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Gauging the impact of gamification on employee engagement

Man sitting on the couch and looking at his phone.

It's no secret that many specialists, regardless of their field of business, rarely participate in internal corporate life and prefer to work remotely. These reasons can be related to several factors: Employees are not interested in taking part in company life, they do not share the corporate culture or company values, they do not see the point in their participation or do not receive bonuses for it.

As a result, employee motivation is most often based only on material values and rarely correlates with the company's business, HR and marketing objectives. That means companies may face staff shortages as well as low motivation and involvement, and, as a result, employee burnout and high staff turnover. That's when unconventional methods of increasing motivation and engagement come to the rescue, and gamification is one of them.

Gamification in business is a concept that has been talked about for the past few years, and looking ahead to 2025, is seen by HR executives as one of the most promising trends. Most often, you may have heard about it in marketing and sales. You probably know stories about famous brands using gamification in their campaigns. 

Read more: Platform uses AI and gamification to support ADHD talent

For example, KFC engaged users to participate in a mobile game for which they received a gift voucher. Starbucks gave customers the opportunity to earn points for buying coffee and Nike developed a fitness app for people to share their achievements. All of these are examples of how brands are engaging audiences and making them more loyal. 

HR can help motivate employees more effectively with the help of benefit advisers by engaging them in gamification. Classic engagement methods are no longer working as they should, so businesses should reconsider their approach to increasing employee motivation and loyalty. It is easier for today's generation to go for results if they see that the process resembles a fun game. Besides, no one has canceled the spirit of competition among themselves. As much as no one would argue, it's in all of us.

The purpose of gamification is to make experiences more exciting and richer; it makes an ordinary work process playful. And the challenge for a company that incorporates gamification into its workflows is to make achieving business goals more efficient and faster. 

Read more: Revolutionizing workplace happiness through employee recognition

Consider some of the highlights from TalentLMS's 2018 Gamification At Work Survey: 80% of employees enjoy using gamification software at work and employees feel that gamification makes them more productive (87%), engaged (84%) and happier (82%) at work.Employees also were mostly motivated by intrinsic motivational factors (43%) vs. extrinsic (38%) when completing a boring task. Moreover, they were motivated more by intrinsic factors (45%) vs. extrinsic (37%) when completing a challenging task. In addition, 75% of respondents who play games often were more likely to agree that they'd be more productive if their work was made more game-like, while older employees were more motivated by game elements than younger employees. 

As you can see, this proves once again that gamification has been a necessity and reality for businesses that want to improve their efficiency. Similar results are evident across many organizations. Usetech, which has implemented gamification practices, found in 2022 that 76% of its employees were ready to spend the next two years in the company. 

The IT company also noted that 77% of employees were satisfied with the terms of cooperation and corporate culture, 91% were ready to take advantage of the referral program and recommend the company as a reliable and attractive employer, and employee satisfaction does not fall below 78%. After implementing this practice in the company, we noticed an increase in employee engagement to 87%. It also worked positively in HR: the time to close vacancies decreased by 36%.

How can your employer clients start implementing gamification in their company?

Firstly, they must realize your goals and expectations of the method. It's important, for instance, to analyze the level of engagement and motivation of employees before implementing the program, analyze what can motivate them and how. Then the employer can analyze the market by purchasing an off-the-shelf solution or creating one from scratch. One such example is Workcore, an employee motivation platform that combines all the tools for employee engagement. 

That said, investing in an incentive program is guaranteed to pay dividends in the form of increased productivity, employee loyalty and company ambassadors. Your clients also should understand that they will need to analyze the metrics on a monthly basis to remove or refine based on the needs of their employees.

Read more: Platform uses AI and gamification to support ADHD talent

What should be inside a gamification-based program?

The basic option is a rating or reward. An employee receives a badge for some action (e.g., Best Solution of the Month) or some companies actively use the practice of rewarding a colleague. This not only helps bring employees closer to each other, but also develop a culture of rewards and incentives.

The next option is quizzes and quests on holidays or other occasions. Usually, all participants are rewarded for their participation with symbolic points, but a few leaders are singled out separately. This allows employees to be involved in the life of the company and motivate them to do better next time. 

And the final option: Points for various activities such as participation in charity events, industry conferences, podcasts and demonstrating expertise. This helps to develop the company's HR brand and demonstrate the expertise of employees and the company.

To avoid making mistakes, it's best to choose the techniques and activities that are relevant to your client's employee population. Some activities may not be interesting or appropriate for the target audience, which is why companies should analyze the goals of their employees before implementing any innovation. 

Trying a gamified approach today can take a company to the next level tomorrow.

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