at work mostly didn't get to see or feel the?outcomes?of our?efforts, however, that feeling of?purpose?is?boosting?our enthusiasm, intrinsic motivation, and resilience and makes us?open to seeing our impacts and learning?

A study and experiment?by?Dr. Ryan Buell ?- a professor at Harvard school. The study also has published by?Harvard business review .?The?Annenberg Hall dining facility?at Harvard serves more than 3,000 meals every day. The restaurant was built in the late 1800s with an old style that has a window to receive and deliver food orders but in a way that?the chefs?can’t see the customers, and the?customers can’t see the chefs.

So, they installed?iPads?with video-conferencing software - one at the?order's station?at the customers' side and another one at the?kitchen at the chefs' side. Then they timed?how long?it took to make various dishes and?measured?both?chef?and?customer satisfaction.

So, when They turned on the iPads in a way that?allowed only?the?chefs?to see their?customers, the customer's satisfaction?rose 14%, and when they turned on the iPads so the?customers?could?see?the?chefs?too, the?customer's satisfaction?went up?22%, and the chefs?worked 19% faster?and became more?satisfied?and?much happier?with the work.

Through the conducted surveys, professors found when?customers?saw the?chefs?cooking?their meals, they realized that?more effort went into serving them, and they?appreciated?the?effort?and?valued?the service more. And when the?chefs?could?see?their?customers?too—"the people who were benefiting from their efforts" the work they were doing seemed?more appreciated?and?impactful, which made them more?satisfied?with their jobs and more?willing?to exert?effort.

There are so many interesting studies and stories of using the "Seeking System" that Dr. Dan wrote a book about it -"Live at Work "- However, we hope that companies are encouraged to try their experiments based on their culture and system.

In the end, applying the seeking doesn't require a lot of money, or a big budget, or changing the performance system. It just requires a different mindset that helps people find meaning in the place they work that helps to create a learning culture and environment.

References :

https://npsa-association.org/news/passing-professor-jaak-panksepp-1943-2017/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaak_Panksepp https://venturebeat.com/2015/05/21/klms-150-social-media-customer-service-agents-generate-25m-in-annual-revenue/

https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/reinventing-employee-onboarding/?use_credit=e633e2ac7a14a4d56384f38df943792b

https://hbr.org/2019/03/operational-transparency

https://www.amazon.com/Alive-Work-Neuroscience-Helping-People/dp/1633694259