Gamification is exciting because it promises to make the hard stuff in life fun.
Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals.
Gamification taps into the basic desires and needs of the users impulses which revolve around the idea of Status and Achievement.
Research organisation Gartner predicts that a gamified service for consumer goods, marketing and customer retention will become as important as Facebook, eBay or Amazon, and more than 70% of Global 2000 organisations will have at least one gamified application in the near future.
e-Learning and gamification are a perfect match. Not only can gamification greatly support training and on-boarding; it fits any aspect of business from sales to customer service. e-Learning, using micro-learning nuggets is the perfect choice for on-the-job training. You can use it to prompt event-based learning and to make sure that employees know about what’s important, and how they can do their job.
Gamification provides customer service and call center employees with much needed engagement, transparency, feedback and optimal use of best practices. Game elements can increase employee retention and engagement, drive skill acquisition, reduce average call handling time and grow customer satisfaction, while providing continuous on the job training.
Salespeople are salespeople. They are into selling. They love the rush they get when they close a deal. Sales people are not interested in a “data entry” job, and if you had an opening for one, they probably would not be a good choice. No competitive or winning instincts are satisfied when all CRM data requirements are accurately completed. On the other hand, sales managers need real data, in real time, so they can make accurate forecasts and manage a sales pipeline that is in touch with reality. Otherwise, they have a GIGO problem: garbage-in-garbage-out.
Gamification taps into intrinsic motivators. We all share the same basic intrinsic motivators, factors that inspire us to initiate an activity for its own sake, because it is interesting and satisfying in itself. The five most important intrinsic motivators – Autonomy (“I control”), Mastery (“I improve”), Purpose (“I make a difference”), Progress (“I achieve”) and Social Interaction (“I connect with others”) – are common to everyone, and behavioral research has shown that satisfying them can make anyone’s work more productive and more pleasing. That means gamification can be used to unlock potential across all employees, all job titles and all departments.
Gamification connects the dots between employee motivation and company success. Tapping into your employees’ intrinsic motivators is necessary, but it’s not sufficient. You also need to be able to connect their increased engagement directly to the company’s better performance. In other words, a well-designed gamification platform starts by inspiring active participation geared to specific business goals.
Then, it monitors results, measures the business impacts and supports perpetual learning and improvements that fuel even greater satisfaction and engagement.
Gamification is data-driven. Simply put, gamification uses data to motivate performance. Years ago, most business got done in face-to-face meetings or via memos sent around the office. But today, sales, training, service, collaboration and almost every other aspect of business occurs in systems that produce mountains of data. Gamification platforms capture the relevant data and put it to work to create engaging experiences that drive performance, business results and competitive advantage. With gamification, you can use data to build a 360-degree view of all your employees and take advantage of opportunities to motivate them everywhere they work.
Gamification is sustainable and proven – across many sectors and departments, and the Brownie Points platform with its gamification features is helping improve business results in a variety of different ways. For example, gamification is being used to:
- Increase adoption and use of learning management tools.
- Promote retention and results among employees
- Drive up employee knowledge sharing to increase service levels
- Boost call center employee performance and satisfaction
- Enhance customer loyalty and drive revenue
Brownie Points is developed in alignment with gamification principles including graphical and user interface design, real time sending and receiving of awards via our cloud-based application and android and iPhone apps, as well as the introduction of leaderboards, contests and personal goals and alerts.
The integration of these gamification principles into our platform ensures maximum employee engagement, motivation and ROI to the business.
As can be seen from even this small sampling of examples, gamification has application throughout the workplace, and implemented correctly, it can impact employees from all generations, departments, tenures and educational backgrounds.
To learn how Brownie Points can add value to your business and improve employee engagement, call the team today on 03 9909 7411 or email us at info@browniepoints.com.au
