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With the 2024 European Football Championship on the horizon, workplaces were abuzz, and even the colleague "who doesn't like football" was keen to guess the results. Thousands of employees took part in Blue Colibri's free summer betting game. Companies have been very successful in activating team members, even though the working hours and conditions of blue-collar workers often make it difficult to get colleagues involved. A winner was announced yesterday at the championship, but the workplace game doesn't end there! The potential of gamification should be further exploited with physical staff.
We have now made the Blue Colibri betting platform available to any company, free of charge, alongside our partners. We wanted to allow them to test how to reduce the distance between blue-collar workers who work physically far apart and how to involve more colleagues in a community program effectively.
It is a good indication of the enthusiasm that 95 companies out of our existing 140 active customers have requested to activate the game module and 54 companies have created a unique group. 24.5% of the employees of the companies that opted in could be activated with the game, which is above average for similar games.
A total of 19,257 people took part in our betting game. That's how many workers have been regularly guessing the possible outcome of a match for a month. They got excited, cheered, had a sense of achievement, competed with their colleagues and bosses, and of course, got closer together. They built a workplace community.
The spirit of competition and the power of play are not just for children or sports. It can also have a great impact on workplace community dynamics, individual performance, and engagement, which is why gamification has a place in the long-term life of companies.
In the Blue Colibri betting game, a total of 18,221 tips were received for the result of the first match. The German and Scottish national teams clashed in the first match of the European Football Championship. There was not really a question about the host, Germany being more eligible to win. 94% of participants picked a German victory. But there was a surprise, as not many had predicted the 5-1 final score. Still, 1% of the tipsters guessed the goal difference.
This is also a great illustration of the considerations that should always be taken into account when it comes to corporate gaming:
Much has already been said about the challenges of motivating blue-collar workers and increasing their engagement. Among these, the difficulties of reaching and thus building a community always stand out. It is much more challenging to keep a team together and motivated when the nature of the work means that physical distances, multi-shift working patterns, and other barriers make the path difficult.
Introducing gamification into corporate processes goes far beyond the team playing a game for recreation. There are many benefits to gamification and healthy competition in everyday workplace tasks. For example:
In blue-collar jobs, it is not uncommon to have monotonous work and a lack of feedback/evaluation - gamification, and individual or group point-scoring competitions can also help in this area. A healthy rivalry between colleagues is also good for group dynamics. It can provide a lot of common ground, improve morale, build friendships, and even benefit a culture of recognition.
Engaging and retaining physical workers has been a major challenge for HR in recent times. However, innovative approaches such as integrating play into the everyday life of the organization are promising significant results. Competitive spirit, personal and team successes, and collaboration can all contribute to making physical workers feel more at home in the workplace and the community. It can also increase their commitment to a company that places a high value on fostering a positive work environment and a rewarding, motivating work culture. Not only can this make retention easier, but it can also offer an attractive alternative to those looking for a job.
Companies that reach employees through a digital internal communication platform can also see interesting results when gamification becomes part of everyday life. It is clear from a campaign such as the Euro betting game that participating employees log on to the company platform more frequently and thus find it easier to access other content on the platform. Those who are otherwise less likely to regularly check news, pictures, and video content may find it easier to engage with other content through such a game. If the game and the competitive environment also make the employee more insightful and even interested in the company's affairs and the community, it would be a real waste to miss this opportunity.
