Motivating Skill-Based Promotion with Badges

In response to a state-wide freeze on pay increases beginning in 2009, the Learning Technologies (LT) unit at the University of Washington moved from a seniority-based to a skill-based promotion system for student employees in the unit. We almost immediately encountered a problem of motivation, as busy students did not take action to develop necessary skills. In 2013, we are piloting a badges program to encourage skill development. We have already seen early success and will provide an overview of the current badge landscape, details of our implementation, and valuable lessons learned. Though our focus is on student staff, our findings are applicable to professional development at all levels.