Getting your staff engaged and focused can often be an uphill battle. Strategies range from improving company culture, honing communication effectiveness, or even hosting team-building exercises.

Increasingly though, there's one intriguing avenue that's gaining traction: gamification in the workplace. By incorporating game-like elements into work processes, companies are witnessing a surge in employee engagement and productivity.

There are numerous ways you can engage employees using a gamification program in the workplace, so we're going to dig into this modern phenomenon and see how you can use it.

Gamification aims to add a fun or game based element to a process that isn't specifically a game. Many of us will have experienced some form of gamification in the workplace, whether that's to beat sales targets, as part of a team building exercise or as part of employee training.

Typical forms of gamification tend to focus on points based leaderboards, quizzes and rewards for meeting targets. However, the actual options or approaches for adding game elements to work can be pretty many and varied.

Many of us will have used an element of gamification in our real lives to either achieve a goal ourselves, or help someone else to gee up and get going.

For example, you might have motivated yourself at work or in the gym to try and beat your own record. Or if you've got kids, you've probably used gamification for everything from getting them to brush their teeth to getting them ready for school.

Using achievements, rewards, and competition, the theory holds that workers become more engaged and motivated to complete tasks. This process of transforming tasks into a game increases employee engagement through active participation and interaction with the work.

In essence, gamification in the workplace takes the fun and addicting aspects of games and applies them to the world of work.

There’s a lot to consider, though. You also have to be mindful of common pitfalls like game mechanics that favor extroverts over introverts, or that incentivize short-term wins at the cost of long-term growth. But you don’t have to learn to gamify your workplace by trial and error. There are cheat sheets for workplace gamification—case studies from Harvard Business School, the Australian Institute of Management, and more to inform and inspire your efforts. 

While it might be tempting to just put a leaderboard up on the wall and say "first to 100 sales gets an Amazon voucher", there are some things to bear in mind before you implement gamification in the workplace.

A good gamification strategy requires creativity, careful planning, and a solid understanding of your employees and what motivates them. It can also be a great way to reinforce on-the-job training, helping employees absorb information through interactive challenges and real-time feedback.

For example, what works for a sales team at a software firm, might not work so well for a front of house team in a hospitality setting.

You'll need to identify the key behaviors you want to encourage. Is it more sales? Is it better feedback or reviews? Or is it just to get them to love their job, or at least look like they do...?

With this in mind, you'll need to identify how you can encourage this behavior, and then devise a game element that brings out the required result. Then, of course, you'll need to work out how this is integrated into the work process effectively.

Here are some of the most common gamification techniques:

Point Systems: Point systems are a popular gamification technique allowing employees to earn points for tasks or behaviors. These points can then be exchanged for rewards.

Levels and Badges: Similar to a video game, employees can level up or earn badges by accomplishing tasks, hitting milestones, or demonstrating specific behaviors.

Competitions: Provide challenges or goals that employees can compete to achieve. This fosters friendly competition and can be a substantial motivator.

Team Rewards: By leveraging the group mentality, offering rewards to the top performing teams can be a good way to boost both employee morale but also team building.

Mystery Shopping: The mystery shopper has been a useful tool for retail and hospitality teams for years. But you can also use the power of the anonymous analyzer to keep teams on their toes in any industry.

Office Rewards: You don't have to reward individual employees. Make sure everyone works toward that common goal by offering a Pizza Friday or Late Start Monday if the team meets their target.

How to keep track of results with your gamification program

Keeping track of the scores or results is a good way to make sure your gamification program is transparent and fair. This means displaying scores or wins in a clear manner so that the team can see, thus encouraging employees to focus on the goals.

Perhaps the simplest method of keeping track of results of your gamification strategy is putting the running tally of winners on the office notice board.

In a small office, this is the most likely solution and is easy to implement.

Simply update the score on the board, and presto!

While a traditional whiteboard with a running score can be a useful method to view and visualize the results, using a digital display means you can keep everyone updated, wherever they are in the office. This will also be the best option for those managing multiple locations.

Using in office digital signage or displays is an accessible and visible scoreboard. Plus there are no risks of sneaky tactics (adding an extra number when no-one is looking, or rubbing out someone else's score).

ScreenCloud apps such as AwardCo allow you to display employee recognition and feedback.

You can also integrate data based apps from the ScreenCloud app store such as:

Adding the details of the ongoing competition to the company intranet or an online scoreboard is another common method of keeping track.

Using simple processes such as spreadsheets (read only of course) is one simple way to do this.

However, there are also options to use made for purpose score-keeping sites such as Score Count or Keep the Score.

Is gamification in the workplace effective?

Research suggests that gamification in the workplace is indeed effective. According to a report by Gartner, gamified solutions are set to be adopted by as many as 85% of companies by 2025, mainly due to its success in boosting employee engagement and productivity.

Another study of gamification in an education setting, published in the Journal of Integrated Design Research, showed that gamification can improve collaborative thinking, improves trust between participants and, perhaps most obviously, conveys a sense of fun as part of the process.

In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth of What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink, the author examines how the old fashioned carrot and stick motivation method doesn't work. Instead, he proposes that people prefer to feel like they are autonomous, and in control of their own lives. But they are also driven by the quest for success, and are open to improving through skill development and personal growth.

In short, by motivating employees through gamification techniques, companies can foster a more engaging and efficient work environment that promotes continued growth.

And of course, this can improve not only overall productivity, but team spirit and employee satisfaction.

Workplace gamification research: Do and don’ts

Back in 2010, when “gamification” became a corporate buzzword practically overnight, academics and organizational psychologists worried about “turning Monopoly into monotony.” But well over a decade later, research seems to indicate that gamifying your office is a smart, sustainable idea.

In one 2016 meta-analytic study, researchers found that games often motivate players because they provide autonomy, a chance to improve their skills, and a sense of public recognition—all things that can be easily tied to work. 

Gamification is especially effective for work-related tasks that require learning and knowledge retention. Game elements like challenges, levels, and rewards in-office training programs create a strong extrinsic motivation for learners to compete with other learners. Intrinsically, we enjoy overcoming challenges, developing new skills, and progressing within a game-like environment—even if that environment is in the workplace. 

Whether it’s a profile badge for clearing a certain number of support tickets in a month or a leaderboard that shows weekly sales figures, surveys show that workplace gamification handled well increases job satisfaction and reduces boredom. One survey found that 89% of respondents reported that gamification made them more productive and happier at work.  

Of course, poorly designed gamification could actually increase stress or motivate bad behavior, doing more harm than good.  Employees might worry that a low ranking or “score” will affect their performance review. Or they might cut corners and submit shoddy work because they want the reward or recognition more than doing the right thing. You need to be thoughtful about how you introduce workplace gamification.

How to design engaging and motivating workplace gamification

You can’t just throw together an automated leaderboard, display it on an office TV for everyone to see, and call it a day. Instead, set aside one to two hours per day for about a month to plan and set up your gamification framework. That gives time to brainstorm, troubleshoot, and iterate. Here are some things to keep in mind as you go: 

1. Start with small, specific, and measurable goals

Considering trialing a modest, black-and-white objective first. “Boost employee professional development” is vague and likely too ambitious for a first try. Instead, start with something like, “Get 75% of the team certified on HubSpot’s Marketing Software.” You wouldn’t even need to track progress manually – HubSpot does it for you!

2. Involve employees in the design process

If your initial trial is well received, start asking your employees what types of games they like. Use that info to think about the mechanics, challenges, and recognition they enjoy the most. Then involve your team in the planning, setup, and management process to increase buy-in.

Let’s say your support agents want to add badges or trophies to their email signatures (e.g., 🏆 5k+ Highly-Rated Answers) to give their ticket responses more authority. Ask them to suggest how it could be implemented and maintained, and theoretically, all you need to help with is executive approval, budget, and arranging technical support.

Notice that in the support badges example, the metric wasn’t “5k Tickets Closed.” Because that’s not really what you want, is it? Agents could look for the easiest tickets or respond with vague and unhelpful advice to quickly get their completion number up. 

That’s why it’s important to carve out some time to play the devil’s advocate, trying to think of all the ways someone could win without embodying the ideal you’re striving for. Ask yourself: “How can I reward the quality of work rather than the quantity?” Or, “How can I incentivize collaboration and teamwork while still recognizing high-performing individuals?”

Remember, active engagement is the name of the game. Without progress tracking and milestones, employees will quickly lose steam, feeling like they aren’t moving ahead. But if they’re reaching a new level every few weeks, you tap into the natural desire for improvement and advancement. If you can, create a visual representation that shows employees how far they’ve come, recognizing and positively reinforcing their efforts.

A recent study by a research team at University College London concluded that “Content on a digital signage display is more likely to be acknowledged, understood, and retained.” So if you want employees to be thinking about gamification on a daily basis, put it up on a large screen in a communal space. Other studies have found that high-contrasting colors, shapes with sharp edges, and animations (in moderation) all increase positive engagement with visual media. 

If you’re smart about implementing gamification, employees will be happier at work and perform better. And your business will grow. So you better be able to scale up your gamification program easily. Most importantly, you should be tracking KPIs that don’t require manual data aggregation. Use automation workflow tools like Zapier, Make.com, and Power Automate to update your gamification dashboards and announcements automatically.

7. Gather ongoing employee feedback on gamification

Just because employees were excited when you first announced friendly competitions doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way. You should be constantly monitoring participation rates, employee satisfaction, and the impact gamification has on productivity and performance. Use this data to identify areas of improvement and fine-tune your gamification strategy accordingly. 

And just like non-work games, sometimes, no amount of new content or visual upgrades can keep people engaged. If that’s the case, don’t hesitate to scrap the game and head back to the drawing board to create a new one.

Current gamification trends in and out of the workplace

So, let's talk numbers. In 2020, the global gamification market was valued at over $9.1 billion. But in the next couple of years, it’s projected to triple.

Specifically, North America accounts for the largest segment of the global gamification market, and most experts expect that trend to continue. But zooming out, almost 90% of businesses will likely adopt some form of gamification over the next several years, with the majority of them labeling it as a top priority.

All of this is based on results. Over half of new hires are more productive after completing gamified training programs, performing better than their non-gamified counterparts. And in terms of business performance, gamification is growing in popularity as a tool for winning new customers – and keeping them happy. And let's not forget the data. OptinMonster found that 93% of marketers said they “love” gamification because it’s more interactive, attention-grabbing, and likely to convert visitors.

The appeal of gamification isn't slowing down any time soon. Looking forward to the next few years, expect to see more businesses adopting mobile-first gamification campaigns. It's all about catering to the needs of the modern learner: fast, flexible, and fun.

Whether you're aiming to generate more employee engagement in specific processes, add fun to the workplace, make a training course less boring, or looking for ways to boost employee morale, gamification can offer some fun and effective solutions.

Use ScreenCloud to display leaderboards, announcements and even interactive elements.

Whatever your business goals, find out how ScreenCloud can help. Sign up for a free demo today.

Gamification adds a game based element to work focused processes. From beating sales targets, to team building exercises or as part of employee training.

Gamification in the workplace: The what, why and how

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Gamification in the workplace: The what, why and how

Gamification in the workplace: The what, why and how

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