How Is Gamification Transforming The Future Of Work?

Gamification is the use of video game mechanics in non gaming environments to achieve a desired goal or objective.

We can no longer say that gaming is just for entertainment; it has proven to have a much greater purpose.?

For some years now, businesses use gamification to bring about a positive change in their workplace culture. They are adapting gamification principles to improve engagement and motivation among their employees.

Usually, to formulate an effective gamification strategy, four main game elements need? to be used, including goals, rules, challenges and feedback.

The goals and rules offer intrinsic motivation for the players, retaining them in the game for a long time. On the other hand, challenges fire the competitive spirit, and offering timely feedback will improve player engagement with the game.

Duolingo is a great example of this. The language learning app adapted a game-based learning approach to motivate their students and make them keep coming back to the app. They used badges, leader boards, feedback and point systems to inspire learners.?

These strategies worked out well for them, making them one of the most downloaded learning apps in the app stores.

Apart from them, other iconic brands like Nike, Starbucks, KFC and many others use gamification, as it is one of the cost-efficient method to increase productivity.

Gamification at Work

In order to understand the importance of gamification at work, first you need to ask a question, Why do people love video games?

Surely, not everyone plays video games to pass time.

When you ask gamers that question, everyone will have a reason of their own. It can be the challenges they encounter, their achievements, competing with their friends, or maybe the feedback that keeps them rooted to the game.

Much like in games, using gamification techniques at work, one can harness the competitive and challenging nature of the workers.?

Hence, many companies are adapting the gamification approach to motivate and increase engagement among their employees.

Studies suggest that engaged and highly motivated employees help increase the productivity of the company. On the other hand, a non engaging work environment will decrease productivity, affecting the company’s overall performance.

Game Based Learning / eLearning

The COVID pandemic has forced businesses to drift away from the traditional working style and look for ways to engage and train their employees.

That is when they shifted their focus to eLearning. Companies have a need to train their employees to upskill them. But they could not afford to send them to school. This is where eLearning comes in.

With eLearning employees can learn at their own pace. They offer rewards, badges, and leaderboards, which makes learning a fun activity. The eLearning courses also combine online and offline learning, offering a hands on experience for the employees.

In recent days, the incorporation of AR and VR in eLearning has helped workers understand complex topics and practice skills before applying them in real life situations.

Benefits Of Gamification At Work

Here is a list of the benefits of gamification at work.

Motivation

Studies show that gamification offers extrinsic motivation to the employees. The employers give badges and rewards to their employees, motivating them to work efficiently.

Competitiveness

It helps to instill healthy competition among the employees by offering rewards and prizes. This strategy will especially be helpful in driving sales where the employees will have friendly competition among themselves to exceed the employer's expectations.

Engagement

By conducting fun activities like quizzes, games, etc., you can promote positive engagement in the workplace. A 2023 statistics reveals that using gamification services to the business increases engagement by 48%.

Recognition

Sometimes, when assessing the performance of the team as a whole, one tends to ignore a worker's individual skills. Using gamification can help bring out unnoticed skills and get recognition for their efforts.

Customer Interaction

Not only employee engagement, but using gamification techniques has a huge impact on customer engagement too. A great example of this would be M & M. The brand launched a fun game in Facebook where customers are asked to find a hidden pretzel from the group of M & Ms. This game garnered a huge customer engagement.?

Apart from that, active customer communities, incentives, and special events help gain loyal customers.

The Bottom Lines

Every job has a fun factor hidden in it, and you need to identify it to enhance productivity and engagement.?

Gamification strategies can be used for any type of business. You need to plan the strategy accordingly, analyzing the nature of the company.?

In the fiercely competitive business sector, one has to think beyond the traditional ways to enhance performance and improve employee engagement at the same time.?

Integrating newer technologies like AR, VR, and gamification into businesses emerged as the best possible solution to increase productivity and create an engaging way of learning.