Heroes, by calling
There are unsung heroes who travel miles, undaunted by distance or the obstacles they face on the road to reach their entrepreneurs: entrepreneurs who, whether standing behind a shop counter, sitting behind a sewing machine, or surrounded by their crops, make decisions everyday that impact their lives and the lives of their relatives and neighbors. If these entrepreneurs – more than two million today – are the heart of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, then the more than 4,000 loan officers who accompany them on the road toward prosperity are its soul. There are many types of heroes in the world. Some, like these, were not born heroes. The were made into heroes.
“This isn't just a job, it’s a job that changes lives,” says Fabián Goldberg, head of training for the BBVA Microfinance Foundation. “Which is why we want the people who join the Group to feel – to experience – what we do and to live the day-to-day with our customers. All this, in less time, using an an innovative approach, and without having to step away from the computer screen,” he continues. This is the goal of “Heroes” – the interactive experience the Foundation recently launched both to train new loan officers and reinforce the Foundation's social mission with its 8,000 employees across all teams.
“Once again we are turning to gamification after our positive experience with ‘Simon’ – but this time with a more complex and ambitious project: we are traveling to Colombia to record the home-business of one of our entrepreneurs to make the experience as real as possible.” Goldberg explains. “Heroes” does not only showcase the value of the loan officers’ work, it also reveals the obstacles that the entrepreneurs who work with the Foundation in Latin America face.
The main character in the newly launched training game is Alice: she lives in the country with her husband and son, and their main sources of income come from livestock and a small market. In six different scenes, the player learns: how to provide an entrepreneur like Alice with financial services while avoiding over-indebtedness; for example, how to encourage her to grow her savings or how to achieve her goals and ambitions. In essence, working on behalf of and for the development of these people who, although they might have little, have the ability and drive to do a lot. This is the job of everyone who is part of the Foundation, where the loan officers are the bedrock.
The player has to make a number of decisions to that Alicia, the main character, could make progress - BBVA Microfinance Foundation
Their stories and the stories of the people they help can rarely be understood one without the other. “They inspire us with their strength of will, their courage, and dedication,” José, a BBVAMF loan officer in the Dominican Republic, Zenovio in Peru, and Humberto in Colombia all agree. The sentiment is mutual: the entrepreneurs dare to dream because they feel supported and confident. Together entrepreneurs and loan officers build a circle of trust that lets them grow and become heroes, by calling.