In 2018, the video game industry was worth $135 billion and it’s been growing year-on-year.
More and more people are becoming familiar with gaming and its conventions – and that’s where gamification comes in.
Gamification is the use of game mechanics to influence people’s behavior. Gamification does not mean games per se; you are not going to have people playing Pac-Man in the boardroom. Gamification means using mechanics and game design you find in games to drive people’s behavior in ways that are desirable to the company.
Done right, it can be a game-changer.
How can we apply this to a contact center setting? Gamification is most useful for driving behavior by acting as an incentive.
Here are the areas you can easily apply gamification for your contact center.
Setup a Grand Prize
Nothing gets people excited like a huge prize. It can be anything, but it has to have a high perceived value. Things like an all-expenses paid vacation, an expensive home theater set, or the latest gadgets like an iPhone or laptop make for great grand prizes.
To earn the award, your agents need to consistently perform over a long period of time. For example:
Having the best handling time every month
Best customer satisfaction score
Perfect attendance
Create a rule system where agents earn stars or points for being the best at something every month. After the prize period (which could be a quarter, a year or six months), the agent(s) who got most stars/points earns the prize.
Have Regular Smaller Prizes
Having one big thing to aim for is very motivating but realistically, not everyone can get the big prize. To make sure that people don’t feel left out, gamification also needs to be inclusive. Everyone should have a fair chance at it and not just the top 5% performers in your company.
This should ideally be a monthly thing. The grand prize won’t motivate those who fall behind in the early months as they realize they no longer have a chance to win the big one. Smaller prizes for different categories like handling time, absenteeism, customer satisfaction and call quality should be rewarded, with the best performers getting a nice little prize each month.
Set Profile Badges for Training Modules
Today’s contact centers have an intranet and each employee should have their profile. It’s very similar to social media. Just like social media, you can implement badges on their profiles to reward desired behavior.
This includes badges and titles for completing training modules, badges for exemplary performance, and “achievements” which not every employee can get, like having perfect attendance for an entire year or having no dissatisfaction for six months. The more difficult the achievement, the more beautiful the badge and the more awesome the title should sound.
Decorate their Stations
Exemplary performers can earn the right to have their stations receive a special décor, like a golden wreath on their monitor. This gives a very visual indicator that everyone can see how good that agent is. It works perfectly with that management best practice: recognize people in public.
Have a Merit Class
You can also have a long-term incentive which recognizes an employee as a special champion for the company. Exemplary employees who meet the criteria can have a special status on their magnetic ID badge, which gives them access to special areas in the office, like a VIP lounge room. You can also provide them a special pin on their IDs, which they can retain as long as they maintain their performance.
There are many ways to gamifiy the company. Remember that the end goal is to influence behavior in ways that are beneficial for the company. Rewards should feel exclusive and be something that your people desire.
You can conduct surveys with them to get ideas on what motivates them but in the end, the important thing is that the rewards should be something they want. If you can draft a good gamification system, communicate how the program works, and properly implement and recognize your agents, you’ll find your company culture and productivity improving geometrically.
Look for ways to gamify your day-to-day work, and your company will quickly become an amazing place that people will want to work at.
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