IBM Brings HR into the Virtual World
Once a play thing for computer gamers and pundits, commercial three-dimensional "virtual worlds" and "avatars" are being pioneered by IBM to accomplish real HR work, both in Asia and the U.S.
By Bill Kutik
More than 10 years ago, when I was still part-time consulting editor for a cutting-edge computer industry newsletter, I read a lot about three-dimensional "virtual worlds" and their inhabitants called "avatars." These are cartoonish representations of yourself that you control, which can walk around, talk with other avatars and even manipulate objects in the simulated world.
I fought long and hard with the writer about the subject, thinking, "This is all worthless and stupid. Pick up the phone. Create a teleconference." I was totally wrong.
Now a decade later, IBM is using a commercially available virtual world called Second Life to onboard new employees in India, orient interns and train salespeople in China, and mentor new hires in the United States with retirees and current employees.
Of course, all this serious HR work goes on in a private sub-world, often called an "island" in Second Life, and not available to anyone outside those categories or the two million other members of the game.
If you've ever watched your child play a computer game (or even played one yourself), you understand what a virtual world looks like. You walk (and turn) around using the arrow keys. You talk to other avatars using instant messaging. Other keyboard commands allow you to manipulate objects and customize your appearance.
The two times I entered the multi-player game, about 20,000 other people were there, too. I didn't see them all because they were dispersed among various islands.
Second Life, created by Linden Lab, a San Francisco-based technology company, has gotten a lot of press, mainly because its currency called "Linden Dollars" can be bought (and often sold!) for real dollars. Some people are buying land in Second Life, starting and advertising businesses, and making a living there.
Obviously not IBM's purpose, and Second Life is pushing corporate uses of its virtual world.
In an interview, Chuck Hamilton, Learning Solutions Leader of IBM's Center for Advanced Learning, says IBM's challenges in each geographic area are different. India has Big Blue's second-largest workforce and hiring is rapid and distributed. IBM needs to socialize them into one culture while onboarding them. So a program called IBM@Play was created, originally on another virtual world called PlaneShift, but since moved to Second Life.
In China, interns are not yet employees, so they have no access to IBM's network. A program called "Fresh Blue" is being created so they can meet each other from thousands of miles away and learn tasks ranging from doing expense reports to interacting with clients. Hamilton says it will be available by June this year.
"Sales Quest" will be done by the end of the year to teach full sales training techniques (including relationship building) specific to China and may include contests for virtual points and prizes. Linden Dollars, perhaps?
The U.S. mentoring program, called "Greater IBM," brought back my skepticism about all this. While certainly done best face-to-face, why not mentor employees on the phone?
"People tend to make their avatars look like themselves, so they can see each other in the virtual world [as opposed to talking on the phone]," Hamilton says. "And there's no audio lag as in traditional video conferencing."
Demonstrations of the pioneering programs will be part of this October's HR Technology Conference®, led by Hamilton and Tim Ringo, global leader of IBM HCM Global Business Solutions.
All this sounds perfect for experienced gamers graduating from college. If it's successful for all age groups, as IBM expects, Hamilton says the company may build its own virtual world as a platform for their applications.
HR Technology Columnist Bill Kutik is also co-chairman of the 10th Anniversary HR Technology Conference & Exposition® in Chicago, Oct. 10 to 12. The full agenda will be available in late April at
www.HRTechnologyConference.com
. He can be reached at
bkutik@earthlink.net
.
February 12, 2007 Copyright 2007© LRP Publications
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