Jisha Surya & Rejith Balakrishnan
Thiruvananthapuram: Several companies in Technopark are adopting Google-model gamification as an ideal way to strengthen employee bonding, engage and motivate employees and to make the workspace more productive in a pleasant way. For this some firms are experimenting with and implementing varieties of gamification.
“People never leave a company for less salary, but for dislike for people around. Gamification could bring a solution to one of the major headache of HR-internal politics,” said CEO and managing director of Kreara Solutions Anoop P Ambika, who successfully created an employee-friendly workspace.
Gamifiaction aims at bringing together employees and establishing a good rapport between them and developing mutual respect. At Kreara, a Culture and Sports Committee (CSC), formed three years ago, heads all gamification activates. “We have divided entire employees of the company, including the director and CEO, into four groups. There are various activities during free time. We have earmarked one hour in 10-15 days in December exclusively for such activities. It ushered in positive changes in employee bonding and satisfaction level. After 10-11 hours of work, you won’t feel drained,” said software quality assurance engineer and team lead at Kreara Binoy S.
Technopark firm Digital Brand Group (DBG) is another company which embraced the concept. The company has been experimenting with this new management tool for the past six months and has been getting positive results so far, according to Deepu S Nath, the managing director of the web and mobile application development firm.
Deepu said that though gamification was implemented in the company just six months ago, he had always ensured a relaxed environment for his employees right from the start of the company in 2008. “For example, the company did not have an attendance register when it was started, though I introduced it later only for the sake of it,” Deepu said adding that for the past five years, no employee had to sacrifice family engagements for work as not a single leave application was rejected.
In his company, each work assignment is treated as a task in an online game, on completion of which the workers are awarded points on the basis of their performance, which would in turn give the workers a chance to improve their efficacy. Bonus points mean monetary incentives.
The DBG has no specific dress code for its employees. Every month, all the staff of the company organize trips and movies along with their family members, which they believe would help create better bonding within the team members. And, last but not the least the company do not have office boys. Even the smallest of the jobs in the office are shared among the employees. “It was from Farmville, the popular online game, I adopted the basic idea of gamification,” said Deepu.
“When you get a chance to represent a big company for an event, that raises your confidence level,” Anoop P Ambika said. He, however, said the activities most be focused and it is important to maintain balance.
Gamification also brings a chance to rub shoulders with the top brass, which rarely happen in routine work.
“When there is a strong employee bonding, companies will get the courage to take bold steps,” said Anoop adding that Kreara is planning to introduce a chill out area, where they could engage in ‘technology gossip’ sessions.
Thiruvananthapuram: Several companies in Technopark are adopting Google-model gamification as an ideal way to strengthen employee bonding, engage and motivate employees and to make the workspace more productive in a pleasant way. For this some firms are experimenting with and implementing varieties of gamification.
“People never leave a company for less salary, but for dislike for people around. Gamification could bring a solution to one of the major headache of HR-internal politics,” said CEO and managing director of Kreara Solutions Anoop P Ambika, who successfully created an employee-friendly workspace.
Gamifiaction aims at bringing together employees and establishing a good rapport between them and developing mutual respect. At Kreara, a Culture and Sports Committee (CSC), formed three years ago, heads all gamification activates. “We have divided entire employees of the company, including the director and CEO, into four groups. There are various activities during free time. We have earmarked one hour in 10-15 days in December exclusively for such activities. It ushered in positive changes in employee bonding and satisfaction level. After 10-11 hours of work, you won’t feel drained,” said software quality assurance engineer and team lead at Kreara Binoy S.
Technopark firm Digital Brand Group (DBG) is another company which embraced the concept. The company has been experimenting with this new management tool for the past six months and has been getting positive results so far, according to Deepu S Nath, the managing director of the web and mobile application development firm.
Deepu said that though gamification was implemented in the company just six months ago, he had always ensured a relaxed environment for his employees right from the start of the company in 2008. “For example, the company did not have an attendance register when it was started, though I introduced it later only for the sake of it,” Deepu said adding that for the past five years, no employee had to sacrifice family engagements for work as not a single leave application was rejected.
In his company, each work assignment is treated as a task in an online game, on completion of which the workers are awarded points on the basis of their performance, which would in turn give the workers a chance to improve their efficacy. Bonus points mean monetary incentives.
The DBG has no specific dress code for its employees. Every month, all the staff of the company organize trips and movies along with their family members, which they believe would help create better bonding within the team members. And, last but not the least the company do not have office boys. Even the smallest of the jobs in the office are shared among the employees. “It was from Farmville, the popular online game, I adopted the basic idea of gamification,” said Deepu.
“When you get a chance to represent a big company for an event, that raises your confidence level,” Anoop P Ambika said. He, however, said the activities most be focused and it is important to maintain balance.
Gamification also brings a chance to rub shoulders with the top brass, which rarely happen in routine work.
“When there is a strong employee bonding, companies will get the courage to take bold steps,” said Anoop adding that Kreara is planning to introduce a chill out area, where they could engage in ‘technology gossip’ sessions.
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