Everyone wants their job to be fun. There are ways you could gamify your business to achieve productivity and engage your employees on a more positive note. Happy employees are the key to business productivity and success. Did you know that happy employees even help market your business? Yes, it’s true! Read on to know how gamifying your business will help you get more things done in a pleasant way.
The word is everywhere: Gamification. What is gamification? As the name suggests, gamification involves adding game-like elements to everyday actions or something that already exists in order to make them more interesting. In businesses, gamification is a strategy employed for engaging customers and employees alike, motivate participation, and increase loyalty. You can employ this strategy for almost anything, from gamifying your website to the day-to-day operations of your retail business.
Gamification in organizations might sound like the kind of thing that only high-tech companies could do. But the truth is that any business—be it large or small, or a startup—can take game-like elements and apply them to their business. It allows businesses to take their routine everyday work and gamify them—i.e.., turn them into games. This results in employees who are more involved and happy with their work. And this leads to greater quality of work, higher morale, and higher productivity—a win-win situation.
It may seem to be the newest trend around, but gamification has been around for a very long time. Think about it—for instance, sales bonuses are a kind of game. Work appraisals are done based on how productive one is at work. Some businesses have leadership boards, tracking everyone’s progress, complete with points, and different prize levels. This is classic gamification.
Another example of gamification is a program wherein an employee plays a quiz game. The quiz could be anything related to the employee’s division. When employees do well on the quiz, they win prizes. When they don’t, they get a quick refresher course on the issues. If you decide to employ this kind of strategy, you will know what issues to address in the workplace and what kind of training to give your employees. Gamification also reduces the time taken to train your employees. Like this, there are countless ways you could gamify your business.
Many businesses invest in gamification not because it is a fad, but because it works. One of the biggest issues a company faces is a complete lack of employee engagement. Such employees often cause harm to the company’s bottom line. This is also an indication of your company’s health and a wake-up call of the way you are running your business. Instead of doing the classic hire and fire, look into your business and see what’s wrong and strategize in such a way that both of you benefit in the long run. Having gamification in organizations really helps employees be actively engaged at work.
Gamification not only helps your business by driving employee engagement but drives customer loyalty as well. You can see this at play with major retail brands. Gamification is usually done under the guise of customer loyalty programs offering incentives to customers. Since customers are more likely to shop with businesses that offer some type of incentive or a loyalty program, the rising popularity of gamification strategy isn’t surprising. Brand loyalty is a big thing in business. Another reason why you should invest in a gamification strategy.
How to Implement A Gamified System for Your Business?
Of course, gamification doesn’t happen overnight. Having a gamification marketing strategy isn’t as simple as deciding that you are going to have a new and “fun” workplace—it is far from it. It requires careful planning and the right implementation. Gamification delivers proven and tangible results provided it is executed correctly for the right reasons.
This can be measured with analytics tools that gamification companies provide. You could approach them or have a plan drafted and implement it yourself. Gamification companies create better branding for the company. For instance, you could teach leadership skills through exercises, feedback, and collaboration thereby driving more revenue.
Each business is unique with its own culture and people. No two businesses are the same, so the is no one magic pill that will work for all businesses. However, there are some general tips that every business should consider before implementing a gamification strategy. Think about what you want to achieve—employee engagement or customer engagement?
Do you want to use gamification for the purpose of educating employees about a new product? Do you want to drive more business or have a well-thought-out initiative that will mutually benefit everyone involved? There are lots of such questions you need to ask yourself before embarking on the arduous but exciting task of gamifying your business. Remember, gamification should be a tool for solving a problem, and not create a problem where there was none, to begin with.
Some things to consider:
- Make sure your goals are concrete—be clear on what you want
- Do not coerce participation. Make it simple—overly complex games may discourage participation
- Get help—there are several gamification companies and tools to help businesses gamify their day-to-day operations and activities
- Make games about more than points and prizes—make it about healthy competition, learning, and growth
- Find out which system you want to gamify and how to gamify—for instance, do you want to gamify your sales system? If so, how?
- Find the right balance between competition and collaboration
- Make gamified systems meaningful and fun
- Prevent gamified systems from going stale—introduce something new every month or quarterly
In order for gamification to work, it has to be well-designed, implemented, tracked, and maintained. Implement various methods and track each one’s progress diligently. Use the information and results in it provides to improve not only your business but also your strategy. Remember, gamification is not a cure-all solution that will magically make everything better overnight. But it has proven results in improving the engagement level of employees and customers alike.
Want to know more about gamifying your business? We will help you align your goals with your objectives and come up with an action plan that will be beneficial for you—both in the short and long run. Contact us today!
