6 Gamification Strategy Tips for Your Business

Gamification strategy applies to more than just games and applications, and it can be used in corporations to improve employee engagement, marketing measures, and so much more.

Humans adore games, from little kids to adults. We all instinctively are lured to the prospect of receiving a reward for an action. In a product-centric world, especially with applications and games, gamification is critical to keep users engaged and continue using the product.

Gamification techniques likewise have applications for business tools and processes. They can be used in a professional environment in order to get people interested and improve user engagement.

Gamification In Business Definition

Gamification is the approach of incentivising peoples’ engagement and movements to drive outcomes with game-like mechanics. Gamification in business can motivate employees to complete activities that drive sales, leads, and elicit more discussions with qualified candidates in a corporation.

What Is A Gamification Strategy?

A gamification strategy is a method of taking something that already exists – like a software application or online community – and utilising gaming techniques to encourage consistent participation and long-term engagement.

Gamification in the workplace is not a precise game. Rather, it focuses on the mechanics of how gaming actually functions. This helps create a simple path for employees to view their advancement and build continued engagement within their firm.

High engagement signifies triumph for both your organization and the client.

Top 6 Gamification Strategies for Businesses

There are limitations, however, and going too far with gamification strategies can lead to negative results and impact business objectives. Let’s look at what works with using gamification in the workplace vs. what doesn’t.

1. Take the long view

Regardless of what you’re trying to gamify, you must take the long view. It’s precise to get people riled up — but in any group of people — there will be those that enjoy competition and those that do not.

One of the top things to sidestep regarding gamification in the workplace is going too in-depth prematurely. Make sure that whatever you do is suitable for the audience and not merely be a ‘one-and-done’ agenda.

A common early initiative is to use game-based products or solution in learning and development. Having some gamified solutions allows employees to get a feel for gamification from an individual standpoint. Once comfort has been established, it can be translated into larger initiatives.

2. Don’t over-emphasise rewards

Thinking that people will only partake in your program if the rewards are significant and dazzling, is an erroneous belief.

The best corporate gamification programs are about the competition itself. The problem with big rewards is twofold:

• You can’t keep high budget rewards over the long term.
• It often constructs false incentives (people end up cutting junctions and doing things you don’t want them to be doing, just for the victory).

3. Create a level playing field

When we assist our clients in gamifying their employee advocacy programs, we support sharing the scoring framework with their users.

This enables everyone to understand how the game works, the goal, and ultimately, succeed.

Of course, gamification for business should always be about some larger objective (e.g., opportunities, driving new leads, increasing brand approach, etc.).

Having the game’s regulations out in the open helps everyone experience, regardless of who wins.

4. Don’t just honour the top performer

You’re all champions! No, but really, performance should be reckoned in alignment with individuals’ participation.

If 90% of your participants are wholly engaged in your program, that’s a huge success, regardless of whether the top 10% conducts most of the results.

Gamification in business is about the unity of the team. Yes, it would help if you indeed rewarded your very top performer, but a word of caution: be mindful of citing your participators as well. If you don’t, you’ll likely see a significant drop off in engagement.

5. Creative rewards.

There’s a pretty clear distinction between those that perform vs those that don’t. Prizes and other material rewards unrelated to your business (e.g., a gift certificate, an iPod, etc.) aren’t really that practical, as you are running a competition for experts in a corporate environment.

The best gamification rewards we’ve seen are those that are associated with professional recognition and progress: a LinkedIn suggestion from a VP, a shout-out at an all-hands meeting, an invitation to guest blog on the company blog, etc.

Note these gratuities are also low/no-cost and bond the gamification back to the business as a whole, which is very essential.

6. Track and Report

 What’s the saying: if it doesn’t get tracked, it doesn’t exist? That certainly goes for gamification programs.

Tracking is vital for several reasons:

• It enables the participants to know where they stand and how to improve.
• It enables the program leader to comprehend if the program is driving the business objectives you set out.

We suggest putting solutions in place like some of the products we offer in eVULX, which allows you to utilise digital learning game-based solutions that emphasize tracking, monitoring and digital debriefs.

Conclusion

Hopefully, these facts and learnings can assist you to think about how to manage better and implement relevant gamification strategies and programs at your company. It’s always more fun when there’s some contest and competitive spirit involved. However, it’s crucial to be careful and be calculated in your approach.

Contact us if you have any other thoughts or inquiries about gamification for business or how some of this may involve something you’re assuming for your company. We’d be happy to chat.