4�e Tru FilesGAMIFICATION

9 3.5

TRU HEAT INDEX

@BillBoorman and Martin Lee

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We scoured presentations and conversations from the last twelve months of TRU events to bring you the best forward-looking ideas in the field of recruiting. 48

8,00010EVENTS

ATTENDEES BIG IDEAS

GAMIFICATION /03

JUST AHEAD: USING GAMING TACTICS TO ATTRACT TOP TALENT. IT’S NOT NEARLY AS CRAZY AS IT SOUNDS.

/04

LADDERING AND REWARDS

DIGITAL CURRENCY

RECOGNITION AND BADGES

TRIBALISM

Gamification in the recruiting industry isn’t really about building gaming apps (though it’s been done). Rather, more and more recruiters are interested in how they can borrow user experience tactics from gaming to create better incentives, entertainment and education.

First a look at why gaming’s so red-hot: Gaming is the most popular online activity. In 2012,

consumers spent over $20 billion on gaming in the US alone.1 A study by mega-publisher

Random House found 56 percent of smartphone users spent over 30 minutes playing a phone-

based game per day.2 Contrary to popular opinion, women are also avid users, making up

45 percent of all gamers.3 And far from being an anti-social activity, 62 percent of gamers say

they play games with others, either in-person or online.

All this matters to recruiters because it is shaping the way individuals expect to consume

content online—particularly the under-30 crowd, where gaming is much more prevalent.

Let’s review some of the gaming tactics businesses are using to make digital content more

entertaining and memorable.

/05GAMIFICATION

1 http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp2 http://www.insidemobileapps.com/2013/11/25/smashing-ideas-50-of-smartphone-users-spend-close-to-200-hours-per-year-playing-games/3 http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp

LADDERING AND REWARDSKnowing how difficult it is to acquire new customers, many digital content sites are using laddering—a well-established gaming tactic—to win customers’ attention and allegiance over time.

For example, Glassdoor.com gives users a simple task to complete (e.g. download an eBook)

to “unlock” the first level of content on its site. With each visit, a new step on the ladder will

present itself, and at each step the customer unlocks a higher level of access or reward.

The principle works because consumers are hesitant to give over too much personal

information all at once, but are open to a more slow-to-unfold relationship. Using a methodical

progression—and rewarding users at each step—digital content companies like Glassdoor.com

build confidence and trust with customers.

Laddering and rewards also work well to document stages in the recruitment and application

process. Companies like CERN and Sodexo use a laddering process to signal back to applicants

exactly where their application is in the hiring cycle. Given how frustrated job candidates feel

when they hear only radio-silence after submitting an application, a clearly communicated

application ladder, including visual cues to show exactly where in the process a particular

application is, helps job candidates feel they’ve not been forgotten. (And it cuts down on

queries from applicants.)

GAMIFICATION /06

DIGITAL CURRENCYWant to create the ultimate reward? Consider whether your target market would be interested in some form of digital currency—the ultimate reward for gamers.

For example, three years ago a technology company realized it had to become much wilier to

attract top-tier students from elite universities (i.e. the same students every company is vying

to hire). Recruiters at this company realized students spent a lot of time on Facebook, and in

particular, playing Facebook games like FarmVille, CityVille and Bejeweled.

The company began by targeting these students with Facebook ads. They offered to give

students a FarmVille cow in exchange for joining the company’s talent community. The cow (for

the uninitiated) had major social value because it let players sow the field with corn and earn

more points. And the hiring company spent a fraction of the price on a digital cow than it would

spend on a hokey giveaway like a stress ball or coffee mug. What’s more, the click-through rate

on the offer was extremely high because it was so unusual.

In the next stage of the ladder, the company hired three interns to play online games with these

students and get to know them more closely.

By the time the company arrived on campus for a career event, they had an established, warm

relationship with students.

/07GAMIFICATION

/08

RECOGNITION & BADGESHand-in-hand with laddering and rewards, companies should consider using some type of recognition methodology—particularly for any site that includes a directory or community component.

For example, under a user’s profile you may show years of membership, number of connections,

level achieved, and even a special color or symbol denoting a user’s status on the site. It’s a

clear way to define the rules of the site, and show how users are successful using it.

One recognition tactic used pervasively in gaming is badges—and the idea is quickly gaining

acceptance in the recruiting space. Badge icons are now used extensively by training and

development organizations to offer a fast and easy visual verification of skills.

GAMIFICATION

WONDERING HOW BADGES WORK?

If you are interested in badges

as a way to recognize skills and

areas of expertise within your

organization or beyond,

Open Badges is fast-becoming

a pace-setter in the field.

Open Badges is a free program

offered by Mozilla that relies on

an open technical standard any

organization can use to create,

issue and verify digital badges.

Dozens of organizations have

joined Open Badges to date,

including top-flight universities,

professional associations and

corporations.

Badge icons are now used extensively by training and development organizations to offer a fast and easy visual verification of skills.

/09

Still not sure how these work in enterprise? Consider how The Nerdery—an interactive design

and production company—uses recognition and badges. Each employee profile includes a

list of certification and achievements, days with the company, and projects completed. And

while the presentation is intended to be humorous, it shows off each employee’s skill base and

background.

GAMIFICATION

The Nerdery’s profiles of employees are part-fun, part-informative. They use recognition points and badges to show off in a quick, highly visual format.

/10

TRIBALISMJust as gamers identify with certain gaming cliques, so too your organization should try to find

groups of potential job candidates that seem part of a tribe or defined social group. Hard Rock

Café, for example, needed to hire staff for a new restaurant, and needed to do so quickly.

The company realized that among their current workforce, most were die hard rock and roll fans

and that most (90 percent) satisfied their passion for music with a Spotify account. Reviewing

data from Spotify, Hard Rock could see current employees shared an ardent interest in a small

group of artists. To drive up applications for their new location, Hard Rock featured ads with

music from those bands—and earned unprecedented click-through rates compared to earlier

Hard Rock campaigns.

And tribalism can come in even simpler forms. Starbucks realized potential job candidates

enjoyed CityVille, so they placed a virtual store inside the game. (Inside jokes or a sly nod

among tribe members earns extra points!)

GAMIFICATION

/11

The real beauty of successful

gamification, no matter

the tactic, is the immediate

feedback loop. Do this.

Get that.

If you’re considering

adopting gaming

methodology in your

recruiting process,

remember the following:

GAMIFICATION: ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS

DO THIS. GET THAT.

Don’t be too strict about

how you apply gaming

to your recruiting efforts.

You’re not actually aiming

to turn what you do into a

game, but rather offering

opportunities for users to

return and re-engage.

Design-in rewards programs

where you can. And rather

than offer big rewards

infrequently, consider

smaller rewards more often.

Again, it’s about drawing

people back.

Rewards are always better

when they include some

sort of status or visual

badge. Users love getting

stuff (e.g. the FarmVille cow),

but they adore bragging

about it too. Give them a

chance to show off some

token or badge that proves

they’ve reached a new level.

Study where your audience

hangs out online. The

example of the company

using FarmVille cows as

currency only worked

because the company

understood their audience.

Be sure you know which

games and social networks

your audience likes most,

and how you can share their

interests as part of the

“in crowd”.

GAMIFICATION /12

I first discovered the Unconference concept when I led a track at #RecruitFest in Toronto in

1999. I was taken aback by the way discussion flowed and how different the format was to a

traditional conference. I led a track all day under a tree and learnt far more than I gave.

Two months later and back in the UK, we ran the first #truLondon at Canary Wharf in November

2009. Today, we’re running dozens of #tru events a year across Europe, North America, Africa

and the Asia-Pacific. Thousands of recruiters, HR leaders and providers come together in an

informal spirit of information sharing and networking.

#tru is based on the BarCamp principle, which means that everybody can be an active

participant instead of listening to speakers and watching presentations all day. The emphasis is

on communication and the free exchange of ideas and experiences where the participants fuel

the conversations.

THE #TRU STORY

BILL BOORMAN

GAMIFICATION /13

Gamification – using gaming tactics to attract top talent – may be a relatively new trend in

the recruitment industry but, if done well, could power a workplace revolution. Put simply,

gamification harnesses people’s desire to play online games or be tested in a way which

benefits them and their employer. But the power of gamification is that it’s a fun way to enhance

employer branding, improve employee engagement, recruit top-notch workers, and win

customers’ attention.

Recruiters are now interested in how they can borrow user experience tactics from gaming

to create better incentives, entertainment, education and ways of attracting candidates.

Gamification in practice revolves around the basics of laddering, rewards, badges, digital

currency and tribalism. It could involve offering digital game rewards to attract new recruits, or

turning an internal re-branding operation into a workplace trading card competition. It’s also a

more fun way to get workers’ input than an all-staff email or a boring intranet page.

One technology company used popular Facebook game Farmville, to recruit elite university

students, offering students a Farmville cow if they joined the company’s talent community – a

much better give away than a branded coffee cup.Ultimately, successful gamification is all about

offering users opportunities to return and engage and targeting where your audience hangs out

online. But like any strategy, it has to be done well.

To learn more about the future of recruiting download the TRU File e-book Gamification

@BillBoorman

POWERING A WORKPLACE REVOLUTION

MARTIN LEE

MARTIN LEE, Vice President (VP), Head of Sourcing and Research for EMEA and Asia-Pacific

Martin is responsible for all sourcing activity within the EMEA & APAC regions, including sourcing strategy, process, implementation and ongoing enhancement. He also works with Kelly clients to advise them on the most innovative sourcing and recruitment solutions available for their business. His expertise spans the following areas: Advanced and Direct Sourcing Techniques, Boolean Searching and Search Engines, Data Mining, Competitor Analysis, Recruitment Research, Social Media, Talent Pooling, Sourcing from Social Media, Recruitment Software, Market Mapping and the Candidate Experience.

For more thought leadership go to talentproject.com

EXIT

This information may not be published, broadcast, sold, or otherwise distributed without prior written permission from the authorized party. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. An Equal Opportunity Employer. © 2014 Kelly Services, Inc.

ABOUT KELLY SERVICES®

Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) is a leader in providing workforce solutions. Kelly® offers a

comprehensive array of outsourcing and consulting services as well as world-class staffing on a temporary,

temporary-to-hire, and direct-hire basis. Serving clients around the globe, Kelly provided employment to

approximately 540,000 employees in 2013. Revenue in 2013 was $5.4 billion. Visit kellyservices.com and connect

with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Download The Talent Project, a free iPad® app by Kelly Services.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF RECRUITING, DOWNLOAD THE FOLLOWING TRU FILES EBOOKS.

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