From job training to promotion, games that measure.

Every game is played inside an HR process. Results are measured against a written standard.

• 7Job training
• 6Competency assessment
• 6Promotion
• 6Leadership development
• Research

Procedures, health and safety, and customer moments become short scenes. The examples are written for Acme, a sample company.

• Till ShiftFriendly service at the tillHands-on7 minDetails
• Warehouse MorningCare and accuracyHands-on6 minDetails
• On the LineTaking ownershipHands-on7 minDetails
• Loading BayPrioritisingHands-on7 minDetails
• Field ServiceCustomer focusHands-on6 minDetails
• New Shift SupervisorLeading peopleRole-play5 minDetails

Each test measures the same competency in every sector and role, with its basis and sources in the open.

• LadderSelf-efficacy5 minStake confidence on each rung, then see the evidence.Competency assessmentPromotionLeadership developmentBandura Self-Efficacy Scale
  Basis and sources

  Adapted from Bandura's self-efficacy method. Level, strength and generality are reported separately. The score looks at how closely the claim matches the real difficulty of the task, and at behaviour once the evidence is revealed.

  1. Bandura, A. (1977) Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral changePsychological Review 84(2), 191-21510.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191
  2. Bandura, A. (1997) Self-efficacy: The exercise of controlW. H. Freeman
  3. Stajkovic, A. D., Luthans, F. (1998) Self-efficacy and work-related performance: A meta-analysisPsychological Bulletin 124(2), 240-26110.1037/0033-2909.124.2.240
  4. Moore, D. A., Healy, P. J. (2008) The trouble with overconfidencePsychological Review 115(2), 502-51710.1037/0033-295X.115.2.502
  Play
• ClaimAnalytical thinking3 minFour cards, two flips.Competency assessmentWason Selection Task
  Basis and sources

  Based on Wason's 1966 selection task. It measures choosing to falsify rather than confirm: of four cards, only the two that could disprove the claim are picked.

  1. Wason, P. C. (1966) ReasoningNew Horizons in Psychology, ed. B. M. Foss, Penguin
  Play
• Crisis DeskCrisis management5 minNow, later or let go?Leadership developmentPromotionEisenhower Matrix
  Basis and sources

  Adapted from Eisenhower's split between urgent and important. Events land in real time and each goes into a now, later or drop box. Knock-on events show the results of earlier decisions.

  1. Eisenhower, D. D. (1954) Address at the Second Assembly of the World Council of ChurchesEvanston, Illinois
  Play
• ScalesDecision making4 minSet the weights first, then choose.Competency assessmentLeadership developmentMulti-Criteria Decision Analysis
  Basis and sources

  Adapted from the SMART weighted-sum model. The player sets the criteria weights. The score reports two things separately: fit with the weights the brief points to, and consistency with the player's own weights.

  1. Edwards, W., Barron, F. H. (1994) SMARTS and SMARTER: Improved simple methods for multiattribute utility measurementOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 60(3), 306-32510.1006/obhd.1994.1087
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• BargainNegotiation6 minThe other side's column stays hidden.Competency assessmentPromotionIntegrative Negotiation
  Basis and sources

  Based on multi-issue integrative negotiation and Pareto efficiency. The score measures not what players win for themselves, but how close the signed deal comes to the best joint value.

  1. Raiffa, H. (1982) The Art and Science of NegotiationHarvard University Press
  2. Thompson, L. (1990) Negotiation behavior and outcomes: Empirical evidence and theoretical issuesPsychological Bulletin 108(3), 515-53210.1037/0033-2909.108.3.515
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• AllocationDelegation5 minCapacity bars fill up, then spill over.Leadership developmentPromotionResource Allocation Model
  Basis

  Built as an assignment problem that matches skills to capacity. Five ways delegation fails are reported separately: wrong person, unassigned work, overloaded capacity, delegated sign-off and holding on to everything.

  Play
• Shifting RuleAdaptability5 minThe rule changes without a word.Competency assessmentPromotionSet Shifting (WCST)
  Basis and sources

  Adapted from the set-shifting logic of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. It measures not accuracy, but sticking to the old rule after it changes and the cost of finding the new one.

  1. Berg, E. A. (1948) A simple objective technique for measuring flexibility in thinkingJournal of General Psychology 39(1), 15-2210.1080/00221309.1948.9918159
  2. Grant, D. A., Berg, E. A. (1948) A behavioral analysis of degree of reinforcement and ease of shifting to new responses in a Weigl-type card-sorting problemJournal of Experimental Psychology 38(4), 404-41110.1037/h0059831
  Play
• Common PotTeamwork4 minShare the pot or keep it?Competency assessmentLeadership developmentPublic Goods Game
  Basis and sources

  Based on the repeated public goods game and the measurement of conditional cooperation. The score looks not at how much is contributed, but at whether contributions move with the table's previous round.

  1. Fehr, E., Gächter, S. (2000) Cooperation and punishment in public goods experimentsAmerican Economic Review 90(4), 980-99410.1257/aer.90.4.980
  2. Fischbacher, U., Gächter, S., Fehr, E. (2001) Are people conditionally cooperative? Evidence from a public goods experimentEconomics Letters 71(3), 397-40410.1016/S0165-1765(01)00394-9
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• HorizonStrategic thinking6 minChips split across three horizons.Leadership developmentPromotionScenario Planning / Real Options
  Basis and sources

  Combines scenario planning with real options thinking. The score looks at timing, not at calling the outcome: flexibility while the future is open, commitment once the signals are clear.

  1. Schoemaker, P. J. H. (1995) Scenario planning: A tool for strategic thinkingSloan Management Review 36(2), 25-40
  2. Trigeorgis, L. (1996) Real Options: Managerial Flexibility and Strategy in Resource AllocationMIT Press
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Research on measuring through games, situations and work samples, plus the sources behind the tests.