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n recent years, several companies spread across the globe have incorporated gamification as an internal work tool, in order to increase the productivity and motivation of their employees, as well as to make communication clearer and more assertive - basically, with the aim of improving the work experience. Google, Microsoft and HP are just some of the organisations that use gamification techniques in their internal management.
But, before we introduce you to some examples of how companies apply this technique, let's start with the concept. As its name implies, gamification comes from the term “game”. It is, in general terms, the implementation of game principles and mechanics in day-to-day work tasks, with the goal of transforming simple and sometimes boring or repetitive tasks into something exciting.
Thus, the use of gamification in the internal management of companies can take on different objectives, from making training more exciting to increasing productivity or encouraging communication and teamwork. It can be said that it is almost always a game where victory is guaranteed for companies.
However, to ensure good results, companies must make sure they meet certain requirements. According to Gartner, five key elements need to be secured: using game dynamics, designing a positive user experience, having good tech/digital support, ensuring extrinsic motivation and, finally, guiding the game towards clear and concrete goals.
How to introduce gamification? 5 practical examples
Microsoft is one of the big companies that use gamification from an internal perspective, that is, aimed at employees. Through the game “Language Quality”, the tech giant helps its teams to test and find mistakes in the translations of hundreds of languages of the company's software. This way, a more fun and playful one, professionals improve the accuracy of the language.
Another interesting case is that of Google, which, to encourage its employees to inform the company about their travel expenses in a timely manner, decided to gamify the process of expense record. Instead of reporting expenses, employees who have not spent all their travel allowances have several options, including receiving the remaining money along with their next pay check, saving it for future travel, or donating the funds to a charity of their choice.
On the other hand, in order to maintain the motivation of its employees and enhance training, Domino’s Pizza also adhered to gamification strategies. The “Pizza Maker” method evaluates the “players” and even offers rewards to those who master the menu and produce pizzas the fastest. This way, employees seek to improve their scores in the game and, consequently, also improve their performance in the store.
Still in the area of learning & development, the multinational Cisco created a global training program for its employees. In this program, employees are asked to develop their skills through 46 courses that are independent of each other. The training guarantees three levels of certification for the participants, as if they were medals: the specialist, the strategist and the master.
Another example that clearly shows how gamification can be used in companies today is related to meta office. An office with a digital address, but with real employees - or, better, with avatars of real employees. eXp Realty is one of the companies that has already joined this new office. The real estate company believes that this virtual space has benefited the dynamics of its team, bringing people together – even in a digital scenario – and fostering internal communication. In the eXp meta office, there are spaces for socialising, boards with useful information for employees, a space with a piano, and each country has its own “floor”. There are also rooms for meetings and for training and events. And just close the door so that, in the corridors, you can't hear anything that goes on inside the rooms. You can read about meta offices in this article we wrote recently on our blog focused on this topic.
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