Gamification in Companies: Games that generate Results!

Reading time: 08 minutes

Searching for new techniques to engage the work team can seem like a big challenge. The task requires knowing in a general way the entire Company and knowing how to align the work routine with the Business strategies. In addition, the fundamental procedure is to keep employees interested during the process and bring concrete results, aiming to maintain motivation and efficiency in the performance of employees.

Even with the rush in the work routine, it is possible to fit some techniques that influence the team’s learning and development. Learn more about this Gamification strategy, and the positive results it can generate.

Gamification: what is it?

Basically, gamification (or gamification, in English) is the use of game mechanisms in other contexts to achieve specific results and objectives. This means that a gamification action does not necessarily use only corporate games per se. It can adopt characteristics such as scoring, rules, challenges and awards to motivate the target audience.

Gamification is widely used in the educational field, as it helps students learn. And, in recent years, it has been implemented in companies of the most different sizes and segments.

The concept

You may be asking yourself: but why would games bring good results for my company?
Let’s think about human behavior in relation to games. A survey by the company Limelight with gamers from six countries showed that they spend, on average, 6 hours a week with online games. And this is just a sample of how much people are dedicated to games.

If you like games or meet people who play frequently, you know very well that the moment of the game is not just about having fun, but also concentration. Think of all the focus, persistence and energy you put into ending a game or even going through a single phase. It wouldn’t be incredible if that level of engagement also existed in your company?

This is exactly the goal of gamification in companies. With corporate games or gamified actions, you can shape behaviors and generate motivation among customers and employees. If we already have a predisposition to engage in games, why not use them to encourage this behavior in the corporate environment?
See some of the skills that games help to boost.

Focus

When we’re playing a game, whether online, board or physical activity, this is our only focus. We hardly carry out other activities while we are playing.
Our involvement with the game is so great that we dedicate an exclusive time to it. How many activities are able to arrest us in this way today?

Determination and overcoming

Anyone who has played video games or online games for sure must have had the experience of spending hours to complete a single phase. In real life, we often give up on an objective by finding too many obstacles to reach it. In games, it’s different. We tried many times, in many different ways, until we finally get to the next stage.

Motivation and engagement

It is very common to hear complaints from employees who fail to be productive due to demotivation. This does not happen in the world of games: we engage because we know exactly where we want to go. And winning a game gives us a sense of accomplishment.
Gamified actions help to set goals and motivate employees to work to achieve them.

Collaboration

In games that you play in teams or interact with other players online, collaboration is essential. Everyone helps and works together to reach the end of the game or win a competition. A team that is united and aligned under the same goals makes all the difference in a work environment.

Self-assessment and evolution

When you are having a hard time getting through a game, you think about what you are doing wrong and what you can do differently to be able to overcome yourself. This ability to self-assess their performance and look for ways to improve is fundamental for any employee.

Depending on your goal with gamified actions, several results can be achieved:

• Increased productivity and team motivation
• Improvement of the organizational climate and social relations
• More willingness and organization to work as a team
• Improvement of work routines
• Constant feedback to employees through the results of the game or action
• Expansion of brand awareness
• Increase in sales of a certain product
• Assistance in attracting customers and leads
• More engagement among consumers
• Survey of specific data on employees and customers

How can I use gamification in my company?

Now that you know what gamification can bring to your company, it’s time to stop and think about your goals. What do you want to achieve with a gamified action? How can it help improve some aspect of your business?

Remember that gamification is not just entertainment, it is a corporate strategy. Therefore, drawing up an implementation plan, with goals, monitoring and measurement of results, helps a lot to not lose sight of the true objectives of the action.

There are several ways to adopt gamification. They can be corporate games to stimulate certain skills among employees, games that help attract visitors to the website or generate leads, competitions in which the tasks performed accumulate points and generate rewards and much more.

There are companies specialized in developing games and gamified actions for organizations. But if you intend to implement this strategy on your own, remember to plan well and always be in line with your company’s values.

Gamification Example: With Employees

The steel company Gerdau created a game to help train employees’ safety. Employing virtual reality glasses, employees are placed virtually in an industrial building. The objective of the game is to identify risk situations and classify them according to their severity.

At the end of the game, employees are able to view the results and have an assessment of their performance. In the first week of implementation alone, 2,500 employees from Gerdau units in Brazil and abroad participated in the initiative.

Gamification Example: With Customers

The supermarket chains Extra and Pão de Açúcar have created an initiative in which customers need to collect stamps to exchange for gifts. For every R $ 20 in purchases, customers receive stamps and stick them on a card, as if it were a sticker album. After a certain number of stamps, the card can be exchanged for a knife (Extra) or a pan (Pão de Açúcar).

This is an initiative that is not a game in itself, but that uses game features to encourage customers to consume and accumulate the stamps. With each filled card, customers can complete their collection of knives or pans.

So, did you imagine that a simple game could generate so many results?

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