Gamification as an innovative approach for HR processes

Our work environment is changing year by year and we already know a new generation will take over the workforce by 2020: the Millennials. A generation with different approaches regarding their career and different expectations about their workplace.

For the new generation, workplace satisfaction matters more than monetary compensation and they need to find meaning in what they do. They are less likely than previous generations to put up with an unpleasant work environment and much more likely to share with their friends how bad is the work environment of your company. As a HR specialist, we can create that happy environment we all want and deserve, without affecting the work performance.

In HR, beside the generational shifts we have to face up a lot of challenges:

• To attract and retain top talents, in a very competitive market where these are just a few and they also have a lot of expectations;

• To grow our employee and to develop within them the right capabilities to achieve our business goals, with just the right amount of investment and considering employees don’t usually stay on meaningless processes.
• To help new employees integrate in our culture and become productive as soon as possible;
• To keep the employees happy and engaged to increase productivity;
• To sustain and facilitate the adoption of the organizational changes;
• And on top of that, we need to be creative and to meet the business goals.

How you can use gamification in HR

There are a lot of processes in HR which sustain the development of an organization and empower its employees, unfortunately a lot of them were designed in a hurry and are now outdated. I believe that we need to add something new to our existing processes and to adapt them to the new era.

Improve Talent Acquisition

In this competitive market you need to be different to attract the top talents, to make them interested in your company and the first contact with it is the recruitment process. You can turn the hiring process into a gamified experience by transforming the traditional recruitment steps in provocative missions in which you can test the competencies that you are looking for. Also, you can eliminate some steps and digitized it, gaining more time.

Improve onboarding processes

First months in a company are decisive for the employee performance and attitude towards their workplace. We all want to make them productive as soon as possible and also to make them feel comfortable. We can do that through transforming the onboarding process in a meaningful learning journey, with quests and rewards.

Motivate Employees to Learn and Participate in Training

Each company has mandatory training sessions and development plans for employees, but most of them tend to be less interested in it and focus only on their day by day job. Adding a gamification experience to the training curricula can spur their attention and motivation. Employees who see their progress and how that training will help them are more likely to make it a priority.

Cultivate the company culture

Depending on what are the company core values and culture you can reward employees for positive behaviours and promote them in a gamified way. Also, through gamification you can create a happier and meaningful work environment.

How does it work?

Gamification is one of the best elements that can change a traditional HR process in an engaging and innovative one and will push your company up on the most wanted employers list.

Through gamification we take the essence of games – such as fun, desire to play, progress, competition and the elements of games such as missions, leaderboard, story, points, badges in order to create a personalized game design that helps you achieve your KPIs.

Gamification is just 25% about technology and 75% about psychology behind every game element or techniques. Gamification provides clear goals, well-defined rules of play and a compelling narrative to ensure players feel empowered to achieve goals and to keep them engaged.

Based on the findings of a survey conducted by TalentLMS:

• 79% of the participants (both corporate learners and university students) said that they would be more productive and motivated if their learning environment was more like a game.
• 63% of cross-generations think making everyday activities more like a game would make them more fun and rewarding
• 89% of those surveyed stated that a point system would boost their engagement
• 50% of people say that if a layer of competition were added to their everyday routine, they’d keep a closer watch on their behaviors and activities.

There are plenty of advantages to use gamification for HR processes and we already have some inspiring examples, giving us confidence that gamification really makes a difference in a company. If you don’t believe us, check out Forbes article Future of work regarding three successful stories about companies using gamification in HR: PwC, Walmart, Qualcomm.