Understanding Gamification and Its Benefits

In the rapidly changing digital world of today, gamification has taken over traditional business practice and is now a core strategy used by organizations. Gamification is a form of digital marketing that focuses on providing an engaging experience for customers and enhancing organizational functions. It is a highly effective strategy because it helps businesses identify and target their audience and significantly increases customer retention. Companies that embrace gamification have a better understanding of their customers, are more responsive to their needs, and find new ways to increase profit.

Gamification is a general term that describes the strategic approach to improving internal systems, processes, and actions in order for the company to generate similar positive experiences when playing online games themselves in hopes of motivate and encourage customers and employees to participate. The original meaning of gamification refers to the use of dice in gambling, hence the familiar dice play mechanics found in many old casino games, but today the broader meaning of the concept has widened to include non-game activities, employee engagement, and even website navigation and interactions. Below are a few examples of how it can be applied in different parts of an organization.

Non-gamification terms that fall under the gamification definition include participation, involvement, motivation, and reward. The idea behind these concepts is that the more you can do something without having to actively think about it, the more likely you are to get the desired result or feeling from it. For example, you may want to increase engagement in the workplace because you’re trying to improve employee satisfaction, and gamification describes the way you can make engagement a game format so employees will want to participate in the company’s work process and benefit from the company’s effort.

Employee engagement is important because it ties into your overall business goals. By developing employee recognition and motivation, you can increase productivity, shorten turnaround times, and boost employee retention. However, in non-traditional workplaces, the goals tend to be much less specific, which makes it harder to measure things like attendance and participation. Gamification however can help identify those game elements that will help you improve business outcomes.

The best example of this concept in action is at the workplace level. In an office environment, the goal might be to improve workplace morale and engagement. Perhaps the most common mechanics of this strategy is to add challenge to tasks through presenting obstacles that have nothing to do with the main goals of the day. For example, there could be a particular task, such as filing, that most workers dread. However, if the goal of the day is to improve workplace productivity and reduce paperwork, presenting a series of problems that must be overcome throughout the day provides the element of difficulty that encourages employees to push through and complete the task.

Gamification at the workplace can also involve creating challenges that will encourage participants to engage with ideas, materials, and information. Consider an administrative assistant who needs to write up an essay for a class project. However, there is no clear, definitive goal for completing the assignment. Rather than just a goal, the focus on this particular task should be to encourage the participant to engage with the assignment, learn as much as possible, and provide feedback and suggestions as needed.

While some gamification strategies focus more on challenge and goal-setting elements, others are more concerned with engagement. When considering whether to add game elements to an existing work environment, always consider whether these objectives are realistic, whether they align with current objectives, and how they can improve business. If your workplace already has a number of goals and objectives, then incorporating some new ones can be incredibly beneficial. However, if you are developing a brand new workplace culture, then it is important to determine how existing game elements can enhance this process and contribute to greater engagement and productivity.

Gamification involves not only mechanics but also game dynamics and rewards. The key to improving business goals is identifying the right balance of mechanics and rewards. By paying close attention to how the mechanics of the game drive the outcomes, you can use these features as a medium to encourage participation and commitment from employees. This may include games that require tasks to be completed in a specific order, multiple answers to one question, or even games that have a time limit to accomplish the objective.