竞争上岗变身真人秀

    去年，美国家庭人寿保险公司（Aflac）的高管们为一些高薪职务寻找员工时，他们摒弃了传统的简历和面试流程。

    相反，他们从《美国偶像》（ American Idol）这类电视真人秀节目中找到了灵感。

    谋求晋升的Aflac员工变成了“参赛者”，他们将走进公司总部（位于佐治亚州哥伦布市）的一个房间，站在五位“评委”面前。面对摄像机镜头时，他们可以自由发挥，力争把自己描述成某个职位的最佳人选。

    那么，这个创意的妙处是什么呢？促使参赛者随机应变，展示出常规面试时无法见到的一面。从准备不足的一分钟演讲，到使用个人口号、PowerPoint演示文稿和其他小道具进行的才艺演出，参赛者的表演可谓五花八门，不一而足。“它有点像《美国偶像》的企业版——只不过我们不会嘲笑他们，”评委之一，Aflac公司负责索赔事务的副总裁布雷克•沃尔兹说。“这种比赛让他们经受考验，非常类似于一旦获得这份工作他们将面对的那种考验。”

    现如今，真人秀占据所有电视节目的一半以上，全美各地的公司正在直接从《飞黄腾达》（The Apprentice）和《创智赢家》（Shark Tank）等竞赛节目中汲取创意，以挑选最好的应聘者、培训工人，建立部门同事的友情。

    真人秀电视节目制作人斯蒂芬妮•德拉赫科维奇说：“测试人们决策的能力，思维的敏捷程度，目睹人们成功完成任务或以失败告终，的确别有一番妙趣。这种创意的精彩之处就在于，不成功便成仁那一幕活生生地展现在人们面前。”德拉赫科维奇参与制作了《单身汉》(The Bachelor)，并制作了《嫁给军队：阿拉斯加》（Married to the Army: Alaska）等节目。

    安缇安如意卷公司（Auntie Anne's Pretzels）的高管创作、拍摄了一个客户服务培训视频。在视频中，这家公司的店长们模仿真人秀《飞黄腾达》进行了一场真实的比赛。管理层希望制作一个妙趣横生的培训视频，而不是简单地让企业培训师举办一个讲座。“这种培训方式有寓教于乐之效，”安缇安如意卷公司的女发言人瓦莱丽•金尼这样说道。

    为了制作这段视频，这家如意卷连锁商致电旗下的 1,200家门店，要求店长们制作一段90秒的试镜表演录像。高管们选择了6个人参加一个相互PK的系列挑战赛，竞赛内容是在一家商场运营一家门店。6位参赛者飞赴兰开斯特，在酒店中进行了为期两天的比赛。其中5位参与者获得了400美元的奖励，但赢家则捧回1,000美元。

    When insurance executives at Aflac sought employees for plum assignments last year, they abandoned the traditional resumes and job interview routine.

    Instead, they found inspiration from reality TV competitions like American Idol.

    Aflac (AFL) employees in search of promotions became "contestants" who would walk into a room inside the company's Columbus, Ga., headquarters and stand before a panel of five Aflac "judges." While cameras rolled, they could do whatever they wanted to sell themselves as the best one for the job.

    The idea? Get candidates to think on their feet and show a side not seen in a formal interview. Performances ran the gamut -- from the ill-prepared one-minute speech to shticks with personal slogans, PowerPoint presentations, and props. "It was kind of like American Idol in corporate America -- except we didn't ridicule them," says Blake Voltz, Aflac vice president of claims and a judge. "It puts them under the heat, much like they would face if they got the job."

    Reality TV makes up more than half of all television programming today, and companies nationwide are plucking ideas straight from competition shows like The Apprentice and Shark Tank to pick the best job candidates, train workers, and build camaraderie among departments.

    "There is something about the idea of testing people to make a decision, the nimbleness of thought and watching someone succeed or fail on a task," says reality TV producer Stephanie Drachkovitch, who helped develop The Bachelor and produced Married to the Army: Alaska. "It's do or die right in front of you."

    Executives at Auntie Anne's Pretzels created and filmed a customer service training video using a real contest among managers modeled after the show The Apprentice. Executives wanted to make a training video that was more interesting than a corporate trainer simply giving a lecture. "People would be entertained while they were learning," says Valerie Kinney, a spokeswoman for Auntie Anne's.

    To make the video, the pretzel chain put out a call to its 1,200 stores for 90-second audition tapes from managers. Executives selected six people who would be pitted against each other in a series of challenges while running a store in a mall. The six contestants were flown to Lancaster and put up in hotels for the two-day competition. Five participants received $400, but the winner took home $1,000.