Solving The Riddle Of Employee Engagement
Problem
Getting employees excited about a new research and policy platform
Action
Challenging colleagues to work as ‘explorers’ by testing the new site
Impact
Employees understood and became advocates of the new platform
PROBLEM
Overview
The CFA Institute was poised to bring fresh thinking to the investment profession through its new Research and Policy Center (RPC). Ahead of launch, the challenge was to allow their own employees to unlock and understand the true potential of the new platform – creating internal advocacy.
With developers still working on the RPC, there was a golden opportunity to engage employees as beta testers. By trialling the user experience, they could spot technical gremlins on the site, while also seeing for themselves how beneficial the RPC could be for them and the external investment community.
Gamification – a method proven to boost engagement – was at the heart of the programme. Through an interactive quiz, employees identified their own ‘explorer’ type before launching into a series of challenges, ranging from complex to downright fiendish. Employees were compelled to investigate the RPC site thoroughly, digging deep into the content in order to solve the challenges.
And as the site continued to evolve, new challenges were integrated to encourage colleagues to explore the latest developments, test new functionality and give them first-hand experience of the value of the new RPC.
ACTION
Making it happen
How The Programme Worked
A grand prize and a series of spot prizes were designed to keep employee engagement high – encouraging colleagues to keep coming back to complete all the challenges. It clearly captured a competitive spirit – and even had people proactively reaching out to find out when the next challenge would be released as the campaign progressed.
One Round-the-World Racer even set her alarm for the wee small hours so she could take part as soon as the next challenge was launched.
The campaign built up to a series of global celebrations across all of CFA’s offices – timed to coincide with the external launch of the new platform. During the celebrations, teams took part in fun quizzes, a global interactive town hall, and a final challenge before the global prize winners were announced.
01
Invite colleagues to discover their ‘explorer’ type
Research shows there are broadly four different ‘types’ of problem solver. We adapted these to create our own character archetypes: Round-the-World Racers, Polar Explorers, Astronauts, and ‘Deep-sea Divers’.
02
Use gamification to bring fun and intrigue to the campaign
Puzzles and play put people into a state where they are challenged, and encounter resistance. Working their way through a puzzle taps into the brain’s reward centres, building motivation to keep returning to a task.
03
Build a compelling new world for colleagues to explore
The challenges, ranging from complex to downright fiendish, directed colleagues on a journey personalised to their ‘explorer’ type, to investigate the RPC site thoroughly, checking for issues and digging deep into the content as they went.
This was a fun challenge! I especially like how it invited me to explore some interesting new research.
IMPACT
The outcome
Engaged, enthused and eager to show it off!
Engaging the CFA audience with the need to user-test the platform prior to launch surpassed all the programmes objectives.
Gathering actionable feedback from the beta testers allowed developers to improve the platform functionality. And colleagues’ comments helped to enhance the user experience across the entire site.
Best of all, the campaign helped the audience understand the new platform and how it could benefit them and the CFA institute.
And colleagues moved from potential apathy to true advocacy with comments throughout the challenges showing they were eager to introduce the platform to their external stakeholders.
72% of colleagues signed up for the challenges.
1000 pieces of feedback helped hone the new site.
300 comments on our launch post showed record engagement.
I love how comprehensive it is! And very easy to navigate. There is truly something there for everyone.
There’s just so much stuff and it’s so well organised. Members have been asking for something like this for ages. The site looks great – good work team!
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