Integrating Gamification in Employee Engagement Platforms

Employee engagement platforms are fantastic for keeping everyone connected and in sync.

In this article, we will discuss how adding gamification to your employee management platform can benefit your business even more. Plus, we will show you how to implement it and give you five strategies to make the entire process a success.

Integrating Gamification In Employee Engagement Platforms

Integrating gamification in employee engagement software means adding game-like elements into the software to motivate and engage employees. This integration includes features like points, badges, leaderboards, challenges, and rewards.

These elements make routine tasks more enjoyable and create a sense of competition and achievement among employees. The goal is to increase user interaction with the software and improve overall engagement and participation in organizational activities and goals.

Three Key Elements Of Gamification in Employee Engagement Platforms

Gamification has proven to increase employee engagement by 48%. But what makes it so effective? Let’s look at three main elements.

1. Mechanics

These define the rules of the game within the platform. Here are the examples:

• Points: A basic scoring system that rewards desired behaviors and achievements.
• Badges: Virtual awards for accomplishments or milestones.
• Leaderboards: Public rankings for top performers.
• Challenges: Time-bound tasks or goals that improve participation and focus.
• Progress bars: Visual trackers showing an employee's progress toward a goal.

2. Dynamics

Dynamics focus on how mechanics interact and affect player behavior.

• Progression: The feeling of moving forward and achieving milestones through points, levels, or badges.
• Competition: Healthy rivalry between individuals or teams on leaderboards or challenges.
• Feedback: Employees need to see the results of their actions, both positive (e.g., points) and constructive (e.g., employee feedback on challenges).
• Rewards: Tangible or intangible benefits for achieving goals.

3. Aesthetics

This element focuses on the visual design and user experience the employee engagement platform features allow.

• ‍Visually Appealing Interface: A user-friendly and attractive design that encourages interaction.
• Clear Progress Indicators: Progress bars, points displays, and level indicators that show users their progress.
• Customization Options: Options for users to personalize their experience with avatars or themes.
• Engaging Feedback: Using sounds or animations to acknowledge achievements.
• Storytelling Elements: Adding a narrative to tasks or challenges to make them more engaging.

How To Implement Gamification In Employee Engagement Platforms: An 8-Step Process

Considering that 95% of employees prefer companies that use gamification, there is no doubt that integrating it into your employee engagement platform is a smart move. Here's how to do it the right way.

Step 1: Define Goals & Target Behaviors

• Start by defining clear goals for your gamification strategy. Know what you want your employees to achieve. Increased sales? Faster onboarding for new hires? Improved customer service ratings? Define them clearly.
• Don't gamify for gamification's sake. Make sure your goals tie back to your company's overall strategy. For example, if your major objective is improving customer satisfaction, target completing customer service training, or exceeding positive customer review thresholds.
• Set measurable criteria for behaviors. For instance, you can aim for a 20% increase in survey participation or a 15% boost in training completion rates.
• Assign points to these target behaviors. Think about the effort involved and the impact on your goals. Completing a short survey might be worth five points while finishing a training course could earn 20 points.

Step 2. Understand Employee Preferences

• Not everyone loves a leaderboard, so talk to your employees. Employee engagement surveys and informal discussions can help you understand what motivates them.
• Design your gamification elements based on what your workforce wants. If competition is a turn-off, focus on individual achievements with badges or milestone rewards. For a team-driven environment, create team leaderboards and collaborative challenges.
• Offer different rewards for different preferences. Think beyond just gift cards. Maybe employees would value extra vacation days, time off for volunteering, or the chance to work on a passion project.

Step 3. Choose Appropriate Gamification Elements

• Badges and levels are classic motivators. Award badges for completing tasks or reaching milestones. Unlock higher levels with increased points or achievements. Think about how these elements fit your company culture. Fun and quirky badges with original award titles can be a great fit for a casual workplace while more professional designs suit a formal environment.
• Leaderboards can be a powerful motivator but use them with caution. If your workforce is shy or not competitive, they can backfire. Consider offering individual and team leaderboards for different preferences. Make sure leaderboards are updated frequently to keep things exciting.
• People love seeing how far they have come. Add progress bars to visualize point accumulation towards goals or badges. Regular status updates keep employees engaged and informed about their standing.

Step 4. Choose Engaging Game Mechanics

• The points system is the foundation of gamification. Assign points to target behaviors you defined in step 1. Keep it simple and easy to understand. Employees should know exactly how to earn points and track their progress.
• Short-term challenges add bursts of excitement. Design challenges that match your goals and require collaboration or individual effort. For example, a challenge could be to complete a training module within a certain timeframe.
• Quests and missions can add a narrative element to your gamification strategy. Create quests that require employees to complete a series of tasks. For example, a quest could be to complete five different training sessions in six months. Missions can be tied to larger company objectives to make them more meaningful.

Step 5. Design A Rewarding System

• Create tiers of rewards. This keeps high performers motivated and gives everyone something to strive for. For instance, 50 points might earn a gift card, while 200 points might earn a day off. Make sure the rewards system aligns with your overall employee engagement strategy.
• Balance long-term rewards with smaller, immediate ones. Employees appreciate getting something for their efforts right away. Think about awarding bonus points for completing daily tasks or offering small redeemable rewards for reaching mini-milestones.
• Cash isn't always king. Offer non-monetary rewards for different preferences. Think about including:

• Extra vacation days, flexible work schedules, or even a chance to work from home.
• Access to online courses, certifications, or conference attendance.
• Public shout-outs, features on company newsletters, or reserved parking spots.
• Tickets to local events, team lunches, or volunteering opportunities.

Step 6. Integrate With Existing System

• Choose a gamification tool that is compatible with your current employee engagement software platform. Many gamification tools can easily integrate with any popular employee engagement solution.
• Work with your IT team to integrate the gamification tool. They can help ensure that data flows smoothly between the systems. Pay special attention to syncing employee data, performance metrics, and engagement activities.
• Set up automated processes to update and manage the gamification elements. It will reduce the manual effort and keep the gamification process consistent.
• Provide training sessions to familiarize employees with the new features. Create detailed tutorials and guides to show them how to earn points and track their progress.
• Make sure your employee experience platform captures employee feedback on the gamification program. This lets you refine your approach and keep it fresh and engaging over time.
• Most employees will access the platforms on their smartphones. Make sure your platform is mobile-friendly and loads quickly. Remember, 53% of users abandon platforms that take longer than three seconds to load.

Step 7. Pilot Test and Refine

• Don't roll out your gamification program company-wide right away. Select a small group of employees to participate in the pilot test. Include people from different departments and roles within your organization.
• Define the scope of the pilot test and decide on the specific gamification features you will test. Clearly outline the objectives and duration of the pilot test.
• Communicate with the participants about the pilot test – purpose, duration, and what is expected of them. Provide them with all the necessary information to engage with the employee engagement tool effectively.
• Actively gather feedback from your pilot group. Are the points balanced? Are the rewards desirable? Is it clear how to earn points and track progress? Use this feedback to refine your program before the launch.
• Once you have refined your program based on pilot testing, consider a soft launch to a wider group. This lets you further adjust before a full company rollout.

Step 8. Track and Analyze Results

• Identify the KPIs to measure the success of the gamification initiative. These could be engagement rates, task completion rates, employee satisfaction scores, and employee retention rates.
• Regularly review the collected data. Look for trends and patterns that show the effectiveness of the gamification elements.
• Most importantly, track how your gamification program impacts your original goals. Did increased points earned in a sales training challenge cause a rise in sales figures? Did participation in team-based challenges improve collaboration scores?
• Use this data to identify areas that need further refinement. Continuous analysis helps you spot issues early and make necessary adjustments.

6 Benefits Of Gamification in Employee Engagement Platforms

Companies using gamification are seven times more profitable than those that don't. Here are six more ways adding gamification to your employee engagement programs can benefit you.

1. Promotes Goal-Oriented Behaviors

Employee engagement platforms are fantastic for setting goals, but sometimes that can feel overwhelming. Gamification injects a healthy dose of competition and accomplishment.

Think about it – completing a sales training module earns points, which go towards a badge or a higher position on the leaderboard.

Suddenly, that training module becomes less of a chore and more like achieving a mini-victory within the game. This keeps employees engaged in the process and motivates them to consistently chip away at the bigger goals.

2. Improves Motivation & Productivity

Gamification makes 90% of employees more productive. It taps into that human desire to strive for achievement and recognition. Seeing their name climb the leaderboard or receiving a badge for completing a task gives employees a sense of accomplishment.

This positive reinforcement fuels motivation and keeps them engaged in their work. Plus, gamified tasks can feel less like work and more like a fun challenge. Employees become more focused and efficient as they race to earn points or complete challenges.

The result is a more productive workforce that consistently delivers high-quality results.

3. Strengthens Company Culture

Gamification creates a more collaborative and supportive work environment. Team-based challenges encourage employees to work together towards a common goal. Public recognition through leaderboards or badges creates a sense of healthy competition.

Imagine for a moment – a customer service team has a challenge for the most positive customer reviews in a week. This friendly competition pushes individual performance and also gets the team working together to share best practices and support each other.

Gamification also breaks down silos between departments. Imagine a gamified system where your marketing and sales teams earn points together for exceeding lead generation targets. These cross-functional challenges encourage collaboration and open communication between different teams.

4. Boosts Employee Happiness and Satisfaction

The sense of accomplishment that comes from earning badges or climbing the leaderboard creates a positive reinforcement loop. Employees feel recognized for their contributions and motivated to keep striving for more.

Plus, gamified tasks can feel less monotonous and more like fun challenges. This adds a dose of excitement and enjoyment to the workday, boosting overall employee satisfaction and happiness.

Plus because of gamification, 69% of workers are more likely to stay for over 3 years. This employee retention reduces turnover costs and creates a win-win situation for both your employees and your company.

5. Increases Knowledge Retention

Traditional training can feel dry and forgettable. Gamification adds interactivity and challenge that makes learning more engaging. The active participation and the element of challenge solidify knowledge in their minds much better than passively sitting through a lecture.

Think about it - wouldn't you remember the details of a new software feature better if you earned a badge for mastering it through a gamified challenge? Similarly, employees will retain key information better when it is presented in a challenging and engaging way.

Plus, with 60% of people wanting personalized content, you can customize challenges and rewards to individual preferences and skill levels. This makes the learning experience more relevant and motivating for each participant.

6. Improves Brand Advocacy

Happy and engaged employees are your biggest brand advocates. Gamification creates that positive association with your company culture and brand. Imagine your employees excitedly sharing their accomplishments or badges on their social media accounts – it is a free brand promotion with genuine employee enthusiasm.

Employees who actively participate in these gamified activities become more concerned about the company's reputation. They will naturally want to see the brand succeed and their enthusiasm becomes contagious. Every employee who shares becomes a micro-influencer, promoting your brand to their networks and attracting potential customers and top talent.

5 Proven Gamification Strategies For Employee Engagement

Over 70% of gamification projects failed because they weren't applied properly or weren't engaging enough. Here are five strategies to make sure you are not part of that statistic.

1. Consider Team vs Individual Leaderboards

Leaderboards are a gamification staple but the key is choosing the right format to fit your goals. Individual leaderboards can motivate high performers to push their limits and rack up points. But when it comes to building a strong team spirit, consider incorporating team-based leaderboards.

Here's how it works: create leaderboards that track the collective achievements of your departments or cross-functional teams. This could be anything from exceeding sales targets to resolving customer issues with a high satisfaction rating.

Every time a team member completes a task related to the KPI, points are added to the team's overall score and shown on the leaderboard. This strengthens team bonds and creates a "we're in this together" mentality that benefits your entire organization.

However, this strategy is not universally applicable. It might not be ideal for tech startups that have individualistic cultures and prioritize innovation over structure. Similarly, it won’t work for creative agencies that value artistic freedom over standardized metrics.

So analyze your company culture to see if this strategy matches your employee values and work style. Always choose strategies that complement, not contradict, your existing dynamics.

2. Add Storytelling & Role-Playing For Emotional Connection

Gamification isn't just about points and badges. It creates a deeper emotional connection with employees and makes learning more engaging. You can create a storyline within your platform. Your employees become part of a fictional task force tasked with conquering a specific challenge, like launching a new product line.

Through role-playing, they take on specific roles within the narrative. Completing training modules becomes part of their mission, and the challenges they overcome earn them virtual rewards that add to the overall team's success within the storyline.

This lets you tap into the natural desire to be part of something bigger and contribute to a shared narrative. It makes learning and development more engaging, and employees emotionally connect to the platform's story.

3. Incorporate Social Recognition Elements

Employee recognition is the foundation of a happy and motivated workforce and gamification can amplify its impact. You can add a "shoutout" feature to your platform. When an employee goes above and beyond, a colleague can give them a virtual "high five" or a "team player" badge right on the platform.

These badges would be displayed on employee profiles and a company feed within the platform, visible to everyone. The "like" and "comment" functions on these virtual awards create a social element. Employees can congratulate their peers and celebrate each other's successes.

When employees see their colleagues recognized for their achievements, it inspires them to strive for excellence as well.

4. Organize Trivia Competitions To Test Employees' Knowledge

You can create weekly or monthly trivia challenges based on company policies, product knowledge, or industry trends. Employees can participate individually or team up for a friendly competition.

Each competition can have multiple-choice questions delivered in a fun and interactive format. Correct answers earn points that contribute to the individual or team's leaderboard ranking. This way, employees will revisit training modules and retain information if they are having a good time testing their knowledge.

While trivia can be a fun strategy, it is not the best fit for every company. For instance, industries that are manual labor-intensive might not see the relevance of gamified trivia competitions to their employees' daily work.

Similarly, companies with an older demographic may go for more traditional methods of training and engagement.

But HR tech businesses like Prosple make a perfect case for using gamification in trivia. Much of their team is made up of Gen Z members who create career resources for graduate students. To stay current with industry knowledge and trends, they need to be constantly learning.

Growing up with technology, Prosple’s Gen Z workforce will be more comfortable with learning through interactive experiences. Trivia gamification can help them fill in the knowledge gaps and retain and update the information much more easily.

So always understand your workforce and their specific roles. What works for one team might not work for another.

5 Surprise and Delight with Mystery Rewards

Predictability can get boring. But through mystery employee rewards, you can add an element of surprise and delight to your employee engagement platform.

Here’s how: Employees can earn routine points and badges through various activities. But some of these points can unlock "mystery reward" boxes.

These virtual boxes contain hidden rewards – extra vacation days, gift vouchers, or a free lunch on the company. The key is to offer a variety of rewards for different preferences. This element of surprise keeps things fresh and exciting and increases overall engagement with your platform.

Conclusion

No doubt integrating gamification in employee engagement platforms can create a positive ripple effect throughout the organization. But remember, gamification should be a tool, not a replacement for strong company culture and clear communication.

Make sure the rewards are meaningful and goals are well-defined to maintain employee buy-in.