What are the benefits of using gamification in a digital workplace?
There’s a lot to be said for the psychology that underlies game-design. Gaming designers use some nifty techniques to help keep users engaged and interested whilst they are playing.
And the same can be applied to employees in a business.
What is gamification?
In basic terms, gamification uses motivations that people enjoy such as achieving, competing, and being rewarded. These are then applied to a non-game environment.
It’s very much like the principles you’d apply when you’re on a Nintendo:
- Achieve the ultimate goal to win
- Check your progress as you go and change your course of action
- Earn rewards and try to keep them as you go
- Work hard enough to the next level if you work hard enough
- Try not to fail
Many leaders look to introduce gamification to their workplace to boost morale but it’s also a great way to spark interest among a dispersed workforce.
Companies can apply gamification within their employee intranet to engage staff and put them back at the heart of the business.
But don’t worry, using this technique doesn’t mean your colleagues will be squandering work time by playing games. It simply means that using the mechanics of games, you can encourage a desired behaviour from staff, enhance social accountability or achieve an end result.
Here are more ways that gamification can be used to benefit your workplace.
Drive to succeed
Most people are driven by the desire to be the best or be associated with the best. Using a leadership board is a great way to tap into your colleagues’ psyche and ignite competitive spirit. NO ONE wants to be a loser, right?
It’s a great idea to boost friendly competition and teamwork, while employees can also earn rewards like Star of the Month which work wonders for recognising efforts.
By making these leader boards visible using an intranet system like Attollo, staff can keep a track of their points and engage in healthy competition, incentivising them to work harder.
Boost engagement
It’s a well-known fact that the more engaged an employee, the less likely they are to find a new job and the more likely they are to work harder, fight for promotions and perform better to meet company goals.
And when it comes to a well-run and progressing company, an engaged workforce is exactly what you need.
Gamification increases employee participation, resulting in better productivity as staff can check the results of their work straight away. They can make changes and remove problems, in real-time. No more waiting around for an email with a ‘final version’.
Share knowledge
With an out of the box intranet like Attollo, you could add a page for a system where you can award badges to those who submit the most answers to questions in discussion forums relating to your company.
Points could be awarded to those who write a company blog post or add to the news centre sections. A ranking system could show whose communications have received the most views.
Instant reward
Some staff just get a pay increment sent to them in a private letter. A lot of achievement goes unnoticed and most importantly, unrewarded.
Gamification could allow all staff to receive regular performance updates which would encourage them to perform better, especially if they could visually see themselves moving up a scale and jostling for position.
With the ability to provide instant feedback, staff can feel rewarded. For new recruits, you could immerse them into the desired culture by setting them training within your intranet, where they could view their progress.
Peer-to-peer recognition
Nothing sings praise better than recognition of something done well from colleagues. People love to celebrate success on a project.
Encouraging this kind of gamification could underpin the dream working culture, where employees are actively encouraged to give praise where it’s due.
We hope you have enjoyed this blog that has explored the benefits of using gamification in a digital workplace.
If you’d like to see how an out of the box intranet like Attollo could be used to support gamification in your workplace, contact us for a free demonstration today.