New technologies streamline communication with all stakeholders, in particular with customers and employees, but they cannot by themselves overcome the biggest corporate challenge: ensuring effective and efficient communication. In other words, capturing and retaining the attention of your public, increasing the degree of understanding of key information that leads them to make decisions that exceed the company’s objectives.

The digital transformation of companies lies, therefore, in the magic of mobilizing and awakening their valuable target human potential in the pursuit of their corporate purpose.

It implies an innovative and active management, with a robust communication strategy focused on human capital and inducing engagement, since pure cutting-edge technology is only an important tool to facilitate success.

The construction of engagement solutions in GAMIFICATION architectures and aligned with the business strategy of the companies/organizations, contribute to their digital transformation, offering a disruptive, personalized, integrative and mobilizing management and communication of all their human resources.

Stimulating the acquisition of knowledge, interaction between employees and their recognition by peers and the entire network of managers, allowing talents to be identified, problems to be solved, change to be driven and performance to be improved for all those involved and for any type of organization.

In simplified terms, these solutions accelerate the apprehension of more and better knowledge, practices and behaviors.

The implementation of this type of actions is based on the development of challenging game strategies that stimulate participants to embrace missions and achieve goals, via the adoption of algorithms to measure and promote players’ performance. To this end, rankings, feedback and permanent reward models are used, allowing companies to motivate their internal or external publics to achieve the set goals.

It was with this purpose that Pierre Fabre selected the strategic communication consultancy CATCH GLOBAL MARKETING, which with its technological partner GFOUNDRY, developed a mobilized engagement strategy, in a GAMIFICATION structure, addressed to pharmacies and their employees.

The objective was to reinforce the knowledge of these publics about all Pierre Fabre product lines, in a multi-brand context. In addition, it aimed to bring the sales force closer, boost cross-selling and challenge the global commercial performance, particularly in the seasonal product ranges.

For that purpose, an integrated communication strategy was designed and an umbrella storytelling was built to leverage and interconnect all the game dynamics launched throughout the year, in order to increase brand awareness and the spontaneous notoriety of the brand Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique Portugal .

The results obtained, in the first cycle of 12 months, quantified by the game’s own statistics, demonstrated the reach of high levels of engagement – more than 47.000 visits, 2500 active users and more than 3.000 total hours of gameplay, with more than 80% concluding all levels of the game after each launch, translating into a global performance of around 87%.

Mariana Caraça, Human Resources Manager of Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique Portugal said:

The common space to manage talent with proximity

The platform is from GFoundry and was parameterized according to the challenges identified by Closer. It systematizes the performance evaluation and is the interface to carry it out, also articulating it with training. It also allows onboarding to be a unique and fun program

Founded in 2006, Closer Consulting is a Portuguese company specialized in what is now commonly known as data area – Data Science and Artificial Intelligence -, helping their clients (for example, large banks and telecommunications companies) to take the best advantage of it to be increasingly competitive. These 16 years of existence have been marked by good results, which are reflected in market growth and organic robustness: more than 300 projects and 150 customers, presence in 14 countries (3 continents) and about 370 employees (44% growth in 2021).

The culture of Closer – as an organization – about the role it should have before society leads it, permanently, to have initiatives that foster proximity in its various dimensions. In this sense, in 2018, with the company in full growth and assuming a larger scale, it became necessary to professionalize the communication with its employees (some, for example, spend several days at the clients’ offices, therefore, physically distant from the parent company and the corporate ambience) and strengthen their collective commitment – in the sense of positive involvement.

Closer, then, looked for solutions that could achieve these objectives, guided by the demand of three requirements that, as Woitek Szymankiewicz, Partner of Closer, recalls, defined from the start: the implementation of an innovative platform; easy and interactive (mobile application) and with a gamification component (playful/game).

The choice fell on GFoundry and followed the design of the model best suited to the reality of Closer, ie, starting from the matrix platform created by GFoundry, was made the customization to the specific interest of Closer, namely through the co-creation made in several modules.

The final platform designed – the Stay Closer – has distinct areas, corresponding to different modules, of which the three most significant for Closer until now will be addressed separately below.

Performance evaluation

This has been the module with more importance and (intensive) use for Closer. Stay Closer allows, right from the start, to make the evaluation cycles at the pace desired by who runs the company, in this case every three months (and not only annually, since Closer considered it too watertight).

The whole assessment operation is, as one of the three Closer Partners says, “supported by the GFoundry platform”, and not only in its most important moment, the meetings (called “conversations with purpose”) between the employee and the manager. These conversations end up being, simultaneously, the arrival point (evaluation) but also the starting point (progression) for the next step.

In quarterly sessions, to reinforce a technical skill or by identifying a certain gap in the so-called soft skills (for example, the ability to listen or to be pragmatic), commitments (practices or tasks, to meet objectives, with precise metrics) are agreed upon between both, in a kind of mini-contracts, which will be periodically monitored by each during the next three months, and may be the subject of reciprocal communication/contact.

In addition to the feedback that may be reported, two weeks before the evaluation meeting, both the coordinator and the employee record their assessment of how the evolution went during that quarter, so that later, during the meeting, they can cross-reference and discuss the two perspectives.

Know more about Performance GFoundry’s Evaluation Solutions here.

Well, for each of these moments, the platform is crucial, because it is there that the steps that materialize an evaluation that is intended to be frequent (quarterly), dynamic in format (it is not limited to meetings, there is a “route” between them) and participated in the model (the reviewed is not relegated to a passive role). It can be accessed either through a computer (browser) or cell phone (Android and iOS).

The parameterization of this evaluation roadmap can be changed by whoever, in Closer, manages the platform (counting, if necessary, with the support of GFoundry). Thus, the time distance between meetings, the tasks between them, or even the actual performance of the assessment to an employee can be changed/suppressed. For Woitek Szymankiewicz, “this flexibility, with such a rich backoffice, is something very useful”.

From a more general perspective, the evaluation can also be done upwards, namely on general aspects of the company’s operation.

The support for talent management has another essential feature of the platform: the interconnection between employee evaluations and individual career and training plans. This means that these plans are integrated into Stay Closer, allowing a true integration in the same space of all components of the professional’s career. “The career plan is assembled on the GFoundry platform”, summarizes Woitek Szymankiewicz.

The manager considers the GFoundry platform (and this module in particular) “central and core to the quarterly and annual evaluations, ensuring that they are transversal and fair, in the sense that they do not bring surprises and are perceived by consultants and managers”.

Training

For Closer, as stated by its Partner, “constant learning is a fundamental pillar for the person to evolve – not only to obtain a certification” – and the fact that “it is systematized” and also “interconnected” with the other aspects of career management in the same platform is fundamental. To this extent, the training module is the second most important for the technological company.

The personalized training path is defined, recorded and implemented through Stay Closer. The various learning options (soft and hard skills) are compatible with the platform – in their organization in menu form, in the choice and consequent realization. In addition to the classic content-based organization, the platform provides an interactive approach, using learning missions that, in a visually appealing way, allow the employee to get from point A to point B with possible interactions and rewards along the way (gamification).

The integration of the training path in the individual career plan (and with the evaluation, through specific objectives) allows the entire talent management of each professional to be concentrated in the virtual space of the platform, shared between the professional and the leadership. Accessibility is, in this module, the aspect most praised by employees, since, being available on mobile devices, it allows the execution of training at the time and place chosen by the trainee.

Know more about GFoundry’s eLearning and Training here.

Onboarding

“Bringing people together as they enter the company”. This simple principle, stated by Woitek Szymankiewicz, guides the onboarding and the tools for its good execution, in which the platform created by GFoundry stands out. It was decisive in the most acute phases of the pandemic – a period during which Closer continued to grow strongly – and continues to play an important role, mainly because of the gamification that it imprints on the entire onboarding process. “Having an onboarding game that shows my progress through the various stages of getting to know the company is very helpful. GFoundry supports this whole process in a fun way, through quizzes, completing missions. In the palm of your hand”, says the Partner of the technological company.

In a global assessment of Stay Closer, Woitek Szymankiewicz considers it an “innovative platform to support engagement initiatives”, underlining the importance of the three pillars already mentioned.

João Carvalho, Co-Founder & CEO of GFoundry, emphasizes the challenge found and the joint manner in which it was met: “Closer operates in a highly competitive sector and is formed by highly qualified employees, with an average age below 30 years old, therefore, with a high level of demand in attracting and retaining talent. They found in GFoundry the solution to manage their talents, and it was very important the mutual trust relationship we established to adjust some details of our platform to the exact measure of what they needed.”

Know more about GFoundry’s Onboarding Solutions here.

The thermometer that measures satisfaction

The evaluation and feedback that Stay Closer allows is not one-way. Employees are invited to give their opinion both on the assessments in which they participate and on more general aspects of the functioning of their company.

“Engagement Thermometer” serves to do just that, to measure the employee’s feeling towards the company, in a totally anonymous way. The “temperature” is measured monthly through a pop-up survey (a much praised format internally) of five simple questions, on a wide variety of topics about life in the organization.

Know more about GFoundry’s Pulse Surveys Solution here.

What is the main objective of the DSPA?

One of the main focuses of DSPA is the provision of certification in the area of Data Science. To this end, they use the GFoundry platform to structure all their training content for professionals in the area.

The Data Science Portuguese Association’s Playbook had its name chosen considering its goal, since it is not only to provide content, but also to provide guidance to professionals in the area in a dynamic and appealing way.

Together with BridgeLK, all contents were transformed and adapted to the digital environment, focusing on converting heavy and extensive contents into knowledge capsules, making these contents easy to learn, follow, understand and execute.

“(…) Always having in mind that GFoundry would be the chosen tool to communicate with the market and develop this concept of a tribe, concept of a community.”

Guilherme Ramos Pereira, Executive Director at DSPA

The platform’s features regarding community involvement was one of the aspects most valued by the association when choosing a technological partner.

What makes the DSPA application so different and innovative?

The social interaction between professionals in the area allows the creation of game dynamics and objectives that encourage people to return to the platform and learn more. In addition, through the gamification engine, people can be challenged to test their knowledge, compete with other professionals, having a significant impact on the retention levels of the knowledge provided.

Finally, making the most of GFoundry technology in the dissemination of training content, DSPA provides a method of certification in Data Science, allowing that when a person finishes a certain set of training, they can share the certificate automatically on LinkedIn.

For DSPA, the success of this Playbook will be to have thousands of professionals, technical and non-technical, using the platform.

Through the motto “Certification in 4 Steps: Know, Choose, Learn and Certify”, DSPA allows all people interested in the field to access the platform (through LinkedIn), and choose the career they want to have in Data Science (Data Engineer, Data Analyst, Machine Learning Engineer and Data Scientist).

A business rooted in tradition makes a strong bet on innovation. And why?

Why invest in pre-Onboarding Journey Maps?

Waiting until Day 1 to start onboarding could be too late!

With GFoundry you can engage your new employees as soon as they sign your job offer until their first working day. It is an excellent opportunity for the organizations to alleviate the fears new hires might have, provide the tools to get started faster, and ultimately make them feel welcome and valued. An effective pre-onboarding strategy can also streamline the onboarding process and prepare employees to handle duties on their first day.

Phase 1

Pre-onboarding – The first phase of onboarding, also called pre-onboarding, begins as soon as a candidate accepts your offer and continues until their first day of joining. This is a very crucial time for your candidates because they are the most uncertain of what lies ahead.

Phase 2

Welcoming new hires – The second phase of onboarding is often dedicated to welcoming new hires to your organization and providing an orientation to help new hires acclimate. It’s necessary to give them a clear picture of your organization before they begin their work.

Phase 3

Role-specific training – The training phase is one of the most important phases of onboarding, and it’s directly correlated with how successful new employees will be at their jobs. A well-drafted new hire training plan will help employees feel welcome by showing that you care about their development.

Keep on reading:

• Transforming Onboarding into an Unforgettable Experience
• Employee Onboarding Journey Maps Examples
• How to create Impactful Learning Journeys for Employees?
• A Comprehensive Guide to the Impact, Benefits, and Future of Artificial Intelligence in HR
• Carglass | Go Inside – a complete Talent Management solution with Gamification
• The Ultimate Guide to Remote Talent Management
• SOMA (Leroy Merlin): a complete solution for talent management
• Benefits of a Good Organizational Climate: Productivity and Talent Retention