Motivational levers to combat disengagement at work
Disengagement at work is one of the main costs facing companies today. According to a Gallup study in the United States, nearly 70% of employees are not engaged in their work, which represents a cost to companies of $350 billion in the United States. Analyzing the motivational drivers of your employees and knowing how to activate them is therefore crucial. The solution we offer today is gamification.
Intrinsic motivation refers to when employees act based on their interest in and enjoyment of their work. This is the type of motivation we are interested in.
There are five levers of intrinsic motivation.
- Autonomy: it is the need to feel in control of one’s life, to decide what one does.
- Mastery: to stay motivated, it is crucial to feel that you are making progress and improving.
- The goal: feeling that your work makes a difference, that it changes things.
- Progress: every time an employee feels they have achieved something, even if it is only a small thing, they will feel a strong surge of motivation.
- Social connection: working with others and being recognized by them is motivating.
Gamification will act on these five levers. Gamification is the application of certain rules that come from mainstream games to make business processes more engaging and change behaviors in the long term.
Use gamification to implement these motivational levers.
Autonomy
Gamification is one of the motivational levers that will influence autonomy. Just like in a game, employees can be given freedom in how they achieve their goals with little supervision, but they should be regularly presented with challenges.
Mastery
To stimulate the need for mastery, we recommend introducing a points system. Each action should earn points that accumulate, similar to “miles” in airline loyalty programs. For example, an employee who shares a company article on LinkedIn will earn points. These points are not only redeemable for rewards but also give access to public rankings, allowing employees to see their level, compare themselves to others, and motivating them to reach the next level. The LinkedIn profile completion bar is emblematic of gamified applications. Ideally, there are three groups: beginner, advanced, and expert. Badges could be used to certify these levels, but it is important to ensure that these badges have value. Badges that recognize technical expertise are generally well accepted (e.g., product A guru).
The goal
The aim is to show the impact that each individual effort has on the company’s performance and to recognize each member of the teams who perform well. As in a sport or video game, the aim is to give users the certainty that their individual performance is important to the collective performance.
With Incenteev, the sales force communication platform, you can get highly personalized feedback and reward local teams. For example, during a sales challenge, the best salespeople will not be the only ones to benefit from recognition; all strong performances are rewarded at their level with feedback from the management team. Service users can see their contribution to their agency/department’s sales.
Discover Incenteev‘s gamification solution to boost your teams’ performance!
Progression
One of the key concepts in modern video games is “achievements,” or badges that users earn by performing specific actions (defeating x enemies, winning x races, etc.). This concept can be applied to management: each success should be rewarded with immediate and public recognition. Well-designed progression systems that are part of an overall dynamic can be real motivators for your salespeople.
Social ties
Gamification effectively stimulates the need for social interaction: gamification techniques encourage users to interact with each other. In concrete terms, with an agile communication tool for sales teams such as Incenteev, you will have collaborative discussion groups and, for example, there will be a weekly podium for top contributors that will reward the most active members and allow them to constantly position themselves in relation to others. Being in a group brings identification and recognition.
In summary, gamification will help you give your employees the feeling that they are in control of their work, that they are progressing, accomplishing things that make a difference, and earning the recognition of their peers. All this in a fun and constructive way.
By implementing gamification mechanisms, your employees will be motivated and engaged throughout the year.
Discover Incenteev‘s gamification solution to boost your teams’ performance!