GiftCard Partners Blog

The GiftCard Partners team is in Denver, Colorado this week to attend the
2013 Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) Summit. GCP joins a large number of other companies that are also part of the IMA, and make up this $46 billion incentive industry. We’re excited to meet, share and learn about the latest in this booming field over the course of the next few days. One of the many sessions the IMA will be holding is
Game Mechanics and the Future of Reward and Recognition Programs. The team is excited to learn more about Gamification and how this popular tool in reward and recognition programs has taken off and what the future holds for it in modern business. As it stands now, according to a recent IRF poll, more than 60% of recognition program owners have started implementing gamification. The session will highlight:

Gamification is rapidly growing as a tool for employee motivation. According to a new report from research firm 
Markets and Markets, the gamification industry will be worth $5.5 billion by 2018, up from $421 million this year. With this significant increase, if your company isn't already gamifying employee motivation it’s time to start. The incredible predicted growth of the industry over the next 5 years is an indication that gamification is working and that both employer and employee adoption rates are on the rise. Driving employees to desired behavior and self-motivation through a social outlet is a double reward. Humans are social beings, so whether it’s productive to our work or not we seek out social opportunities at work. By implementing gamification employees get motivated to desired behaviors by providing rewards, and satiate their need for a social experience through an organizationally sponsored channel. The social outlet and small rewards like gift cards to retailers like 
Speedway and 
Boston Market, combined with the increased productivity motivated employees bring, creates a win/win for the whole organization. This double positive for employers and employees builds harmonious relationships that will maintain employee motivation long after the game is over.

Gamification is a trend that continues to gain traction in the workplace. It can be applied to health and wellness initiatives, employee motivation programs, and even training programs. New research from the University of Colorado indicates that new employees who participated in online gaming and interactive modules as part of the training process showed higher overall retention rates, a greater knowledge of the organization and their particular role, and a higher level skill set. Gamificationtraining engages employees in the process of on-boarding, rather than having new employees sit through hours of static training sessions where they listen to so much information it is more difficult to retain and later apply. Gamification alsoallows employees to learn and apply simultaneously, making information more digestible and creating mechanisms to help employees remember important points. Gamifying employee training is an innovative way to invest in employees right from the start. Employees will appreciate the engaging training sessions and feel supported by the organization from the outset of their time. Using gamification for ongoing employee training, for employees who have been with the organization for a period of time, can go one step further byusing incentives for game winners and goal reachers. Using small incentives such as a gift card to a popular retailer such as 
CVS/Pharmacy or 
The Cheesecake Factory for those who achieve or meet their goals from the training will not only ensure that employees absorb the desired material but that all employees are motivated to complete the training and work towards its goals.

Why are gamification apps failing to meet organizations’ business objectives 80% of the time? It’s likely due to lack of strategic focus…gamification apps are not used to gamify a workplace; they are used to reward employees for desired behaviorwithin employee programs, such as exceeding safety measures, while conditioning employees to work with optimal productivity. Gamify strategically, with business objectives in mind, and clear communications within employee programs to forge a path to success. Here are a few key strategies for keeping the gamification of your employee program on track. Use the Game: Workplaces are filled with distractions. Make gamification a strategic part of maintaining focus in the employee program. Keep your goals clear, simple, and entertaining for optimal employee engagement. Clearly state the goals that need to be met for rewards to be given out, and how to reach them through the game. Making the game entertaining will maintain employees attention span and help keep them focused on their goals.

Customer Relationship Management systems are vital to an organization's success. It is how the sales and services teams manage clients and prospects, without whom no company would exist. Some may even so far as to say the CRM system is the lifeblood of the company, with its maintenance being crucial to success, even if it is not a main responsibility. However, many employees are too busy and unmotivated to maintain a current CRM database. The maintenance work is tedious and time consuming and most employees push it off for a slow day that may not come for months. Gamifying your CRM system could be the solution to motivating employees to keep the CRM database as current as possible. Offering point systems that keep track of work done within the CRM system, which employees can then redeem for rewards creates friendly competition among co-workers and real life incentive for employees to get their work done as efficiently and effectively as possible. Offering flexible rewards such as gift cards to a diverse array of retailers such as
The Limited,
The Children's Place,
Boston Market and
NutriSystem gives employees an opportunity to choose from a reward that is valuable for them. Redeeming gamification points, in addition to trying to out play (or work!) colleagues will create healthy competition, increased productivity, and a motivated workforce that is happy to do even the most mundane tasks.