How Gamification Can Improve HR Management

How Gamification Can Improve HR ManagementHow Gamification Can Improve HR ManagementGamification has gained a lot of attention in the online world as a way to engage customers and build loyalty. While many skeptics still struggle to understand how playing a game can have a real business impact, companies that have implemented external, customer-facing gamification have discovered that theres far mora to it than meets the eye. These programs have tremendous power to spur motivation and influence customer behavior. How does it work? Gamification applies behavior-motivating techniques from traditional and social games to non-game environments. An effective gamification program actually looks mora like a loyalty program supercharged to help achieve real business goals when it is expanded beyond points, badges, and leaderboards. Certainly, customers are not the only constituents of any company for whom feeling engaged and motivated are important for fostering loyalty. Employees can also b enefit significantly from gamification programs that create an environment in which they feel recognized and rewarded for their achievements, even beyond compensation and benefits. While its easy to landsee how you might use gamification in sales to motivate performance - or even in customer support services - to incentivize quick, satisfactory resolutions, the menschenwrdig Resources function of any business can also leverage gamification techniques to incentivize and reward employees for completing important, but often mundane, tasks. Improve Talent Acquisition and Management You can easily turn the hiring process into a gamified experience by rewarding prospects with both acknowledgment and tangible perks for completing each step, from application to start date. Providing incentives can not only help attract qualified candidates from the startbut can also dramatically increase onboarding efficiency as candidates are motivated to complete various steps to earn rewards. At th e same time, much like a sales function, HR teams can also use gamification internally to reward top recruiters and incentivize employees to refer top candidates. The opportunity for an employee to earn Referrer of the Year status can encourage employees to take a mora active role in talent acquisition, and even help relieve some of the pressure from the HR department itself. Cultivate Corporate Culture and Retain Valued Employees Keeping employees engaged and feeling like theyre part of the team is critical for retention. And, retention is paramount in maintaining valuable personal assets, institutional knowledge and consistency, and avoiding costly turnover. You can use gamification to promote a positive corporate culture by rewarding employees for cross-departmental collaboration, providing a process or product improvement suggestions, or even participating in company-wide volunteer programs, for example. You can use a gamified platform to track these activities and opportuniti es, as well as showcase employee participation to their coworkers to provide intrinsic motivation. As an added benefit, the platform maintains a record of all employee activities in the program, which is quite valuable information when it comes time to consider promotions, raises, and other tangible rewards. Motivate Employees to Learn and Participate in Training Mandatory HR training, like harassment, diversity, and other compliance programsare often not high on most employees priority lists, especially when they dont see a relationship to their day-to-day job duties. Motivating them to take time out of their busy day to complete these programs in a specified time period can be challenging. Adding a gamification experience to the online learning program can spur action. Employees who earn rewards and recognition for having completed these tasks, or missions in the gamification lexicon, are far more likely to make it a priority. And, HR benefits from the ability to check those b oxes for compliance in a timely fashion, without the pressure of having to hound employees to complete the programs. Incentivize Paperwork and Other Administrative Requirements No one likes to complete paperwork, especially when other tasks are more pressing and exciting. But, paperwork is unavoidable in areas such as completion of benefits enrollment forms and expense reports. So why not make it fun? Similar to training applications, rewarding employees with either peer or management recognition - or even tangible incentives - for completing required forms can create a friendly competition where employees try to out-do one another for the title of best expense reporter or quickest to complete benefits update forms. Map the Path to Career Success Its no secret that peer mentorship is a powerful motivator that drives employees to want to succeed. They see colleagues earning praise, achieving goals and climbing the proverbial ladder, and they want to know how they can achiev e the same results. Using gamification, HR departments can create transparent, mission-based career paths that show the steps employees have taken to level up in the organization. For example, perhaps the top salesperson completes refresher training annually, turns in expense reports within a week of travel, keeps his/her prospect pipeline up to date, logs 5 new leads every week and follows up on two. By showcasing this behavior in a gamified platform, other employees can see what it takes to become the top salesperson as this mentor provides a breadcrumb path to show peers the way to the top. You can even design such programs to allow team members to recognize one another for contributions made toward a common goal. And, again, all of this data is trackable, creating a valuable historic record to capture employee and organizational knowledge. By consulting the platform, its easy to identify employees who have achieved certification in specific skills, worked with clients in a speci fic industry or make other connections throughout the data. All of this combines to create a more efficient, collaborative, productive and upwardly motivated workforce. To some, the idea of gamification sounds like a thinly veiled attempt to bait employees into doing what they should already be doing But the truth is, organizations can use gamification as an effective way to combat the employee engagement crisis in the U.S. According to a recent Gallup poll, 71% of American workers report feeling not engaged or actively disengaged in their work. This two-thirds majority translates into nearly $350 billion in lost revenue. Using gamification, HR executives and their teams can create a more interactive, rewarding and attentive workforce. It can help ward off worker malaise by leveraging intrinsic motivators to drive desirable employee behavior and improve efficiency and ROI while reducing turnover and churn costs.

Fixed mindset versus growth mindset how your beliefs can prevent your success

Fixed mindset versus growth mindset how yur beliefs can prevent your successFixed mindset versus growth mindset how your beliefs can prevent your successWhy is it so hard to stay consistent with our goals and follow through successfully?Some of the most popular reasons for this is a lack of motivation and willpower, but theres something else we often forget to discuss.Its our mindset- specifically, the fixed and growth mindset, and how each one of these can affect the odds of achieving success with our goals.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraHeres how it works..What is the Difference Between the Growth mindset and the Fixed Mindset?According to Stanford University success psychologist, Carol Dweck, the fixed mindset is a belief that your character, creativity, intelligence and general ability to achieve a certain goal is fixed and cannot be changed. On the other hand, a growth min dset is a belief that your ability to achieve a goal can increase with practice and time.In Carol Dwecks book, Mindset The New Psychology of Success, she writesWhy waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better? Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them? Why look for friends or partners who will just shore up your self-esteem instead of ones who will also challenge you to grow? And why seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you? The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when its not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.Someone with a fixed mindset will see failure as permanent and they are likely to avoid conflict. But, a person with a growth mindset is likely to see failure as feedback to improve and problems as interesting challenges.The fixed mindset vi ews critical feedback as a personal attack, a growth mindset views this as information to improve their efforts.The fixed mindset is more likely to put in minimal effort, since talent is fixed. The growth mindset is more likely to embrace challenging tasks and work hard to improve their abilities.The fixed mindset is more likely to give up or struggle with inconsistency in the face of adversity and obstacles. The growth mindset views obstacles as an opportunity to experiment and solve problems.The fixed mindset is overly focused on the final destination and outcome of the goal, whereas the growth mindset is focused on the systems or habits necessary for continuous improvement in achieving a goal.When it comes to risk taking, the fixed mindset is much less likely than the growth mindset to take creative risks for innovation.In reality, we often switch between both mindsets throughout the day. For example, if you catch yourself saying things like I always procrastinate, I always strug gle to lose weight, I never have enough motivation, youre stuck in a fixed mindset that prevents you from making progress.Fortunately, theres a way to spend more time in the growth mindset zone.Quantity versus QualityLock yourself in a room doing five beats a day for three summers. Thats a different world like Cree Summers. I deserve to do these numbers- Kanye West, SpaceshipIn the book Art Fear(audiobook), authors David Bayles and Ted Orland share a fascinating story about a ceramics teacher that shows how the fixed and growth mindset can affect your success in lifeThe ceramics teacher announced that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.His procedure was simple on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the quantity group fifty pounds of pots rated an A, forty pounds a B, and so on. Those being graded on quality, however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an A.Well, grading time came and a curious fact emerged the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantityIt seems that while the quantity group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the quality group had sat around theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.This is the kind of analysis paralysis from a fixed mindset I struggled with for years.For example, several years ago, I wasted over 2 months procrastinating in getting started on writing a book.Every day, I would open my laptop to write the first paragraph and freeze up. I wanted every word to be perfect and to avoid failure or criticism from the readers at all costs.Just like the quality ceramics group, I spent a lot of time theorizing about the outline o f the book, the graphics of the book cover and so on- but after several weeks I still had nothing to show for it.One day, I made a decision to let go of my fixed mindset and switch to a growth mindset.Instead of obsessing over perfection and quality, I focused on starting as small as possible and churning out quantity on a consistent basis.Using this strategy, I managed to stop procrastinating and write an average of 500 words per day over several weeks, until I wrote and published a book to help students achieve their best grades.Ive also used the same strategy to stay consistent with my writing. For over 6 months, Ive published a new article on mayooshin.com without fail.It doesnt matter how bad or imperfect I believe the written piece is, I publish it anyway, receive the feedback , rinse and repeat again.The irony is that some of my written articles- the ones with the most spelling mistakes, grammatical errors- and those I felt were rushed and poor quality have become the most po pular and widely shared articles Ive written.If I was so obsessed about the quality of my work and too fixed on how people would react to my writing, youd probably have never read this article and many others on this site.Im not the best writer and there are much more talented writers out there online. Does this mean that I shouldnt bother writing, since Im not talented?And, if im not a good writer, how can I become a better writer if I dont practice writing?The fixed mindset response to this is that theres no point in my writing since Im not talented enough. But, the growth mindset response is that I keep writing, sharing content and improving my writing ability.Its a lot easier to stay consistent with your goals when you develop a growth mindset.How to Develop a Growth Mindset?Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.Bill GatesThe truth is that to become a better writer, professional, friend and so on, you have to put in your reps, make mistakes and keep learning.The best way to develop a growth mindset is to focus on quantity and volume.If you want to lose weight and stay in shape, simply show up to exercise- no matter how short and imperfect the workout- 2 to 3 times a week. After 6 months, youll be a lot closer to achieving your weight loss goals.If you want to improve your writing, simply write and share 1 article or written piece once a week- no matter how crappy and short it is. After 1 year, youll have written over 50 pieces, one of which could go on to become successful.If you want to pick up a new hobby or instrument, simply pick up the instrument to play or practice a new song every week. After 1 year, you would be able to play over 10 of your favourite songs with the instrument.Its not about being perfect or getting it right the first time. Its about making a commitment to show up consistently- to increase the volume of effort.Your ability to achieve your goals isnt fixed based on your l evel of talent.It improves with every conscious decision you make to take action.This is why its so important to shift your identity and mindset to a growth mindset.Rome wasnt built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour. Lay your own brick today.Mayo Oshin writes at MayoOshin.Com, where he shares the best practical ideas based on proven science and the habits of highly successful people for stress-free productivity and improved mental performance. To get these strategies to stop procrastinating, get more things by doing less and improve your focus, join his free weekly newsletter.This article first appeared on MayoOshin.com.

Human Resources Specialist Responds to Last Weeks Blog

menschlich Resources Specialist Responds to Last Weeks BlogHuman Resources Specialist Responds to Last Weeks BlogHuman Resources Specialist Responds to Last Weeks BlogMy blog from last week, Are You Reading the USAJOBS Announcements Carefully Enough?, received a wonderful response from Department of the Navy Human Resources Specialist Sally Klein. She agrees with that jobseekers need to Read Their Instructions Read her response hereKathryn,As a DON HR Specialist, who works exclusively with staffing/recruiting, I totally appreciate your attempt to clarify the importance of actually READING the entire announcement and following its directions. I put a lot of effort towards creating that announcement and assessment questionnaire to capture the essential aspects of the vacancy. My goal is to give the applicant as much information as I can about how to qualify and how to apply to that vacancy.When you stated that ignoring the instructions and notices on a federal job announcement is the most sure-fire way to guarantee that your application will not be considered you were SPOT ON If you cant even follow written instructions, do you really think you are the best qualified candidate for that vacancy? Good GriefNow, if you could address (or re-address as the case might be) the fact that in order for me (the HR Specialist) to determine if you are qualified for the vacancy, you ACTUALLY have to TELL me in your resume why and where you have the experience to qualify you for the vacancy, because, really. I dont know you and I dont know what your current or past job experience is.. the burden is on you to convince me (via your resume) that you are the best qualified candidate for that vacancy.Thanks, Kathryn, for your articles Ive enjoyed and appreciated them for many years Sally A. Klein, HR Specialist, DON OCHR Silverdale OperationsFind the Pot of Gold in the Vacancy AnnouncementTo reiterate what Ms. Klein emphasized, you must TELL the human resources specialist in your resume why and where you have the experience to qualify for the job.How, exactly, do you do this?I teach my clients to find the pot of gold in the vacancy announcement. The Specialized Experience section is where the jackpot of information and keywords is hidden. You can analyze the Specialized Experience section of the vacancy announcement for the relevant skills that must be (legitimately) included in your resume in order to qualify for the job. Make sure the knowledge, skills, and abilities from this section of the announcement are clearly identifiable in your resume.As always, good luck with your federal job search.