Spice up your employee engagement with gamification

As the world has shifted to a primarily remote workforce, employee engagement and motivation has never been such a top priority. By focusing on creating the optimal employee experience, organizations position their employees to bring their A-game more often. Engaged employees are more productive, achieve better performance, and provide better customer service - and who doesn’t want that? 

Gamification has become an increasingly popular approach to employee engagement and performance. According to a 2019 TalentLMS survey, 89% of employees whose companies use gamification techniques report feeling more productive at work. An additional 86% of employees feel happy. So we know that gamification translates into more engaged, productive, and happy employees - but what does gamification really mean? And what does it look like in practice? 

Related Article: Can gamification motivate your employees?

As the term suggests, gamification is simply the introduction of game mechanics and techniques to motivate the target behaviors. What separates gamification from other engagement strategies is that it works on a psychological level - tapping into our natural drive for feedback, instant gratification, and a sense of social belonging. This is also known as accessing our brains “motivation engine”. When we are rewarded or recognized, a rush of dopamine is released leaving us with a sense of accomplishment. Quite literally, your employees are already wired to be responsive to gamification. 

The technique can be exemplified through a variety of elements such as scoring, badges, awards, or points. While it isn’t exactly playing Nintendo at work, the idea remains the same - add some friendly competition, and things get more exciting. So exciting, in fact, that 83% of employees whose training involves gamification aspects feel motivated.

Gamifying a work environment is beneficial to employees and managers alike. Gamification improves feedback, transparency, and communication - all important contributing aspects to employee performance. It can also be used as a fun spin on traditionally mundane business activities like recruitment or employee onboarding. While gamification strategies and use may differ among organizations, it’s clearly a more effective and innovative approach compared to traditional methods. 

Related Article: Customize your rewards and recognition program with Qarrot 

Qarrot’s approach to gamification 

As part of our rewards and recognition program, Qarrot enables peer-to-peer recognition using a variety of game-based elements. By incorporating these gamification features into your engagement strategy, employees can motivate each other while working towards both individual and team goals.   

Leaderboard

The leaderboard is an easy and convenient feature that enables users to view the rankings of colleagues based on the number of points and badges earned. Employees can access the leaderboard from the home section and choose from a variety of filters in which to view rankings. 

Points

Points are a ‘rewards currency’ that managers, employees, or both can include when sending recognitions and can be redeemed for a variety of rewards in the Qarrot catalog. Employees are issued a monthly point budget which they can use to recognize and celebrate coworkers. Users can view their points budgets and transaction history through their Qarrot profile. 

Badges

Badges are the metaphorical swag employees are awarded as part of a recognition when they exhibit desirable behaviors, hit milestones, or reach objectives. They can be customized to reflect your company's unique core values and culture. Team members can view each others' badges by clicking on their colleagues' avatar. 

Incentive Campaigns

Whether you’re looking to increase deals closed or promote employee development, Qarrot incentive campaigns are a great way to motivate employees to achieve results. Your team members can partake in some friendly competition while simultaneously reinforcing company values, accomplishing goals, and strengthening teamwork skills.

Discover how your team can benefit from gamification - request a demo with Qarrot!