Put Me In, Coach: Gaming-Driven Productivity
Companies spend a great deal of time and money coming up with ways to engage their customers. These days, interactive gaming is one of the fastest growing ways to accomplish this.
The companies that are truly on the forefront of gamification are putting just as much effort into finding the hottest gaming platform—for their own employees and while they are on the clock. While the types of recognition and/or reward preferences may vary among your team, the reason behind the addition of games to your team’s day is simple and singular.
"People like to play games..."
Michael Hugos, author of Enterprise Games: Using Game Mechanics to Build a Better Business, issued that short but encapsulating statement in a recent interview with ARN. Many companies aren’t adding games to their team’s already busy schedule at work; they’re turning their work into games. And the popularity of everything from Farmville to Foursquare started the trend.
Without even needing to offer cash or monetary reward, although some do, but only awarding seemingly simple badges, as with the two aforementioned games, many companies are seeing their teams, enterprise-wide, take greater pride in their work.
In turn, managers and owners often find their staff happier to be at work, more driven to perform, and more eager to deliver outstanding customer service–especially when doing so results in a badge-type bragging right.
"The contest and motivation [are] the key components," said Jason Lander, founder and CEO of Hively, which offers a gamification online service for collecting customer feedback…The service then collects metrics compiled from the user feedback, which can be used by management to help improve customer service.
“People like games” may be a bit of a sweeping statement, as there may be some team members who simply want to do their work and go home, no matter the potential prize at stake.
Kim Liston of Omnicare recently explained how the company experienced a bit of a culture clash when introducing role-playing games, purely based on tangible prizes like gift cards and movie tickets.
It wasn’t until Omnicare revamped the game and its reward system to offer achievement badges and “real-time feedback from the ServiceNow platform” that they saw “one hundred percent participation from team members.”
The companies that really know what they’re doing don’t just stop there. Once gaming has been introduced and everyone is on board, social media is the next must-have. When your employees share with the rest of the world the badge they just earned and what a great place your company is to work, the benefits grow even further.
Does the idea of workplace gaming motivate you? Share your experiences with us in the comment section below!
