Businesses regularly undergo more or less drastic changes. Among these changes is one that continues to grow with the health crisis and the widespread adoption of remote work: gamification. It benefits both the company and the employees and opens new avenues in human and intellectual level as well as on productivity.

If this new concept is still a little unusual to you, our article will help you discover all of it. Between definition, objectives, and benefits, we are almost certain that your company, like dozens of others, will also play its part in its turn!

What is company gamification?

The term gamification refers to the concept of learning and understanding through play, which is why it is so popular. The idea is to keep the significant elements of the game and incorporate them into the professional environment.

This playful method helps to increase employee participation, to train employees and improve team engagement. The involvement is expressed in interactions between employees and this ensures a high added value for the company.

We also notice that gamification strengthens motivational techniques.

Finally, gamification makes it possible to find new means of communication.

 

What are the objectives of play within a company?

There are 5 main goals:

  • Valorization of the human being: gamification is based on the user experience, the human being. The company tries to provide people within the company a more quality and entertaining experience.
  • Delivering messages in a fun way: gamification is used as a communication tool suitable for conveying the company culture and its values to employees.
  • Boost motivation: gamification increases motivation and adds fun. Result: improving participation and performance.
  • Employee retention: employees are engaged and more committed thanks to gamification.
  •  Facilitating change: As the company reinvents itself, both organizationally and strategically, gamification can guide the changes (to help teams adopt new concepts, for example).

Use gamification to build loyalty and improve team engagement

Managers and directors: they all love to play!

On the managers side, gamification is an effective way to coach employees and improve the employee experience. They discover a playful aspect in an activity, missing at the beginning, and moreover, this form of involvement often has a certain permanence.

On the executive side, gamification provides a clearer and simpler view of the activity.

Gamification in business also appears as an exciting internal digital communication tool. By gathering all employees around an attractive, entertaining, and innovative support, gamification creates new connections within the teams and aims to strengthen the collective.

Companies use gamification to promote internal communication, even when working from home. The aim is to maintain and strengthen the team members' interest in their values and their visions. Employees stay focused on their business as tasks that were once tedious are now fun thanks to virtual games. And when remote work takes place, new participatory and interactive interactions help maintain team cohesion.

The benefits of gamification for employees

The introduction of certain types of games - such as serious games for example - in companies often increases employee productivity. For example, discovering how you can motivate a salesperson to sell more or better. Once this goal is achieved through the game, the employee feels valued. We can take Siemens and the game Plantville as an example here. The company offers its teams this factory simulation game. It uses gamification to help its employees being more efficient in the various management processes of the factory.

It is also possible to use games within online collaboration systems. This ensures an increasement of the employee participation on the intranet. They are more likely to give their opinion and answer the questions asked.

Gamification also contributes to the personal development of the employee and to his or her development in a professional environment. (Even) more motivated to come up with good ideas, the employee feels appreciated when he finds new answers. He is more involved, his activity takes on a real meaning for him.

During training, gamification strengthens the involvement and motivation of employees. It is a powerful lever to apprenticeship as it allows you to turn a subject into something interactive and enjoyable. Students are more likely to remember learning material naturally through play (example: MOOC)

Develop sports in business life through play!

According to a 2017 Eurobarometer survey, 17% of employees engage in a physical or sporting activity at their workplace. The company is the ideal place to develop sports: employees are there from morning to evening and thus promote informal exchanges.  To encourage the practice of a sport, the game remains one of the most effective levers.

As with the tasks related to their main activity, sports gamification becomes a real motivational lever for employees. Corporate games around indoor sports bring people together around shared values (solidarity, team spirit, fun, effort, sharing or even conviviality).

Gamification makes it easier to take action. It brings teams from different departments together. And hierarchical barriers are fading, improving collaboration!

So that you too can take action, here are some examples of "sports" games:

-      Organize a step challenge;

-      Organize a life-size escape game outside to encourage teams to take 10 000 steps per day;

-      Organize Olympic Games (various physical "challenges", such as intercompany Olympics Games).

Gamification brings people together, increases engagement and improves business productivity. Because they feel valued, they invest more in the life of the company.