I entered the summer with a commitment to savor. The pace of my days were such that something had to give. Not only was I using my time ineffectively, I was flat out social media crabby.

All of my activity began to feel like an obligation. It took a few lash-outs for me to really see that I wasn't enjoying what I was doing and I made it the fault of others <not a pretty side of me.>

Bottom line: I lost my spark.

So, short of shutting it all down with the press of a few strategically placed DELETE keys in a moment of regrettable reaction, I gave myself the permission give it up. I gave myself permission to step away from the blogs, let the cobwebs form on Tweetdeck, let that perfect speaking opportunity pass me by and permit Google+ to evolve without me.

Once I knew I could give it all up . . . I realized I didn't want to.

I was so stuck on the mechanics of what I was doing <insert pictures, post, edit, comment, retweet, approve group members, prepare proposals, arrange speakers, update friends, neglect blogroll, update profiles, encircle people> that I had lost the why of it all.

I am not completely selfless and without ego so I'd be lying if I said I don't like it when my posts are retweeted and my blog subscribers increase or I am asked to speak, sit on advisory boards, etc. or that I worried you would forget about me if I stepped away and technology would pass me by.

But that wasn't the source of the spark.

The one thing - through it all - that holds meaning for me is bringing out potential in others. The spark for me is providing something that enables others to be that much better or reach that much further. Now, throw in the chance to work shoulder to shoulder with smart women I respect and admire.

There, now the sparks really begin to fly. Here's to clarity and focus and a little less crabbiness all around.

Photo credit iStockphoto

While games were once solely played for pleasure, game and simulation applications are now used widely within companies as a tool for organizational development.

Who would have thought you could increase utilization of a software application or compliance with a business policy simply by turning the process into a game?

Whether your goal as a human resources professional is to improve company morale, facilitate internal communications, or deliver professional training, gamification is a great way to spark one’s competitive edge and foster learning and development within an organization.

Here's how you can “gamify” employee relations for greater organizational success.

Know What to Gamify

Achievement Levels

Sculpt your company’s culture with achievements that reflect your core values and mission. Achievements could be awarded simply based on tenure (one year anniversary) or could recognize individual contributions towards specific company goals (meeting sales goals).

Award/Redemption

Many perks and benefits employers offer today are one size fits all. But what if employees could redeem points they’ve earned by working at your company for the extra perks/compensation/benefits they want? Imagine a world in which you could redeem your badge/achievement points at work for extra vacation, premium healthcare, or something important to you.

Participation

HR professionals can see an increase in participation/compliance rates in their projects if they can turn it into a competition, especially if there is a public leader board that shows how everyone is doing. It might not bother a particular individual that they are tardy in complying with a human resources request, but no one wants to be responsible for losing the game for their team.

Know How To Gamify

Workplace Badges

Social badges are typically rewarded for small, yet significant accomplishments or milestones. They work because people can’t seem to resist collecting badges if there’s one to be earned. HR professionals can create badges to promote almost any type of behavior within an organization.

Imagine creating badges to promote attendance (perfect attendance badge), on boarding (certified in company culture badge), or even compliance with benefits enrollment deadlines (early enroller badge).

Quizzes

After a company-wide presentation or webinar, quiz your employee base on their retention of key points. To spark competition between colleagues, you could even post scores, and offer prizes for the individuals or departments who received the highest marks.

Foursquare

Consider utilizing already existing platforms such as Foursquare to create gaming among employees. Perfect for the natural-born competitor, this platform is ideal for attendance incentives, as employees are able to check-in and compete to become mayors of their respective organizations.

Why Gamify?

Ultimately, gamification works well in part due to a behavioral economics principle that human resources and organizational behavior professionals can use to their advantage. People make decisions based on either economic norms or social norms. Decisions made based on economic norms are based on logic, supply, and demand. Decisions made based on social norms involve relationships, emotions, and subjective feeling. Gamification helps take decisions out of the economic realm (i.e., “I’m here because of the paycheck”) and place them into the social realm (i.e., “I’m here because I believe in what we do”).

How else could you gamify human resources? Is there an employee task with a low compliance rate? Or could you use games to drive the mission, vision and guiding principles of your company?

About the Author: Josh Braaten is an Online Marketing Manager at Rasmussen College, where he blogs about educational degree programs such as Human Resources and Organizational Leadership and Business Management with a Specialization in Human Resources. Josh is passionate about search engine optimization and web analytics and blogs about Internet marketing in his free time.

Blog

Lisa Rosendahl