Can You Game Your Employees To Take Action?

August 28, 2012

On the final day of the ISCEBS Symposium held this past month in San Francisco, Adam Wootton, Ph.D. with Towers Watson, kicked in the fun factor during his morning session on Using Games to Increase Employee Education.  It was obvious that Adam loves his job as Director of Social Media and Games, and he shared some very interesting facts about gaming in the U.S.  It was no surprise that 2/3s of American households play computer games, but what did amaze me was that 40% of all players are women and that adult women represent a greater portion of the game-playing population than boys age 17 or younger (which is what I envision as the typical gamer).  Actually, the average gamer is 34 years old and has been playing for 12 years.  Now, when I think about online games, what comes to mind is Angry Birds or World of Warcraft, which so far I have avoided getting hooked on.  But what surprised me was that frequent flyer programs can also be considered games since members accumulate points, you can win prizes, and there are the status goals of reaching gold or platinum levels.  So what does this have to do with helping your employees?

Many of you may already be using simple games to encourage employees to take action, such as benefits crosswords or wellness challenges.   These are what Adam considers as a level one on the continuum of gaming.  You may also be using level two games. That would include employee of the month or service awards.  But ratcheting it up to level three, which is team games, can really bring out the competitive nature of your workforce.  An example Adam gave would be to incorporate a Biggest Loser style competition to your wellness program to encourage weight loss or team-based challenges like which team can take 200,000 steps first using pedometers you distribute.

Level four gaming is based on user-generated content, such as a video competition.  Use the popularity of YouTube and have your employees submit clips on why they contribute to the 401(k) or how easy it is to go to the pharmacy with their HSA debit card and then have employees vote for the best video.  Adam shared some studies on peer effects on finance and the impact of peer group participation.  We all know the likelihood of an employee turning to their co-worker during open enrollment to see what they are picking and then doing the same.  Use this peer effect to your advantage by finding the influencers and having them make an online video to share the benefits of your new HSA or the advantage of a target date fund.

Level Five gaming is the next generation of games using immersion.  This would be role play in virtual worlds, similar to Second Life or Farmville.  Employees could create an avatar and challenge other employees’ avatars to a race on a virtual track where their speeds are determined by the number of actual steps the employee is taking on a daily basis using a pedometer.

Gaming doesn’t sound like work, but that’s the whole point of incorporating games into your workplace benefits education strategy. Make it fun, and your employees will become much more engaged and willing to take action to improve both their financial and physical well-being.