Employees are a company’s strongest assets and investing in them delivers incredible RoI. Magical workplaces, as we like to call them, where employees are engaged, feel cared for and are happy – not only experience less churn, but also have a more productive & motivated workforce. Businesses have started to take note of this, after all, Gallup estimates [1] that the global economy loses more than $8 trillion due to low employee engagement. While there are a few layers to peel here, our blog will focus on employee wellbeing and engagement, specifically how gamification can be a key ingredient in a successful wellbeing strategy!
Gamification is the use of game design elements in a non game context. A multi year study [2][5] conducted by McGill University researchers found that incorporating gamification in workplace wellness programs resulted in significant clinical improvements like blood pressure, stress, insomnia, and fatigue. Furthermore, they concluded that workplace wellness programs that evolve over time and focus primarily on fun and competitive challenges may support long-term employee participation and positive behaviour change for employees.
That’s great, so gamification is a key ingredient for an impactful wellbeing program, but a natural follow up question here is: Do incentives matter in the success of gamification? If yes, what incentives work best?
In short, the answer is a resounding yes. A 9 month study conducted by researchers at University of Pennsylvania [3] concluded that behaviourally designed gamification interventions with social incentives significantly increased physical activity. Not only that, creating a competition amongst participants was the most effective of all social incentive strategies explored.
To add to that, the same group conducted another study [4] to explore the efficacy of gamification with or without financial incentives, and were able to conclude that gamification without incentives did not significantly improve physical activity!
There you go! Gamification & the right incentives, are both key to getting your employees healthy, happy & keeping them engaged!
Covid 19 disrupted workplaces, and combining that with increasingly sedentary lifestyle, employee wellbeing & engagement is on a decline. Our mission at W2Y, is to partner with businesses globally to turbocharge their employee wellbeing & engagement!
We bring research backed strategies like gamification & tailored rewards together with cutting edge, easy to use & accessible tech – to create a perfect environment for employees to adopt & stay engaged in a wellbeing initiative.
Whether you are looking for a holistic wellbeing partner or someone to help you run a fun, engaging step challenge that brings your team together and gets them active, we’ve got you covered.
Book a free demo today to see W2Y in action and hear about the impact we’ve had for our customers!
References
[1] State of the Global Workplace 2021 Report, Gallup
[2] Workplace Wellness Program That Incorporates Gamification Principles, 2 year study
[3] Behaviorally Designed Gamification Interventions With Social Incentives
[4] Effect of Gamification With and Without Financial Incentives