Gamification and Workplace

Behavior Modification
Podcast Transcript

Can the power of games be workers and shape their behavior Gamification is a concept that has
harnessed in the workplace to raise without having them experience only recently become very popular.
the level of employee engagement, something they would necessarily The initial applications of
and drive desirable change in think of as a game. gamification have generally been
behavior? We’ll examine that related to relatively simple, short-
question in this installment of the Gamification is especially appealing term behavior change, such as
High Performance Business Podcast to enterprises now because encouraging employees to fill out
Series: “Gamification and commercial gamification engines expense forms on time.
Workplace Behavior Modification.” are making it easier and more
affordable for organizations to get The most common approach to
So, what exactly do we mean by the started by grafting game mechanics gamification uses the simple
term, “gamification”? It’s the idea of onto existing systems and mechanisms of badges and
using game design and game processes. Vendors, such as leaderboards as extrinsic rewards,
mechanics in workplace Badgeville and Bunchball, are to give employees small nudges to
environments to improve employee providing gamification technologies do simple behaviors. This seems
engagement and effectiveness. This which integrate with various best suited to incenting behaviors
can take the form of actual games enterprise applications and social which employees already know they
played in the workplace that teach collaboration platforms, such as can and should perform, but which
skills or generate friendly Salesforce and Jive. So some forms they might otherwise procrastinate
competition. Or, it can involve more of gamification can now be about, or ignore altogether.
subtle use of game mechanics— implemented without writing new
such as levels, badges, points and software. While gamification has gotten a lot
virtual currency—to motivate of attention, the initial wave has also
been accompanied by a significant Stage three is “Learning how” achieving a larger mission.
backlash. Critics aren’t arguing Stage four is “Initial adoption”
against the use of games and game And stage five is “Maintaining and Dynamic system games represent
mechanics in the workplace; rather, refining.” a way to teach the mechanisms
their main complaint is that underlying certain kinds of
gamification is exercising limited Now, let’s look briefly at each of the behaviors. An example is SimCity,
game design techniques and a stages of the behavior-change which helps players develop an
narrow ambition regarding what the lifecycle and how we can overcome understanding of urban planning.
games can achieve. key challenges through gaming
techniques. Now that the change effort is
The big questions now are: How can underway and the basic prep work
the gamification trend be broadened The first stage involves raising is done, employees are ready for
to tap more of the power of great employees’ awareness of what the the fourth stage—acquiring new
games to connect to key behavior- behavior patterns presently are and behaviors, or forming new habits.
change objectives? and how can achieving an initial understanding This phase can be a very long
gamification solutions promote that there are opportunities for process, requiring high levels of
deeper, more meaningful behavior improvement. motivation and support until the
change? habits take hold.
Behavior instrumentation games
Two key insights about the nature of provide a way to measure and The key challenge for employees is
behavior change can really help us monitor real-world behaviors. In an that they are not yet comfortable
solve these problems. enterprise context, an example executing target behaviors and lack
might involve a game which tracks the practice needed to translate the
One insight is that the key to project work, captures and logs theory acquired into execution.
producing sustained behavior task-duration estimates, and awards
change is to align any approaches points to employees who estimate Skill-building games can motivate
with employees’ intrinsic motivation. accurately and make deadlines. players, provide guidance, and
So, for example, a gamification reduce frustration by monitoring
mechanism that just rewards me any The second stage involves building their progress and providing
time I perform a tedious task is less up the level of buy-in for taking continuous feedback in the form of
likely to succeed than one that actions, because people are not scores, prizes, or advancement
clarifies the connection to a goal I always psychologically committed to within the game.
intrinsically care about—and then the actions or the time, energy, and
uses game mechanics to show me resources required to execute the The final phase of behavior change
how well I am approaching my goal. change. is to maintain and refine new
patterns. The biggest challenge at
A second insight is that behavior Cause-and-effect game this stage is keeping employees
change often follows a stereotyped simulation can help raise interested and engaged.
pattern of stages and that different awareness of the impact of the
kinds of behavior-change challenges user’s existing behavior patterns The same kinds of behavior games
dominate each stage. This is and the need for change. In an introduced in stage one can be used
referred to as the behavior-change enterprise context, an example in stage five in a different way to
lifecycle. The key to using could be teaching employees the maintain and refine the target
gamification to make significant and significance of quality customer behaviors. Social interaction and
sustained behavior change is to service in a call center type friendly competition with other
understand those challenges, and to scenario. employees can often play a big role
develop specific gamification at this stage.
techniques for the challenges at Once an employee has bought into
each stage. the effort to acquire new behaviors, The most challenging of the five
the third stage is to acquire an stages, is often the fourth stage of
Here’s a 5-stage version of the understanding of the mechanisms the behavior-change lifecycle, which
behavior-change lifecycle which involved to execute the behaviors. involves abandoning old habits and
we have adopted from recent forming news ones. Let’s take a
literature and research: The key challenge for employees is more in-depth look at how
the lack of understanding of the gamification can be used to sustain
Stage one is “Raising awareness” principles involved in target behavior-change at that fourth
Stage two is “Building buy-in” behaviors or how detailed stage.
background knowledge ties to
One trend we are seeing is We recommend that companies
enterprises seeking to instill a more interested in enterprise gamification
proactive attitude about career begin by assessing which behavior-
development among the workforce. change stages represent their most
In this more entrepreneurial model, important business priorities. If they
employees take a very active first understand what stage of
interest in developing their skills and change challenges their employees
are encouraged to seek tasks and and why, they can then develop
roles to build their skill portfolio. We gamification techniques to address
have designed a relevant them. We also recommend that
gamification approach that leverages companies design these
two kinds of intrinsic motivation gamification techniques to align with
identified in the behavior-change employees intrinsic motivations for
literature. The first involves the what is going to drive sustained
desire to be more self-directed and long-term behavior change.
the second involves the desire to
achieve meaningful mastery of Game mechanics are already
something that matters. effectively engaging and motivating
the workforce as well as maintaining
To summarize briefly, our system and intensifying certain employee
uses gamification mechanisms that behaviors. As the gamification
help people earn reputation badges community becomes more skilled at
after successful completion of tasks. mapping enterprise behavior-
These badges help them over a change needs to specific game
period of time to increase their types and designing approaches
seniority and expertise in that skill. that would promote employee
intrinsic motivations, we can expect
In an enterprise scenario, employees even more “epic wins” in the future.
care and are motivated towards
developing their skills so that they This concludes our High
can take on more meaningful and Performance Business Podcast. We
challenging tasks and advise others thank you for listening. We hope you
who may need help in that area. The found these insights valuable and
gamification approach supports and engaging. For more information
strengthens employees’ intrinsic about Accenture’s experience and
motivation to develop their skill-set research helping organizations
and enhance their reputation in achieve high performance, visit us
various skill areas. at www.accenture.com/
researchpodcast
Most of the gamification applications
we’ve discussed today are more
complex than simple game
mechanics of badges and
leaderboards. Yet, our message isn’t
an argument for more complex
games; it’s an argument for
matching the game mechanics to the
actual behavior-change challenge at
hand and aligning these mechanics
with employees’ intrinsic motivation.

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