magazine
14
Gamification
Shakespeare wrote that “All the
world’s a stage / And all the men and
women merely players.”Advocates of
gamification would agree that we’re
all players but revise the analogy to
suggest our entire world is in fact
a game. Gamification is a growing
trend. It takes elements of game
play – points, competition, levels,
recognition, rewards – and translates
them to other contexts. For many
companies, it is proving a useful tool
to support employee behaviour change
and help achieve strategic goals.
Brian Burke, an analyst at Gartner
and author of
How gamification
motivates people to do extraordinary
things
, predicted that 70% of Global
200 organisations would have at least
one gamified app by 2014. He points
out that because gamification initiatives
started in marketing departments, they
have tended to be outward-facing,
focusing on helping consumer brands
acquire new customers or strengthen
relationships with existing ones. The
next step for businesses, he suggests, is
to deploy internal gamified apps that
focus on employees in an effort to
improve performance and engagement.
This is where I believe the true
potential for gamification lies. Many
companies focus heavily on developing
their strategy but then skimp when it
comes to implementation. As a result,
a large percentage fail to realise their
strategic goals. This is not because the
strategies are unsound but because
organisations lack the right resources and
commitment to put them into practice.
This is where gamification comes into
play…
Why gamification works
Games can be addictive and engage
with our innate need to achieve. Video
games, for instance, encourage us to
compete against standards (internal
or external), solve a unique problem
or master a challenging environment.
Companies can use the addictive nature
of games to focus individuals on certain
activities and, as a result, align employee
behaviour with strategic goals.
At the same time, gamification
can help deliver behavioural change.
Managers often have every intention
of adopting a new leadership style or
improving the climate for their team, but
find it easy to fall back into old, familiar
habits. A well-designed app based on
gamification principles can keep these
behavioural changes top-of-mind,
engaging managers and providing great
personal satisfaction as they attempt to
become more effective leaders.
Play to human motives
To successfully build and deploy a
gamified app that promotes strategy
Melody Moore explains how gamification can help you
achieve strategic business goals
Play works
implementation, companies must have
a solid understanding of their strategic
objectives. Just as important, however, is
the need to understand the personal goals
of the audience that will use the app.
In the 1950s, psychologist David
McClelland came up with a theory
of motivation that explains human
behaviour through the interplay of
three social motives: the desire for
achievement, affiliation and power.
According to McClelland, the balance
and relative importance of these motives
differs from one individual to the next. For
that reason, well designed gamified apps
should appeal to all three human motives
so that there is something in the game to
engage and motivate every individual.
1
The achievement motive is aroused
by giving players a clear standard of
excellence against which to measure
their performance. Gamification apps
make players personally responsible
for outcomes and provide immediate
concrete feedback from a credible source.
Points and awards enable people to
monitor their progress and encourage
them to stick with the app and try to
improve their behaviours.
2
People who are driven primarily by
the affiliation motive have a concern
for establishing and maintaining
close personal relationships. Aspects
of gamification tools, such as social
networks, appeal to this group by
facilitating interaction with colleagues
who can provide support and
encouragement. It can be very useful in
terms of leadership development to have
people working together and supporting
each other to become better managers.
3
Finally, people for whom the power
motive appeals are concerned with having
impact and influence. Social networks,
public recognition on leader boards,
discussion groups and comment boards
built into gamification apps give these
people reassurance that their progress
and achievements are recognised by, and
having an impact on, other players.
The key is to build an app that appeals
to all three motives. If used widely,
gamification can prove an effective tool
to support strategy implementation
across an entire workforce, regardless of
how diverse it is.When smartly designed
and deployed, gamified apps make it
enjoyable for individuals to change their
behaviours and learn new skills in ways
that collectively help the organisation to
achieve its strategic goals.
Melody Moore is a Talent Consultant
at Hay Group.
Xerox has developed software that uses
avatars and gaming techniques to provide its
own call centre agents with feedback on how
they are performing.
Xerox Agent Performance Indicator Software
(Xerox API) is based on studies conducted by
researchers at the Xerox Research Centre Europe
(XRCE) which found that embedding game
dynamics in the workplace aided productivity.
It provides agents with continuous feedback
on their performance in a fun, interactive way,
using green, yellow and red colour codes to rate
performance across key indicators such as time
spent on a call and number of calls handled.
Simon Verzijl, Group
President Commercial
Xerox Services Europe, said:
“This innovative approach
to providing support and
immediate feedback to
call centre agents has been
well received, earning us
an Innovation Award from
the National Contact
Centre Association in The Netherlands where it
was first deployed. The technology encourages
collaboration and setting goals along with some
fun and healthy competition.”
Healthy competition
Melody Moore
Companies
can use the
addictive
nature of
games to focus
individuals
on certain
activities...
