The significance of employee engagement in the workplace cannot be denied. With the changing workplace in recent years, employee engagement has become a challenge for organizations. In order to engage the workforce and motivate them to use their full potential, companies have, among other things, turned to intranet solutions referred to as digital workplace.

A digital workplace essentially combines a set of tools and applications to improve collaboration and communication within departments. It features intranet gamification and social functionality to keep the employees engaged and performing efficiently.

In this guide, we try to understand what is digital workplace gamification and how organizations can get started with Intranet Games.

Intranet Games – A Complete Guide 

Intranet Gamification is all about taking the elements of gameplay and applying them to the work environment to instil a little playful competition.

Companies across fields use Intranet Games to inspire adoption by making technology more appealing and engaging, traditionally which may have lacked appeal. The use of incentives, badges, leader boards and rewards within applications drives user adoption and usage.

While Intranet games are known to deliver amazing benefits to the organization and employees, the key is to do it right. Here are some of the ways you can ensure a smooth implementation.

Keep It Simple 

Gamification can be new to your employees so start experimenting with some basic rules and track the levels of usage and engagement.

Use Elements Adapted To Your Activities  

The basic features of Intranet games like rules and badges will be different for each company based on its culture and challenges.

Make sure you tailor the system to the activities and employee needs to get a higher level of engagement. This helps you deliver value to your workforce.

Tangible Reward System 

One of the most obvious evolutions of a gamification program, rewards should be chosen on the basis of your employee interests. Create a custom rewards program to add a 'feel-good' factor to the system.

Intranet games give the employees the incentives they need to find solutions to existing problems. Moreover, games are intellectually stimulating so you are likely to see a boost in employee performance. They also help foster strong relationships between people in your organization to result in a more productive environment. 

Intranet Gamification – Getting Started 

Most modern intranets already contain the features you can use to introduce gamification. The platform contains information about all the employees, categorization options, a recorded history of all the activity, applications and their usage statistics.

Organizations can devise their own ways of using the data for Intranet Gamification to assist user adoption and engagement.

To get started with Intranet gamification, you can use game mechanics that turn an activity on the Intranet into a game. Game mechanics are the features and controls that create a game-like experience at the workplace.

Some of the best examples of these features are assigning points, challenges, levels, accolades and leader board ratings for virtual activities. When an employee completes a task or challenge, he receives a reward. Such responses result in a feeling of competition, achievement, status or self-expression. 

Workday Gamification 

Several organizations and employers today consider gamifying the workday for employees to keep them engaged and motivated to boost productivity. Just like any other strategy, workday gamification doesn't happen overnight. It takes some trial and error before you can identify what works for your organization and people.

Companies that have already implemented gamification report outstanding results. Employees are eager to take part, do better in training sessions and are overall happier and more productive. The strategy works because people naturally want to enjoy what they do and feel recognized. Up to 85 percent of employees feel more motivated when they get incentives.

Organizations can give incentives with the help of games. Workday gamification can be done even when you are working as a freelancer or don't have an employer.

There are several websites and apps that help create gamification platforms, some of which let you compete with yourself while others allow competing with others. You can set up your own gaming system to include rewards for tasks. Gamifying the workday for yourself or employees is fun and helps accomplish more. 

Digital Workplace Gamification – What You Should Know? 

Today, a majority of employees are internet-raised millennials and Gen Z which means the digital workplace is an undeniable aspect of employee engagement. Workplace gamification is on its way to a revival. A game-factor can be embedded into any activity to increase engagement and motivation. Employees can level up with their training, earn badges and rewards for completing projects and get recognized for achievements.

Leaderboards – Gamification is all about invoking the competitive spirit to drive towards success.  Leaderboards effectively drive performance by triggering a friendly competition and allowing employees to win rewards or trophies for their efforts.

Badges – These elements help recognize employees for their achievements or expertise.

Gauges – Gauges are used to track progress and motivate the individual towards completion. You can award profile badges to those who fill out their profiles or are active and engaged. Such features make the employees familiar with your platform and motivate them to adopt. 

Intranet Scavenger Hunt 

Intranet games provide an effective way to boost employee engagement. Organizations can execute an Intranet Scavenger Hunt to help employees discover the hidden treasures available on the intranet. The aim is to motivate more and more people to use the available features more frequently and effectively.

A great example of a first Scavenger Hunt task can be a simple task like finding out whose birthday comes next. You can add a widget to the intranet that displays upcoming events. Next, you can ask the employees to share their favorite recipes. Such tasks are not only simple and fun but also allow users to see engaging features they never knew existed on their intranet. Another engaging activity is hosting a Poker game through the intranet, where employees can interact, strategize, and enjoy a lighthearted competition that encourages collaboration and camaraderie.

When you design the Intranet Scavenger Hunt, try not to fill so many features right onto the home page. This will not let them dig deeper into the intranet to discover features. A great way is to organize resources across the website with the help of consistent patterns and a visual hierarchy that motivates them to explore more and familiarize themselves with the site.