GAMIFICATION IN RECRUITING PERFORMANCE “THE NEXT LEVEL”

Jan 23, 2016

In the very competitive world of Workforce Management and Staffing, the need to differentiate is essential.  The Staffing Industry Analysts estimates the U.S. temporary staffing industry, with place and search included, will reach an all time high of $142 billion dollars in 2016. This represents a 6% growth from 2015. With this much growth, the market must consistently try to find ways to innovate while improving productivity.  As mentioned in Andrew Karpie’s white paper “Changing the Stakes in the Staffing Industry”, staffing companies must find ways to innovate as a workforce solutions provider or face a “race to the bottom”.  My view is that both can be achieved, and finding ways to radically improve performance productivity is the key to funding innovation from within the company.

WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?

First, let’s explore what gamification is, since it is such an overused word. Wikipedia offers a simple explanation.  “Gamification is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts.” In this case, performance improvement.

So, what are game design principles?

In the most simple terms, most games have the following design features:

  1. There is an objective with rules – tell me how to win!
  2. There are constraints – what do I need to know?
  3. There are success criteria – how do we know we are winning or losing?
  4. There are rewards – what do I win to keep advancing in the game?
  5. There is play and a sense of fun – can I take risks and keep playing?
  6. There is competition (usually) – who/what am I competing against?

Some great examples of organizations implementing game design in business are the following:

  • In order to boost recruitment, the U.S. Army created a game, America’s Army, which puts players through a simulated basic training before playing an exciting team-based combat game. The game cost just 0.25% of the Army’s recruiting budget, but was more effective at attracting recruits than all other forms of advertising combined.
  • Zappos tries to create a tight-knit atmosphere at its corporate headquarters. One way it does so is through a game. When employees log onto the corporate intranet, they are shown the face of someone at the company and asked to identify them. If they can’t, they are encouraged to email the person to meet them and create a new connection.

WHY IS IT BETTER THAN THE TRADITIONAL MODELS?

Moving to a model which has elements of game design are more aligned to the way people like to compete.  Most traditional staffing companies who were successful in growing their business accomplished this by brute force “you need to make 100 calls a day”, or constant supervision.  This approach is effective to a point, but does not get the most from an individual performer because it is not them finding ways to improve and perform.  Whereas in a “gamified” model, the performer tracks their own activity and is self-motivated to improve.

What a “gamified” model offers to individuals where a traditional model falls short:

  • Visibility “the score” – the ability to know how they are doing in a more “real-time” way
  • Badging – the ability to share their success and challenge others
  • Self improvement – the ability to seek help on their own and to be motivated by rewards as opposed to punishment
  • Innovation – the ability to experiment in a structured way to find the most efficient way to solve problems
  • Bottom up approach – the ability to encourage performers or “the players” to share ideas for improvement in a natural way, which encourages team building

HOW DO STAFFING COMPANIES IMPLEMENT A “GAMIFIED” MODEL?

The Wharton School of Business published a set of steps which I modified for the staffing industry.  This is a simple and straightforward modified approach that will transform the way you think about improving performance!

  1. Decide on your goal – this is critical!  Decide what the goal is?  Decide on a few simple metrics, such as placements.  The goal can be to improve placements.  You gain rewards and badges for activities (i.e. interviews and submittals) leading to more placements.
  2. Develop a loop – Games are built around the idea of “engagement loops”
    • First, players are given a clear goal, asked to take an action, and are given immediate feedback on that goal.
    • Ask yourself what the engagement loop is for the activity you selected. How does your audience know what their immediate, actionable goal is?  What simple action can they take? How do you give immediate feedback?
    • Finally, to make it a loop, you should consider how to give your performers the next actionable goal they should work towards.
    • Thinking about engagement loops will not only help you think about games and gamification, it can also help you think about what motivates your employees and customers to act.
  3. Create a sense of progression. Games are often effective because they give people a sense of accomplishment that’s missing in many “real life” tasks. Engagement loops in games become increasingly challenging as the player masters the basics of the game. How will you provide that sense of progression? You could make the tasks more challenging, you could give players virtual rewards (such as special badges that appear in their intranet profile), or you could add new twists to their old activities. In any case, asking your audience to do the same thing over and over again without change is not only bad game design — it is inherently demotivating.
  4. Level up. Games can be used for far more than simple motivation. Think about how you can use games to make your training more effective, your website more compelling, and your employees more satisfied with their job. These are not easy tasks, but games offer an important way to motivate and engage employees and customers. In the case of staffing recruiters, a great way to “level-up” can be to assign levels to performance. For example, recruiters with 7+ placements per month are the top level – LEVEL 5.  While those with 1 placement per month are a LEVEL 2.

 

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