Gamification By Another Name

How workforce management solutions can help companies retain top talent

Although each generation has specific needs and working styles, all generations crave being rewarded and recognized for their hard work. According to a Willis Towers Watson study, more than 70 percent of high-retention-risk employees say they'll have to leave their organization to advance their career. In order to remain an attractive option for new talent, retain existing talent and help their employees reach their career goals swiftly, organizations must make gamifying performance a priority for both the modern call center and enterprise.

 

A vast majority of businesses are already implementing a form of gamification by providing employee incentive and motivational programs. Gamification solutions apply game mechanics to non-game scenarios (i.e. employee performance) in order to boost employee engagement and results. This can be anything from rewarding employees for attendance, performance or customer satisfaction.
 
The only difference is that before digital transformation, these activities were done without the assistance of a designated software solution. The other difference is that companies can now use the data from these solutions to personalize training and management styles. Rest assured, this data-driven performance solution isn’t a passing fad, nor was it before – it’s here to stay and it’s becoming more widely adopted.
 
Nervous about bringing a gamification solution to the workplace? We’ve debunked some of the common myths around gamification for you:

Myth #1: The ROI of gamification is unknown

While many view gamification as a buzz-word or misunderstood tool in today’s modern enterprise, these solutions are already proving their worth by engaging employees at all levels: A Hay Group Study found that companies with engaged employees have 2.5 times more revenue than competitors with lower engagement levels.
 
This technology has the unique ability to provide a comprehensive view of employee performance, provide context for how managers can better their leadership and how companies can increase their bottom line.

Myth #2: Gamification distracts employees from doing their job effectively

While some reports have taken the stance that gamification detracts from productivity, gamification is actually becoming more actionable and personalized through quantified reporting and tracking. In fact, once integrated with business goals, gamification keeps employees on track as a non-disruptive system that runs in the background of primary tasks.  
 
Harvard Business Review found that 37 percent of the people who stay at their jobs for a period of 6 months have confidence that they are gaining the skills and experiences they need to develop their careers. However, more than half quit to seek this engagement elsewhere. With a mutually beneficial gamification solution, employees are rewarded for accomplishing a task and given the context behind their performance, so they can improve their skills as needed.
 
By tracking this data over time, employers are able to offer training to help their best employees work on improving their skills in real-time. In turn, this data helps managers track employee performance with a better understanding of individual needs and goals.

Myth #3: Gamification is complicated and hard to implement

It’s imperative for businesses to have a strategy in place for implementation. Business executives understand the need to prioritize workforce engagement, but don’t always know how to implement it effectively. According to ACCOR, 90 percent of leaders think an engagement strategy will have an impact on business success but only 25 percent of those leaders have an effective strategy in place.  Not only can companies retain talent with increased engagement, they can impact their bottom lines and save money.
 
Now that Gamification is a mature toolset for workforce optimization, pre-packaged offerings allow for a very streamlined deployment process.
 
In the past, gamification has been misperceived as a mere amusement for employees or a disruption to workflow. If it is aligned with performance initiatives, companies can also cash in on the economic rewards of gamification. Gamification helps to improve individual employee skills and give data on performance trends, which the organization can use to improve overall operations.
 
This saves valuable employee time and encourages employees to contribute more to the organization.
 
For a business to reap the benefits of a motivated and diverse workplace, employees need to be engaged. Likewise, for employees to take their careers to the next level, businesses need to offer the necessary assessment, training and real-time feedback. With the influence of automation, performance management technology, data logs and digital gamification solutions, enterprises have a golden opportunity to both onboard tomorrow’s talent and retain existing dedicated employees – all while enhancing the bottom line with better customer service and enhanced operational capabilities. Simply said, with a well-implemented and executed gamification solution, everybody wins.

Author Bio

Omer Erel has been with NICE for the last 8 years. In his current role, Omer leads NICE Quality and Performance Management solutions driven by Adaptive Work Force Optimization, and is responsible for Product Management, Marketing and Customer Success. Previously, Omer held Product Management, Sales and Business Development positions within the company. Connect Omer Erel