Attachment Theory essays

Attachment Theory essays To begin to understand the attachment theory one must first understand and have a clear definition of what attachment is. From my point of view attachment is a lasting, secure and positive bond between a child and a caregiver, a reciprocal relationship. Attachment, as a behavioural system introduced by Bowlby (1969, 1973, 1979, 1980), is thus a set of behaviours (crying, smiling, clinging, moving, looking, etc) that function together to achieve proximity to the primary caregiver. The biological purpose of such an innate behavioural system is to keep the infant close to the mother and protect it during its early and most vulnerable years(http://psychology.about.com) 1 A baby who has formed an attachment responds well with the adult she has bonded with, this response makes the adult continue providing the care, nourishment, nurturing and stimulation the child needs to ensure a healthy well-rounded development. As the baby grows mechanisms are developed to allow this bonding to continue, traditionally a baby would have been carried around by the mother, usually in a papoose, till old enough to crawl around. Then when the baby could crawl it could follow its mother, reach objects on its own and explore, always being able to get to where mum is if and when needed. Babies are able to cry from birth, this cry is plaintiff and helpless, this makes us want to hold them and comfort them, a baby who knows she will be picked up when distressed becomes secure, trust develops and the baby understands that all she needs to do is cry and help is there. When a baby looks into our faces when we are feeding them we begin to speak to them, our voices soften and our tones become sweeter, almost saccharin, when they hold our finger and begin to make cooing noises it tugs the heart strings, we respond with more chatter, the content doesnt matter, what does matter is that we are bonding, an attachment is forming between us and the ...

How to Make Marketing Employee Performance Reviews Easy (Templates)

How to Make Marketing Employee Performance Reviews Easy (Templates) No one enjoys doing employee performance reviews. They’re often slightly uncomfortable conversations, and even in a best-case scenario, everyone involved feels relieved when they’re done. That isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for their value, necessity, or how we feel about them. However, they are valuable, they are necessary, and when conducted with a thoughtful process, they can be something you approach with less anxiety. When you can repeat that process effectively with consistent results, you can spend less time planning for reviews, and more time working through them efficiently with the results  you want. In this post, you’ll learn: Why are performance reviews important for marketing managers and teams? What steps should they include and which questions should be asked? How can marketing teams develop a repeatable review process that works? Best of all, this is the actual process the team  uses, which has been time-tested and shown to work well. In other words, this post is geared specifically toward what marketing managers need to know most about this topic. Be a Better Manager With Free Performance Review + Evaluation Form Templates.Be a Better Manager With Free Performance Review + Evaluation Form Templates Employee reviews don’t need to be overly complex. However, you will need to keep documentation of your conversation so you have something to reference in the future, to ensure the important details of the review aren’t forgotten later. Youll also need to accurately evaluate performance before going into each meeting. To get started, download these two templates: Marketing Performance Evaluation Form (Word): Answer six simple questions to gauge performance. Marketing Employee Performance Review Template (Word): Then, use this sheet to document the meeting. Both are short and simple to streamline the process effectively. Grab them quick before moving on:How Can Help Evaluate Team Productivity? As a marketing project management platform, is purpose-built for managing busy marketing teams. That includes your tasks and workflows for all projects and making sure everyone is getting their stuff done on time. One way measures that last item is with Team Performance Reports. It measures who’s rocking it and who’s falling behind so you can actually know who’s hitting their deadlines. Here's a quick look at how it works: What Exactly is an Employee Performance Review? Here’s a short definition this post will work with: An employee performance review is an opportunity for team members and managers to assess what’s going well, what isn’t going well, and what’s necessary for future success with a company or organization. There are a few things to note about this definition: It shouldn’t feel like an interrogation. A good review shouldn’t focus solely on negatives. They aren’t one-and-done meetings. Feedback gathered in a review should be considered and implemented throughout the year. This should be a two-way conversation. They aren’t just about assessing the team member’s performance; they’re also an opportunity to get the employee’s take on how they’re doing and how the company is doing, too. Recommended Reading: The Best Way to Plan a Successful Marketing Performance Management Process What Are the Benefits to Running Employee Reviews for Marketers? First things first, it’s important to understand that these meetings are more than just an annual requirement that you have to fulfill to keep HR happy. Here are a few reasons why they shouldn’t be blown off or phoned in without careful consideration for their purpose. Your team members need an honest assessment of their performance. If they don’t know how they’re doing (positively or negatively) or where they need to improve, they’re unlikely to reach their potential. You need to know what your team members need to succeed. Likewise, you can’t help your team achieve success unless you understand what they need from you. If you don’t set up employees for success, someone else will (when they leave your company). The market for marketing talent is tight. Don’t let people leave because they didn’t feel supported. Help Your Team, Help Your Company (Before They Leave) As a case in point, according to Smart Insights, 54.9% of marketers switch companies in order to find a new challenge. Why not provide that challenge for them instead of leaving them to find it somewhere else? And if that statistic doesn’t have you convinced, these might: Who Should Be in an Employee Review Meeting? In most cases, a marketing manager, their supervisor(s), and the employee themselves should be sufficient. If possible, including the CEO too is a good idea (at , CEO Garrett Moon offers direct feedback to each employee in the company during reviews). Then, once the review is completed, human resources will likely need to approve review paperwork (and any pay raises the team member might be due). Work with your HR department if you’re unsure what your internal processes are there. How Often Should Reviews Be Conducted? Here’s a common misconception: staff reviews are a once-a-year deal where you get all your feedback out at once. This could not be more incorrect, but unfortunately, it’s a common attitude (particularly at large companies where one-on-one communication might be challenging to schedule, or just doesn’t happen organically). So, how often should feedback be scheduled? Consider the following: Weekly syncs: Set up a recurring one-on-one meeting with each team member to check in on how things are going. Quarterly check-ins: Then, schedule quarterly meetings to review how things have gone year-to-date and what’s needed for success over the long term. Annual reviews: Finally, these are holistic performance evaluations that take the entire previous year into consideration. For marketers, ongoing mentorship with leadership is invaluable for development. Also, this post will stress this point multiple times: an annual review should not be the first time an employee hears a given piece of feedback. This is a sign they don’t feel like they can be open and honest with how things are going outside of times allotted for feedback, and that’s corrosive for everyone’s productivity and happiness at work. Recommended Reading: 6 Things You Need To Know About Marketing Management (+ 4 Free Templates) Scheduling Your Review Meetings The best way to make sure your review meetings actually happen is to schedule them on a regular basis. Schedule the following using your company’s shared Google or Outlook calendar: Weekly meetings: Stick to a set time each week. Quarterly reviews: Stick as closely to a 90-day window as you can. Annual reviews: Same as with quarterly reviews, they should be close to their start date each year. Map these all out in advance so they don’t catch anyone off guard. If you’re a customer and use Google Calendar, you can even sync your calendar with with Zapier, so they’ll appear alongside all your other projects. Evaluating Employees Prior to Your Meetings Before heading into a review, you’ll need to know for yourself what you honestly think about each employee’s performance, both in terms of what they’re doing well and where they can improve. It can help to have some sort of checklist to run through when assessing each team member, especially if you have a large team. In order to keep your meetings focused and conversational, do this before meeting face to face. Here’s an outline of a checklist you can use: Does the team member demonstrate high level of job knowledge? Does the team member complete work accurately and on time? Does the team member work well with others? Does the team member communicate effectively? Does the team member demonstrate initiative? Does the team member consistent show up to work on time? These are basic performance-oriented questions you’ll need to assess, and running through them as an exercise might help you identify strengths and areas in need of improvement. If you’d prefer this in a Word doc, there’s one included in this post’s template bundle. You can jump back up to the top of the post here to download it quick. Here's what it looks like: Planning Your Review Questions Once you’re face-to-face for a review, what should you ask? It might be tempting to prepare a detailed list of questions to dig deep into the needs of your team members. That might work. After all, it stands to reason that more granular questions will get more detailed answers, right? Well, you might be able to have a more productive and insightful conversation by keeping your questions simple. There are only three you really need to ask: What’s going well? This can be an open-ended discussion around what’s going right for the employee, their work, and the company. What isn’t going well? Same as above, but for things that need improvement. What’s needed for a successful future? What should the employee keep doing? What should they change? And likewise, is there anything you or the company may need to consider as well? Generally, it’s best to keep this an open-ended conversation. But, as that conversation moves forward, how do you make sure it stays on track and the words you choose to maintain a productive tone?