AMERiCA LEARNiNG MEDiA

We share a chapter of the e-book ‘HR Focus Issues 2015’ published by bluebottlebiz with the participation as co-authors of experts in Human Resources, from corporate directors to consultants and academics.

by Juan J. F. Valera Mariscal, gamification and management expert

The Digital Empire: from papyrus to the bit

If we look back through history at organization management we can notice that  revolutions have started and empires have been built as a result of important  changes in the processes and the technologies by which people have been led, organized and managed.

If we consider the example of the Egyptian Empire we see how innovation happened in the fertile and rich Lower Nile. The abundance of resources attracted several small tribes, but it wasn’t really enough to trigger the growth of a civilization. The decisive factor, or the reason why this human cell came to stay together and stand out, was the development of the communication technologies. On one hand the control of a great conductor of materials and ideas -- the Nile, and on the other hand the expansion of writing, with a new code -- the hieroglyph, on a new format -- the papyrus, and with this the appearance of specialized experts -- the scribes. This all made easier the transmission of ideas, values and data to improve the management of people and projects. What followed this basic, but evolved organization of a group of primitive and isolated people was a world-powerful empire full of prosperity throughout centuries of expansion.

As far as we can see, at the base of organizational development there is a strategic project that cannot be realized if it’s not possible to communicate it in a way that can be shared, meditated on and supported by the rest of the people involved. There is real power in having a communication strategy, and in having the knowledge and use of the right resources and technology.

Nowadays in people management, their coordination, orientation and motivation can be stored in electronic formats, but just like with the papyrus, by itself this information brings us no closer to growth if it’s not used in an effective and efficient way. The staff in charge of managing people and the Human Resources professionals must be prepared to get the most benefit from the new systems and tools available today. For this reason it’s fundamental to be aware of the new trends in innovation and technology to get maximum results.

Now we have a new Nile, the internet, and our new papyrus, the bits.

Big Data: From static to dynamic information, from the painting to the video

From the beginning of the 21st century, the expansion of computerized online solutions started to add speed to the processes, for example in recruitment with the jobsites, in skills evaluation with e-testing and e-assessment tools, in internal communication with a company’s intranet, and in competencies management with the different HR modules included in ERP software. These solutions are designed for a traditional, centralized and horizontal structure in the model of earlier organizations of the previous centuries to automate and accelerate the operations and processes. Their primary purpose, their original design is neither to share, nor to add more support or contribution. Fortunately, for those people who are interested and know how to use them properly, those  tools are an efficient and easy source of information, quick enough to allow more than a static report of the situation in a concrete moment, and useful enough to provide a dynamic vision of the data in a continuous evolution.

I argue that we can have better management and more valuable information, leveraging this easy access to the data provided by the technology. To use a metaphor, we can switch from the picture of a moment to the video of what’s going on.

It’s a decent idea, but it implies that we have the knowledge necessary to manage the amount of data presented by these systems. The bottle neck of information is caused by the limits of our own human perception and our inability to process the data. To the rescue comes the new wave of integrated solutions in two concepts: Business Intelligence (BI) and more recently, Big Data.

Nowadays, the massive use of data is truly working in fields such as marketing and social research. Its entrance into people management is imminent and HR professionals must be aware of the technology trends and they must have the skills to use the technology. They must be informed as well about the ethical and legal implications, so as not to become “Big Brother” instead of just the consumers and analysts of Big Data. The boundaries of privacy, personal freedom, and autonomy must be respected.

HR 2.0: From the pyramid to the Net

Since the first administrative Egyptian organization, it has been a gradual evolution through five thousand years of history with mostly subtle changes. Not so much the case in the last two centuries -- from the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, to the cultural spread of the 20th century, and now, most of all, with the arrival of the digital revolution at the end of that century. This last revolution introduced us to a new context of unprecedented innovation since the invention of writing. Right now the changes are happening at full speed, in less than a generation span and it’s urgent to be conscious of the new trends and their importance.

If we have to select a symbolic shape to represent the organizational structure model prevalent for the last five thousand years it would be for sure the pyramid. Until the 20th century the dominant model was horizontal, where all the power, control and data processing came from the peak of the organization.

The maximum organizational intelligence was that of one person, or a small group in charge. The base of the structure was supposed to take care of the operational part and the people assumed the slogan “I am not paid for thinking,” therefore damaging the innovation and the organizational development.

Nowadays computerization allows most of those operational procedures to be done by mechanical or digital systems, and not by employees in the base of the  organization, as it used to be.

With the arrival of concepts such as Web 2.0 and social networks, the (relatively easy) access to data, and the globalization of knowledge, it is now possible to count quickly on the contribution of the multiple intelligences of the company, if they have the will to do it. To take advantage of new opportunities, the dominant structure should be more decentralized, ubiquitous, and mobile, a network. The intelligence should be well-distributed and each element should be able to add value and ideas from any device or any place.

This includes the challenge of delegating functions, to give empowerment and maintain the loyalty of the people towards the organization and its success. The agile and flexible organizations, with a great capacity to innovate and adapt quickly to change, should know how to take advantage of the internal social network of connected intelligences.

The responsibility of talent management must be shared by the entire organization. All managers should be people managers, and each person should be proactive when it comes to managing his or her own talent. The new department of Human Resources is transformed into a facilitator and a promoter of the new trends. It is there to guide towards the strategic goals and to conduct the energy with shared responsibility. The initiatives start more often from the right place, with more customized and quicker actions in the network management model, than they ever could in the model of top-down -management.

In Human Resources it’s essential that the professionals know the technology, and at the same time they must remember that the human being is the center, because without this center, the model cannot work.

Gamification, from effort to fun

In this new technological and human context, if we want to develop a Project we need to go from imposition models to engagement ones. It’s not enough to share the objectives and interests of the organization; we should also understand the personal interests of the people. And if we analyze the motivation studies, the economic behaviorism, the positive psychology and the testimonies of several people with their personal experiences, we will find some common interests in the people engaged with their work:

• Meaning: people search for a meaning in their acts. This can be  circumstantial, personal, transcendental or epic, but there will be no commitment if the only reason is perceived as an imposition.
• Autonomy: people want to be the masters of their destiny. Professionals are where they are after studying so many years and accumulating in the meantime a lot of experience. They want to put into practice their ideas, to have the power to take their own risks and participate. They want to feel ownership over their projects, to be part of the success or the failure, all of which is part of the learning process.
• Development: people need to feel that they are growing, that our activities let us grow as a person. Nevertheless, in some cases the professional experience is very frustrating. Some people feel that despite the effort they make every single day, at the end they are always in the same place. We need to break that Sisyphus Syndrome and realize that our effort makes us progress and improve.
• Social Interaction: finally, we need to value the social interaction with  other people.

These are intrinsic motivators, and they are what make it possible for employees to feel engaged. These motivators are summarized in the acronym coined by Daniel Pinkin -- RAMP: Relatedness, Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose.

This implies a new approach to how to do things and changes the design of the processes and the activity itself. When we look around we find again a new trend in management that can help us, and the inspiration comes from the videogames industry. The videogames industry surpasses the cinematographic sector and is one of the fields with the most growth in the last years. There are more than 1.2 billion users and the sales exceed 74 billion dollars. Videogames have the capability to generate the engagement and motivation that the companies need in their employees.

The new trend inspired by the videogames is Gamification, applying the elements and thought models of videogame design to other environments, in our case applied to the management of people, also called “Internal Gamification” in the enterprise.

Analyzing the application of Gamification in recent years, we can already see qualitative and quantitative benefits. Among the qualitative benefits we can find a better experience at work. Gamification, as do videogames, focuses the attention on the positive aspects, in the advance more than in the effort. We are interested in the process, and not just the results.

For example, during a sporting match, the plays, the relationship between the team members, and the joy of playing are valued more than the suffering, the pain, the effort or injures. During the work day, usually the negative aspects are most present in our thoughts: boredom, and monotony. Gamification breaks the boundary between work and fun because it considers that the design of the activity is what makes it pleasant or not, and not the activity itself. Therefore in gamified contexts we can find a better user experience, an important fact that can have the following advantages:

• Increased the engagement with the project, the company or the activity.
• More motivation, participation and autonomy.
• Better organizational alignment and participation.
• Faster rate of learning in training.
• Immediate access to the information about individual progress and achievements.
• More opportunities to express success in several versions and generate collaboration among the participants.
• Promotion of best practices.

From a quantitative point of view we can simply say that we can achieve an improvement in results. In fact, the first thing we must consider in designing a successful gamification project is the business goals. From here, we can analyze the behaviors required to succeed, which type of design we need, and the right tools to promote this.

A couple of examples:

1. Liveops Case

• Objective: convert the call center agents into brand ambassadors, measured by shorter call times and improved customer satisfaction rate
• Achievements: onboarding time was reduced from 160 hours to 14 hours and participating agents out-performed peers by 23% in average callhandle time and boosted customer satisfaction by 9%.

(Source: Bunchball.com)

2. BBVA GAME Case

• Objective: improve the relationship between the bank and the clients through the Web and at the same time improve the financial culture using informative corporate videos.
• Achievements: in the first year there was a fifteen-fold increase in the fans of the social network and a thirty-fold increase in the displaying of the videos. The time people stayed on the Web was doubled.

(Source: BBVA)

Gamification is successfully applied today in several different fields: recruiting, hiring, internal communication, training and development and change management, just to name a few.

Gamification is inspired by games but with a great scientific component based on years of psychological research. It’s the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration: designers, psychologists and technicians, among others. Today we are already a big group of professionals devoted to designing gamified environments and tools that can help companies to better know their people, promote their motivation and encourage their professional progress. At the same time, we will have a richer work experience, with better business results.

The future is encouraging the new leaders and HR professionals to understand the basis and applications of gamification and ideally, think as a game designer in both personal and professional life.

We are living a historical moment, key to people and organization management. This is a landmark that implies a paradigm shift, a new vision of the world and of management, with some cultural and intellectual changes. Those changes demand some effort but they constitute an advantage, bringing both tangible and emotional benefits. As it happened after the Neolithic revolution with the birth of writing and the appearance of agriculture, nothing will be the same afterwards. Let’s look towards the future, rather than end up like professional salt statues, left behind in the middle of the way.

We have a new empire with a net of interconnected “Niles” where we all can be scribes or high priests. Things are not anymore as the Pharaoh said. In fact, the Pharaoh is dead in the organizations, and the pyramid rests in the desert as a  symbol of the past.

Free access to 'HR Focus Issues 2015'

Juan J. F. Valera Mariscal is a Gamification and management expert and Author of "Gamificación en la Empresa,” the first book of its kind in Spanish specializing in HR and internal Gamification. It has quickly become a reference for the Spanish speaking population worldwide, for those who want to have a comprehensive introduction of how Gamification is applied in companies. A consultant, executive trainer, and professional coach, he has a degree in Social Psychology and a Masters in Human Resources Management. He has trained over 4000 professionals for some of Spain’s most important enterprises, including Airbus, Telefonica, Vodafone, IBM, BBVA, Renault, and Philip Morris.