What is “gamification for companies”?
Gamification can be defined as the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts. In other words, it is adding playful elements to something that, by nature, does not have them, without having to change its final goal.
Using some game-like elements (e.g. missions, rewards, competition with others) can make any task or activity more attractive and enjoyable. So what is the objective? Enhancing the motivation levels of the participants and, consequently, improving their results.
What makes gamification for companies a useful tool is the ability to increase motivation. Gamification in the business environment entails introducing game dynamics into professional activities. This way, employees can face their routine tasks in a different, much more attractive way. These gamification dynamics can help to renew employees’ interest in those tasks that may seem monotonous or boring, as well as to improve their concentration levels during concentration demanding tasks. In addition, these actions aimed at improving the quality of the employees’ professional experience encourage their commitment to the company and their engagement is also increased. Consequently, these actions have a positive impact on employees’ results.
However, why gamification is a positive experience for employees?
- Because it allows them to easily check their results and their own evolution in their professional environment, so their motivation is boosted.
- Because, through scoring systems and rankings, employees perceive public recognition for their daily work, which usually goes unnoticed.
- Because it brings a new, more informal and playful dimension to the professional environment, and it facilitates interactions with other colleagues, improving the work environment.
- Because it gives rewards to the best performances, which adds extra value to conventional work.
These gamification campaigns do not only help employees to achieve their best version of themselves at work, but they are also directly responsible for the improvements in companies’ results.
Gamification dynamics for companies
Gamification at work can take different forms depending on the goals that a company wants to conquer through its implementation.
- Goal: strengthening team cohesion. Cohesive teams are not only more productive and efficient, but they also show greater resilience and better conflict management ability, lower stress rates and greater involvement. If a company wants to strengthen employee relationships and improve their cohesion, team building activities can be very helpful. The idea is to propose team oriented games in an informal environment, usually outside the work environment, in which employees must use teamwork strategies to solve problems or complete a mission within a playful narrative. Building an igloo with boxes, doing an escape room or organizing an outdoor team sports tournament are some common examples of team building activities.
- Goal: training. Gamification can be very helpful when companies want to train their teams. Refreshing basic knowledge, learning new skills or even receiving training in different fields, such as occupational health and safety, can be excellent objectives for a gamified solution. Through specific platforms, employees can develop learning processes at work in a more enjoyable and attractive way, so they can keep their attention and increase their motivation when learning. The use of storytelling in the learning processes (e.g. putting into practice the knowledge about occupational hazards in a video game that shows risk situations), recognition systems to reward effort, unlocking of extra content in exchange for activities or even awards and recognition for the best students can obtain excellent results in this regard.
- Goal: increasing sales. Gamification is an excellent tool to increase sales. Sales representatives are the most receptive employees to engage in gamification dynamics because of their intrinsic competitive nature, so they take part in these initiatives with great interest. In addition, we must bear in mind that these employees have a very social professional profile, and they are often exposed to long working hours of solo work, visiting clients and suppliers. Gamification offers them the possibility of keeping in touch with the rest of the sellers of their network, and, consequently, feeling part of a team. Besides, thanks to the gamification platform, employees can check their daily work results in a clear and objective way, and compare them with those of other colleagues. Similarly, both the public recognition and the rewards linked to the competition work as an extra incentive that improves motivation and engagement with the company. Thanks to gamification dynamics, sales usually increase by more than 10%.
The Playmotiv team is specialized in the field of commercial team gamifications. We have developed more than 150 games in which more than 12,000 users have participated, and the satisfaction rate among users was very high, 93% of users have been satisfied with their experience. However, those who have been most satisfied with the results have been the different companies which have worked with us, because their sales have increased 16% on average thanks to our gamifications. Mars, Danone, Nestlé or Ferrero are just some of the companies that have already trusted us in order to start their gamifications with a high degree of success.
Successful gamification campaigns
- Mars Iberia came to Playmotiv looking for an efficient and innovative way to encourage motivation and productivity of their employees and associates. The American global manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products increased its sales by 11% in Spain thanks to our gamifications. The first game lasted three months and it obtained excellent results. Gamified subsidiaries increased their sales by 11% during the following months, compared to a 5.5% increase obtained in August. This contrasted with the moderate increase of 2.8% of the non-gamified subsidiaries. After this first (and successful) experience, Mars Iberia has continued to trust Playmotiv in order to develop their annual gamification campaigns.
Do you want to know more about this successful story? Check our case studies
- Comcast Corporation, a USA telecommunications conglomerate, decided to develop a gamification campaign in order to reduce the yearly decrease in productivity of their commercial teams during the summer months. The competition among employees increased daily visits by 127%.
- The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of the United Kingdom developed a gamification platform in 2011 to ask employees how the department could reduce costs. All participants could submit ideas and then they could buy and sell shares on them, creating value rankings that generated virtual benefits to those who invested symbolically in them. Thanks to this system, the organization obtained 1,400 improvement suggestions during 9 months by more than 4,500 participants. In addition, the ranking created by the users served as the first system of valuation and screening. Finally, DWP implemented 63 projects, which saved more than 20 million pounds.
- The Spanish postal service, Correos, developed a gamification platform in order to update its webpage with the suggestions of its employees. Participants had to browse through the website and submit their improvement suggestions within 13 days. In return, the employees (and also players) could receive different rewards. The postal company received more than 50,000 suggestions, which saved 70% of the potential cost of hiring an external consultant to do the same job.
