Canadian HR Reporter

A few years ago, U.S. automotive retail chain Pep Boys faced a challenge. Despite plenty of awareness programs, the company couldn't get their safety and inventory loss numbers where they wanted them to be. Around the same time, software giant SAP was grappling with how to encourage employees to carpool, in an effort to meet environmental goals and support employee bonding. On the surface, these seem like two very different challenges. But the same principle – gamifi cation – helped each organization make real progress. SAP introduced an app to match employees travelling in the same direction at the same time. Employees get points and recognition for carpooling, plus the chance to meet people from different parts of the business – including the CEO, who regularly uses the app. At Pep Boys, the company decided to try out a gamifi ed training program that involves daily interaction (for short bursts of around 60 to 90 seconds). The company reached 95 per cent participation on the voluntary program and managed to reduce safety and incident claims by 45 per cent and shrinkage by 55 per cent. Principles of gamifi cation While gamifi cation isn't a new idea, there's still some confusion around the word. Gamifi cation is not about playing a game. Generally, a game is created with the sole intent of entertaining. Gamifi cation, on the other hand, applies game-like elements (things like a narrative, a scoreboard, co-operation to accomplish goals) to something else; maybe a wellness program or management course, for example. This "gamifi es" the course or program with the intention of driving behaviour. An online course might include quizzes or multiple-choice questions, a progress bar and levels of certifi cation along the way. Or, an offi ce-wide fundraising challenge may show which departments are leading the way when it comes to donations. Gamifi cation can take any number of forms and its principles can be applied to infl uence employee behaviour in a nearly limitless range of areas. When it's done well, gamifi cation works because it taps into what motivates people. According to Gamifi cation by Design co- author Gabe Zichermann, "Gamifi cation is 75 per cent psychology and 25 per cent technology." In fact, recent research has tied effective gamifi cation to the main tenants of self- determination theory. "In self-determination theory there are three elements that lead to motivation: autonomy, mastery and relatedness or the social aspect of it," said Karl Kapp, director, Institute for Interactive Technologies, Professor of Instructional Technology, Bloomsburg University and author of The Gamifi cation of Learning and Instruction. "Gamifi cation says we can use game elements to drive these three areas," said Kapp. First, autonomy: People engage freely in the game and often learn or progress at their own pace. Next, they earn badges or see progress refl ected on leaderboards, which acknowledges mastery. And generally, gamifi cation is social in nature, so relatedness is covered quite naturally. Wide range of applications Over the past several years, many employers have refi ned and improved their approaches, and the range of applications has grown considerably. Gamifi cation can be used to benefi t recruiting, for example. Many organizations gamify the application process to engage applicants with the brand and reward them with acknowledgement – and even perks. Internally, organizations can encourage employees to take an active role in talent acquisition by acknowledging the top referrers of each month, quarter or year. Onboarding, too, can be enhanced by gamifi cation. A new and overwhelmed employee might welcome the idea of a friendly game-like quiz about where the break room is, where to store a bicycle and so on. Kapp notes one company in particular that's made smart use of gamifi cation to improve retention. "This company hires university students in January, but they don't start work until June, so they had been struggling with attrition between those dates," said Kapp. "To address the problem, they started using a gamifi ed onboarding program to help build camaraderie and commitment to the company, even before those students had started work. "They found it really paid off, with a signifi cant reduction in attrition." Training tends to fi t quite well with gamifi cation, even in areas you might not Strategy and a focus on outcomes can help organizations reap better rewards from gamification By Melissa Campeau More than Fun & Games

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