Work is something most of us do every day. While we sometimes don’t admit it, it’s no secret that many employees find themselves losing inspiration and motivation when it comes to the work they do. It is not uncommon for marketing teams to be the only ones gaining access to creative interactions and close connections with the company offerings and products.
So many employees are often in a loop of the monotonous day-to-day, riddled with feelings of unappreciation for their work, and disconnected from what they’re doing, peers, or the company culture as a whole with Eden springs revealing UK employees admitted to not going above and beyond at work because they feel they won’t be acknowledged (46%) or rewarded (47%). Globally, employers and managers have recognized this and began pushing a pretty penny aside for corporate wellness. According to IBISWorld, the corporate wellness market size in the UK was valued at 470.5 million for 2022.
Even in light of this, many corporate wellness programs fall flat, with one of the most significant challenges being mixed messages that companies send to their employees. As a result, employees are no more positively driven to higher involvement in terms of company actions, launches, or the direction of the organization.
Can Employers Help Teams Care?
So the question for many employers remains:
How can I get my teams to care more and feel engaged in not only their role but the growth of an organization?
As the popularity and interest in gamification has risen over the past couple of years, it has taught us that gamifying pretty much anything turns it into instant gold.
TalentLMS found globally employees actually say gamification makes them feel more productive (89%) and happier (88%) at work, making gamification a promising answer to this question.
While gamification has been most notably used to reach consumers, its key benefits can be seamlessly applied to and equally impactful for internal teams. Gamification can be used in just about every facet of internal communications like with Microsoft’s office re-opening, AXPO’s annual strategy meeting, Lancôme’s digital consultant training, Wavestone’s virtual team building, and onboarding seminar, general company announcements, and more.
Today, we have access to cutting-edge technologies to simulate just about any experience or work scenario needed through gamification.
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Why Gamification in the Workplace Could Be the Solution to Getting Teams to Care
Gamification in the workplace is exactly as it sounds, transforming everyday work functions and processes by adding gaming elements or completely gamifying them. Imagine your everyday zoom meeting in an oasis in the Metaverse, an influencer email turned into a memorable digital brand-centered experience, or a typical onboarding PowerPoint turned into an immersive escape game.
The psychology of gamification is unique: giving the player the power to control the narrative, reinforcing positive behavior, noticing evolution and potential growth. From digital escape rooms to AR and VR integration to metaverse worlds, gamification adds the much-needed elements of engagement, excitement and collaboration to work through tech, design, and collaboration.
Benefits of Gamification Include:
- A unique and fun format to share new initiatives, training, and campaign development so teams are immersed, engaged, and excited
- Complete digitization and mobile access, which supports companies working across timezones and global borders
- Increased motivation and follow-through with clear goals and objectives. The games can hit clear KPIs and deliver results on how teams are performing against the objectives
- Collaboration and team building. Teams across the organization and physical locations can work together to fully understand company messaging – and experience the same high quality of delivery
- An interesting way to receive dense topics and subject matters. Gamification breaks down topics that may be difficult to digest through a more traditional format like a PDF
- An exciting way to offer and give incentives – who doesn’t like a bit of healthy competition, that is fair and measured?
The connection between engagement and caring
Engagement in the workplace can be described in many ways. How well executive-level members communicate with teams, how people engage and participate with company events, how employees are rewarded, how much knowledge about the company actions employees have, or how often employees interact with others. The list could go on, but gamification can address all of these at once or individually in a unique fashion.
Gamification allows employees to immerse themselves in what feels like a different space from the usual working environment. Studies show that games can help manage and reduce stress and the immersion furthers this. Gamification adds a refreshing element to work, driving creativity and curiosity. Both of these are great gateways to increased interest, care, and happiness with a study revealing even small acts of creativity boost our overall feeling of well-being. Psycnet has also found people reported being happier and more energized when engaging in everyday creative endeavors.
The gamified change of pace alone in a workplace can be highly appreciated amongst teams because it shows the effort and interest the company has in bringing them into the core of an organization. By taking this approach, colleagues will become more invested in not only their role but also the part they play in a bigger product launch or event.
And the future?
Gamification must be incorporated within the future of work because it addresses many of the pain points employees feel when they are less invested in the work they do. There is evidence to show gamification increases how much employees care about their work and the amount of interest they have in doing it – which ultimately positively affects staff retention and the organization’s bottom line.