For the week 10 activity we were required to share our
thoughts on how gamification could be a useful concept in the type of
organization we hope to work in after university. According to Lithium (2011), gamification is
the use of game attributes to drive game-like player behavior in a non-game
context. Therefore, using methods of gamification can provide the mechanics to
supply an environment of participation. A good example of gamification is that credit
card and online companies have been using the concept of gamification for many
years to entice their customers to earn rewards through their products and
services. This can be seen with passengers earning points for every flight they
arrange in hopes for gaining enough points to earn free flights.
Gamification can be a useful concept in the future
organization I work in if the organization can learn to:
- Customize
- Recognize and Reward
- Keep Employee Branding Fresh
- Making it Fun
- Support the Brand
This means that the organization
must allow gamification techniques to reflect its culture, mission and practices.
The key is to create and improve the loyalty and performance of employees to
help the organization move towards its goals. Additionally, when employees
perform well with the gamification they must be rewarded well and recognized
for their achievements with rewards that represents career advancement, money,
real recognition and/or meaningful goods. Keeping the employer branding fresh
means that employees should be engaged with what the gamification provides.
With this said, there should be upgrades and enhancements for the program to
keep the concept interesting.
Companies should utilize
gamification to yield undeniable employee engagement and human resource
results. With gamification, employees feel engaged as they feel that they must
be in it to win it. Moreover, the idea of adding gamification to the workplace
introduces entertainment and changes the behavior for employees for the better.
References
Lithium. (2011). What is gamification really. Retrieved from
http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/science-of-social-blog/What-is-Gamification-Really/ba-p/30447.
Great ideas! I would love to work in a place where I can win things. My only concern is with different personality types and over competitiveness (no I don't mean me) ;)
ReplyDeleteCheers for that Anita. I guess the over competitiveness will drive employees to be more productive. I'm sure that HR can assist or intervene in case some workers get too competive. Additionally if different types of rewards are offered, maybe workers with different personality types can all be satisfied!
DeleteAn interesting read in the context of organisations, Yaw! I was just wondering what you meant by "keeping employee/employer brand fresh"? The diagram helps and I can see how gamification could be applied to targeted business activities. I think small, short-term targets would work best in this context. I can't help thinking though, if I was working in this kind of environment, there could be the potential to feel manipulated, particularly if gamification is used extensively to encourage productivity.
ReplyDeleteThank you Phoebe. Basically i mean keeping employer branding fresh as in keeping employees interested by continuing to upgrade and enhance the gamification program. also, planning ahead and making sure the gamification program has more features to keep employees engaged. Short-term targets would work best indeed as it will keep employees interested as I previously mentioned. If it is used to encourage productivity, I surely hope there will be rewards to satisfy employees for their hard-working ways and to keep them motivated!
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