Gamification Isn’t A Magical Solution

How do you use gamification right?

For many years, employee engagement has been a trending topic in the HR community. Then 2020 hit. The “normal” work experience instantly changed, and the focus on employee engagement has become more important than ever. Leaders across the globe were forced to rapidly evaluate how to take care of their modern workforce in a time of crisis, all while keeping up morale and making work fun. 
 

To foster a positive workplace culture in the face of change and uncertainty, companies have tried different solutions, and many have turned to gamification. It’s seen as a way to engage employees with tools and encourage ongoing participation in those same tools. In fact, according to Harvest Business School, 70% of Forbes Global 2000 Companies are using gamified platforms. 

Now there are plenty of reasons to use gamification, but is it really as magical as everyone thinks it is? 

Have you ever observed or participated in a steps challenge that awards individuals with points for reaching 10,000 steps a day? Well, that’s gamification. 

Gamification is the act of making an environment, process, or task more like a game through game-design elements like point scoring, competition, and more. 

In the steps challenge example, individuals are awarded points to make the act of reaching the daily exercise recommendation more fun. 

Gamification can also be seen in the workplace. It can be seen when an employee completes a task such as completing a training session and earns a badge, levels up, collects points, jumps ranking on the leaderboard, or receives an award. 

Given the natural competitiveness of people, gamification leverages this social attribute among colleagues. It helps motivate employees to complete tasks, engage with their work, and contribute to a fun culture. TalentLMS’ 2019 Gamification at Work survey highlighted that 83% of those who receive gamified training feel motivated, and 89% believe they’d be more productive if their work were more gamified.

Yes, gamification can lead to positive reinforcement in a cost-effective way, but it’s worthless if you’re not building the right habits along the way and sustaining participation. 

For instance, gamification creates an if-then feedback loop. If someone completes a task, then they’ll immediately be given some form of positive reinforcement — no matter how they approached the completion of the task. This is an effective strategy for straightforward tasks, but it becomes less effective for complex tasks. Research suggests that this type of motivation can limit creativity and problem-solving abilities. 

Someone might fall into the trap of always taking the straightforward route they’re familiar with versus having the desire to create a unique path to completion. The desire to use complex problem-solving skills is a critical component of innovations, so carefully consider how you apply gamification throughout your organization. 

Furthermore, if employees are competing for points on a leaderboard, it’s only exciting for a certain amount of time. The social pride of winning can easily fade if the individual doesn’t receive any real-world value from it or it becomes less fun. Before you implement gamification as a quick fix to bring fun into your organization, consider how you’ll create an environment where employees want to participate in the gamification voluntarily over time. 

In short, to implement gamification for long-term success, you need to apply the approach to the right types of activities and offer something meaningful at the end.

Will your employees be able to trade the points or badges at the end of a time period for a fun gift or monetary reward that matches the value of their efforts? This is something that you need to strategize before you implement gamification, and continue to have ongoing feedback with your employees after running the programs for a few months. This will allow you to adjust along the way and create a more tailored and positive experience for employees.

2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, and teams need a positive workplace culture. Gamification with the appropriate rewards can be a powerful tool to motivate, engage, and sustain employee participation. With the right incentive strategy, you can cultivate a strong culture within your organization that will outlast the challenges of this year and beyond.

Raphael Crawford-Marks is the Founder & CEO of Bonusly.  He's passionate about building products that help people connect with their work and each other in meaningful ways. Visit www.bonus.ly    Connect Raphael Crawford-Marks    Follow @raphaelcm