Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Global Healthcare Congress in Washington D.C.
A major theme at this year's event was corporate wellness and how employees - a company's most important asset - could be better taken care of by businesses. One particular corporate wellness strategy that caught my attention was the gamification of programs. The notion behind it is that employees are rewarded by their employer for doing different tasks.
This isn't only related to physical activities but can be as simple as employers rewarding an employee for complementing a colleague. One interesting example I came across was by home-delivery company Hubbub, which has partnered with brands like Amazon. Companies can use Hubbub to reward employees with Amazon vouchers when they achieve certain goals.
In theory, gamification programmes have the potential to foster innovation within employees. By applying game theory to work practices, employees will naturally become more driven and will find more effective solutions and work processes in order to win their reward.
My experience at this year's Global Healthcare Congress showed me that the wellness of employees is crucial for a company to remain competitive and that gamification of work programmes has the power to make employees more driven which can lead to innovative ideas and solutions. However, employers must ensure that gamification initiatives are well thought out, meet the company and employees' needs and are engaging enough that they will spur employees on. After all, employee satisfaction isn't something a company should play with.
To read this article in its entirety visit: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/crispin-reed/can-turning-work-into-pla_b_6054502.html
Crispin Reed
Partner
fusion learning ltd.