Gamifying the workplace to revive flagging employee engagement?
In today's fast-paced business world, employee engagement is a key factor in driving productivity and reducing turnover. A recent study reveals that highly engaged organizations have lower absenteeism, turnover, and better health [1][3][5]. One innovative method gaining momentum is gamification, the use of gaming elements to increase interest and investment in tasks.
Chris Pyle, CEO of MessageOps, emphasizes that businesses can't expect adoption to happen on its own. Effective strategies for using gamification to increase employee engagement include designing gamified experiences that leverage clear goals, timely feedback, rewards, social interaction, and personalization [1][3][5].
Key strategies for successful gamification implementation include setting clear objectives and breaking down goals, using a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, providing real-time feedback and progress tracking, fostering friendly competition and collaboration, personalizing the experience, making engagement fun and accessible, and incorporating gamification into key HR processes [1].
For instance, SAP implemented gamification with an application called Roadwarrior to help sales reps learn and retain information about new products. The game, which is a multiple-choice game where sales reps compete against each other to rank as leaders in an area of expertise, covers SAP's latest technology innovations and mimics a typical pre-call planning meeting with a customer [1].
Similarly, Siemens uses a game called PlantVille to gamify job training for employees. The game simulates the experience of being a plant manager and teaches new hires about Siemen's products and important skills [1]. Gamification can help channel the competitive spirit of sales reps to help them familiarize themselves with the information they need to close deals.
However, businesses can struggle with getting employee buy-in for new technology, even if it's great. The most effective way to drive engagement is to focus on making an employee's day-to-day experience better. Research shows that benefits and perks are not as important as employers think in driving employee engagement [1].
Instead, regular recognition is a critical aspect of engagement, and recognizing team members has a significant effect on performance. Organizations where recognition occurs perform 14% better on employee engagement, productivity, and customer service than those where recognition does not occur [1].
Yammer's enterprise social network is used by more than 200,000 companies for employee collaboration and has built-in gamification capabilities to track and reward employees with virtual badges for achievements [1]. Gamification is expected to grow to $5.5 billion by 2018 [1].
Despite its benefits, it's important to note that the Gallup poll found that 70% of American employees are not enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace [1]. This lack of engagement costs the American economy $450 billion to $550 billion in lost productivity annually [1].
In conclusion, by thoughtfully integrating gamification strategies, businesses can drive performance, enhance company culture, reduce turnover, and make work more engaging and rewarding for employees [1][3][5].
Businesses can strategically incorporate gamification into their operations to augment employee engagement, as demonstrated by the adoption of gamified platforms like Yammer and the use of games in training programs at SAP and Siemens. Effective financial investment in such initiatives could potentially result in improved productivity, better company culture, and reduced turnover.
