Do You Know What Is Preventing it from Taking Off inside Your Talent Acquisition Strategies?
< Develop A Game Play Mind Set >
This week Kyle Lagunas, Talent Acquisition Analyst at Brandon Hall Group posted an article on the company blog about Gamification. I have reposted it inside this commentary (below) for your review.
He questions the reasons for slow progress in the direction of Gamification – within talent related technology and strategies. An article I penned in March this year “Gamification – Is this the way forward for Talent Engagement?” also asked people to think about the value Gamification might offer the talent practitioner and offered some examples of who are doing some great work in this area at the moment.
While in the main I think Kyle has made some valid observations; there are too many buzzworders out there waiting to use the next hot topic for their own self promotion goals, the cost of this type of investment needs a strong business case to get it over the line. A key observation he made was the thinking that “Work Isn’t supposed to be fun” and “HR is not a game”, well for me this is more subjective of Kyle’s ‘map of the world’ and the sum of his experiences. What reason can you give me that work is not supposed to be fun – It might not be for some, even many, but that’s environmental not an absolute? The point about HR not being a game, I am not sure what he means.
I also think he has not offered enough credit to the successes of those mentioned in my March post, nor has he fully expanded the deeper understanding needed around Gamification in a business context. As it is applied to the how the unconscious human brain derives satisfaction, enjoyment and a sense of achievement from actions of task completion in a competitive situation.
A decent reference I started with and is worth a read is the short book “For The Win: How Game Thinking Can Revolutionize Your Business” by Kevin Werbach & Dan Hunter
I do not question the investment implications he mentions nor do I disagree that the concepts that need to be visualised and seen as valuable are a difficult pitch into organisations and c-suite leaders who say people are their best asset but don’t back that with the required budgets, personal commitment and passion to implement more easily understood ‘best practice’ thinking in Talent Management.
Gamification for me as a meaning is about understanding the physiology behind game play and looking for ways you can repeat/apply those positive, enjoyable physiological triggers to any business process that involves a high degree of human engagement.
Kyle asks for comment on what others think as to “why (an emotional word) hasn’t Gamification taken off in Talent Acquisition”, well this post is my reply. I think the question needs a slight rewrite, if I were to ask it would read – “What are the issues preventing Gamification from taking off in Talent Acquisition” – These three main observations would be my reply.
- Not enough C-suite personal commitment or budget in driving Talent Management as a critical business objective
- Lack of clarity around what Gamification is and its application in business
- Environmental conditions not being conducive (yet) to more left field and so by nature more high risk strategies
This is by no means intended to put a dark shadow on to Kyle or what he is doing at Brendon Hall, in fact I have referenced many great posts from Kyle in the past, but as I was asked to comment and I felt he needed to give a wider view on the subject. Please review his post below.
Why Hasn’t Gamification Taken Off in Talent Acquisition?
It’s been a few years since the concept of gamification first came on my radar. At the time, I was still relatively new to the world of HCM technology, and everything was bright and shiny. The Millennial in me was intrigued by the idea of using game mechanics to make tired old HR processes a little less drab. I was so intrigued that I briefly considered joining the Bunchball team.
I wasn’t the only one intrigued. Industry pundits and bloggers alike flocked to the idea of gamification and its application across various HCM processes. Gamification became a leading topic of conversation at industry events around the world. Use cases were myriad, and solution providers big and small asked themselves how gamification could be leveraged in their existing products.
Fast-forward to the present day, and it’s still a pretty novel idea. The use cases for gamification in HCM are still plentiful – especially in talent acquisition. But for some reason, gamification has become something of a HR tech faux pas. Even I – a lover of the idea of a gamified enterprise – find myself writing off a new player in talent acquisition technology who says they’re gamifying such-and-such process.
So what happened? Why hasn’t gamification swept the industry like we thought it would?
As I see it, there are a few things that led us here:
- HR Isn’t a Game. While gamification may have positive impact in consumer marketing, its potential in the HR process is a harder sell. Work isn’t supposed to be fun – and HR isn’t a game. Even the power of social in talent acquisition is still difficult for many HR leaders to wrap their heads around. A collection of feel-good case studies alone isn’t enough to change that.
- Buzzword Bingo. I mentioned gamification was a leading topic of conversation among bloggers and industry pundits. While some immediately grasped the true value of gamification and its place in the greater context of consumerization of IT, they were few and far between. Too much talk was about games – turning assessments into games, turning training into games, turning everything into games. While there are some select examples where a game can be a useful tool in HCM, the real opportunity in gamification isn’t about playing games.
- Cost of Entry. Social was originally a hard sell in HR – and continues to be in some organizations. Lacking established best practices for social recruiting (i.e. HR’s lack of direct control over what was said and where), the risk was just too high. But the cost to dabble in social was low, even free. For gamification, which often depends on the overhaul of an existing process – or at least the implementation of new technology to support a more engaging experience – cost is much higher. For organizations on the fence, erring on the side of caution is just too tempting. Gamification can wait another year.
There are still a number of strong use cases for gamification in talent acquisition.
My favorite example is employee referral programs. Rewarding referrers with points, spotlighting the best and most active referrers on a leaderboard – there are lots of ways to leverage gaming concepts to foster engagement, drive program participation, and ultimately improve talent acquisition performance. Today’s leading employee referral programs are doing just that.
I also met with the founding members of a cool new social tool for talent acquisition, QUEsocial, this week. The company has game mechanics built into the platform to establish best practices and drive adoption. It’s not a bad idea – especially the way they’ve layered it into the UX – but it could require them to do some extra educating as they take the product to market.
Or I could be wrong. Maybe 2015 will be the year gamification finally takes off in talent acquisition. What do you think?
Top Image and Slideshare Link: Games To Gamification
–Kyle Lagunas, Talent Acquisition Analyst, Brandon Hall Group @kylelagunas
from Brandon Hall Group » Talent Acquisition Today
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Professional Summary: I am a Recruitment & Talent Solutions Specialist in Digital Web and Social Media Technology, who has been working in this sector since February 1990. I have seen and championed many changes and experienced lots of sector ups and downs in that time My experience includes traditional recruitment and talent attraction delivery successes and more recently, projects and job roles have added competencies in web, mobile and cloud-based marketing and communication solutions since 2005. For more information, please review my Full Profile on my LinkedIn profile page.
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