Human Resources Gamified
7 min read
“You have to learn the rules of the game, and then you have to play it better than anyone else.”
-Albert Einstein
Gamification is applied to a wide range of contexts to make activities more engaging and rewarding in the business world. And it is one of the biggest HR trends of 2023.
In the realm of Human Resources, gamification can be used to improve the recruiting process, employee engagement, onboarding, training, and compliance. It can be a powerful tool for HR departments to engage and motivate employees, and to create a more positive and dynamic work environment. Workers are more satisfied with their job and workplace when they feel like they've accomplished something.
Talent Acquisition
Organizations can use gamification in HR processes to both induct the right personnel and highlight their employer brand to the pool of candidates. Mass recruitment at large corporations can become a real difficulty. Recruiters can use gamification to create challenges or simulations that allow candidates to demonstrate their skills and abilities in a more realistic and engaging way.
LEGO Brick Factor, a competition that the company runs in order to hire new master builders for its Legoland centers, is a good example. Participants have to complete a series of building challenges, and the top builder is awarded the competition prize, which includes immediate employment.
Gamification can also be used to assess candidates' problem-solving, creativity and decision-making skills, as well as their ability to work well under pressure. It can also test industry knowledge. Additionally, gamification can be used to evaluate candidates' fit with the company culture and values. And most applicants would definitely prefer to play a game rather than fill out a lengthy application form.
Real Insights into the Candidates
Some candidates may not perform well in assessments or interviews because of fear or nervousness. Additionally, HR representatives may overlook qualified applicants if they do not present their qualifications effectively through their resumes. Virtual reality simulations can assess candidates' skills and abilities without the need for in-person interviews. Asynchronous assessments can also allow candidates to complete them at their own pace.
Technical Start-ups
Employing and on-boarding talent in technical start-ups can be difficult and candidates may need several days to complete assignments. Gamification can be a useful tool. Technical simulations, games or puzzles that require candidates to solve technical problems or challenges can allow them to demonstrate their skills in a realistic and interesting way.
Online and offline quizzes, hackathons and points system are some of the implementations that are utilized the most.
Employee engagement
Even in 2021, a Microsoft report on hybrid working confirmed that things had changed for Gen Z in particular, with 60% saying they were struggling with isolation, motivation, and a lack of opportunities to network. Gamification could be a part of the solution. It can be used to increase employee engagement by making work tasks more enjoyable and rewarding. A company might create a point system for completing tasks or reaching milestones. Employees can earn points and rewards for achieving certain goals, which can provide a sense of accomplishment and motivation.
Leaderboards and competitions create a sense of friendly competition among employees. Companies might use a virtual game or app to facilitate team building activities and encourage employees to work together to solve problems. They can also use gamification to make feedback more engaging by using interactive tools and techniques such as badges, leaderboards, and polls.
For example Greene King had developed ‘Running the Pubs’ online game platform to issue challenges via the app. Sasha Jones, Kingdom Content Executive at Greene King, said: “We saw a 14% increase in log-ons the week the game launched and the week following. These two weeks had our highest percentage of log-ons to date!”
Gamification can also be used to create a culture of recognition and appreciation. Employees can be recognized and rewarded for their contributions to the team, such as by allowing them to nominate a colleague for a prize, or publicly acknowledge outstanding work or achievements.
It's important to note that rewards should be meaningful and valued by employees, also, taking into account the specific context and employees demographic, to effectively engage and motivate employees. Also, it's important to have a balanced rewards system, ensuring that rewards are not only focused on individual achievements but also on team efforts and positive behaviors.
Onboarding and training
Research from Glassdoor has shown that having a comprehensive onboarding process can lead to significant increases in retention and productivity. Specifically, retention rates increase by 82% and productivity rates by 70%.
Conversely, companies with weak onboarding may struggle to retain new hires as they may not feel connected to the company culture. Factors that contribute to a successful onboarding include having a mentor or coach to help new hires acclimate to the workplace, providing opportunities for them to learn about the company culture, and making learning resources easily accessible to them.
Gamification can be an effective way for companies to engage new employees and make their onboarding process more interactive and enjoyable. Onboarding tasks, such as training on company policies and procedures, can be turned into interactive tutorials or quizzes.
Or a virtual progress tracker can be used to keep new employees informed of their progress during the onboarding process. Employees can see how far they've come and what tasks they still need to complete, which can help them stay motivated and on track.
Gamified challenges can also be used to supplement the traditional onboarding process, by providing new hires with interactive, fun and engaging tasks that help them get to know the company, its culture and values and also help them to meet their new colleagues.
For example, Deloitte launched the “Chosen Analyst” game for new coming analysts. In this game, players take on the role of saving the world from zombies by completing game levels while learning skills like MS Excel. Deloitte reported that the game was successful in reducing the costs of employee onboarding and the amount of time new analysts were not working.
Charity events
Many organizations hold charity and fundraising events as a way to bring people together for a good cause. Gamification can be a natural fit for these events, for example by using donation counters or progress bars to track progress towards fundraising goals.
In 2021, construction company Rhodar used a customized game to engage employees and raise money for charity. Their "Christmas Conga" game was played over 20,000 times, and players who placed on the leaderboard had the opportunity to have £1,000 donated to a charity of their choice.
Compliance with company’s policy
Gamification can be an effective way for companies to encourage employees to comply with regulations by making the process more engaging and rewarding. Companies can create compliance challenges, such as quizzes or interactive tutorials, that test employees' understanding of company policies and procedures. Or gamified reminders can be set to remind employees to complete compliance tasks and procedures in a timely manner. This can help ensure that employees don't miss important deadlines or procedures.
Google employees were failing to submit their expenses following business trips. The company resolved this problem by introducing a gamification element. This allowed employees to use unspent money from their daily allowance for charitable donations or to carry over to the next business trip. This incentive led to 100% compliance with Google's travel policy.
It's important to note that gamification should be used to supplement and not replace traditional compliance training and education. Also, the importance of compliance should be clearly communicated and the link between the compliance actions and the well-being of the company and the employees should be established.
Potential to revolutionize HR
In conclusion, gamification has the potential to revolutionize the way HR operates within a company. Companies that use gamification can boost employee engagement, making the employee experience more enjoyable, and improve the performance of their staff, with a better understanding of their compliance responsibilities and the company's objectives.
However, it is important to keep in mind that gamification is not a one-size-fits-all solution. A well-designed and tested gamification strategy, taking into account the specific context, employees, and objectives, is necessary to ensure its success. Additionally, it's important to have a balance between rewards and punishments, and to ensure that the data privacy, employee autonomy and overall well-being are not being compromised.
As companies continue to explore the potential of gamification in HR, it's worth considering how it might be used to improve your own organizational processes.
References:
Gamification in HR: Use Cases and Examples in Action | Peek & Poke
