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It’s not all fun and games

Software and managed services are powerful tools. They give us the advantage in work to shuttle past our competition and get our company on the right path to generate amazing customer experiences, employee engagement, and growth. But they’re tools that work in tandem with other efforts and practices.

Gamification is one way to take your employee engagement to the next level. We’ve been told for years that work isn’t supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be work. Now we’re realizing that when work is fun, more of it gets done and the results are better because employees are happy. Capitalizing on that fun means knowing our staff and what we want out of the services we use.

Gamification isn’t a miracle cure

Gamification is designed to improve morale and engagement, but it’s harder for the program to work if your staff is against it. There are some underlying reasons your employees may be failing to hit the mark and underperforming at work.

• Are your managers up to snuff? You can have a team of great, motivated employees to start only to become beleaguered by a manager that isn’t cut out for your company. Managers are there to lead teams, and if there’s a problem at the head of the team, it spells disaster for the rest of the crew.
• Are specific employees unfit for the work? Hiring great employees for your team is where it all begins, and if a few have snuck in that don’t align with your workplace culture or the work ahead of them, gamification won’t do much to help them.
• Is your culture to blame? Speaking of workplace culture, is it the best it can be? Does it hinder people from performing as well as they could? If your culture is off the mark and doesn’t align with your employees’ goals, it could lead to a disconnect.
• Are you making gamification a chore? Gamification is fun, and your employees must be on board with that. When they’re made to feel like they have to take part in the fun, then it just feels like more work. Worse, it’s work they don’t see the point of, and it will start to show in their performance.

If there’s a disconnect between the work and your employees, there’s only so much gamifying the workplace can do. Cleaning up your staff and getting them aligned with company goals is an important first step to implementing gamification that works.

Getting staff on board and using gamification to your advantage

We mentioned above that gamification can often seem like an unnecessary process if your staff doesn’t want to embrace it. The takeaway is don’t force them to engage with the program but make the program something they will enjoy. Knowing your staff and what interests them is one way to do this. When you understand how they work and what they enjoy, then you can tailor your gamification efforts to entice them to take part.

Don’t forget the fun! Games are meant to be fun, and gamifying work should mean you’re adding fun into the mix. Finding the right balance of fun that doesn’t distract too much from workflow can be a bit challenging, but when you know how your team operates, how work gets done, and how their days flow, it becomes a lot easier.

You have a goal in mind when you consider gamifying work. That goal is important and shouldn’t be forgotten when implementing new programs. You want to be sure the program is a match for your goals and that it will help you achieve them. This can be achieved easily once the goal is known by figuring out the right steps you need to take to get your employees involved and engaging more fully with your company.

All of this may seem like a challenge, but the true challenge is a lot more fun and comes when you deploy our services and pit your staff against one another. Employees will get work done faster, more efficiently, and competitively when they go head-to-head to complete tasks! At crewHu, we make work fun, and our gamification is a step in the right direction for your company!