GAMIFICATION.COM - The Official Blog of Bunchball

Millennials Just Want to Have Fun (and Work Hard While Doing It)

By Katherine Heisler, Account Executive, Bunchball
katherine.heisler@bunchball.com / @katheisler

Full disclosure: I am a Millennial. Yes it’s true - born in 198don’tworryabout it, I had a cell phone at 14, was on Facebook before the “grownups” got to join, and I identify strongly with other Millennials who see room for improvement on how we work. These ideas cause some to think of my generation as a group of lazy, good for nothing slackers - entitled to everything with zero work ethic. Ouch. And, incorrect. 

Millennials have an incredible sense of work ethic that’s simply motivated in a different way. So instead of giving up on us, let’s learn about techniques companies can use to bring out our best, while satisfying some new found work life expectations. I will endeavor to do this by sharing my experience with Bunchball’s product Nitro for Salesforce, a gamification plug-in for Salesforce.com CRM system, and how it satisfies five specific millennial expectations as uncovered by MTV’s recent study on Millennials in the workplace. 

1. 89% of Millennials want their workplace to be social and fun (compared to only 60% of Boomers) - Having an outlet to connect with your colleagues on a social platform fosters group morale, which is why so many companies are going the Social Enterprise platform route. Rightly so. Most of my colleagues are located on the West Coast, while I’m here in New York. I wouldn’t know my colleagues or appreciate them the way I do if we didn’t use tools like group chat on Skype or Chatter on Salesforce.com. I’m also rewarded with points through Nitro for Salesforce for participating in these forums. Admittedly this is why I first engaged, but now it’s more than that. I work with real people who have great ideas and help me on a daily basis. Through positive reinforcement with points for commenting and the experience of communicating with my team from afar, my loyalty to my team has grown so deeply. Gamification can also be the fun factor in work. What’s more enticing? Having a run of the mill to-do list or engaging in missions and challenges that are transparent and acknowledged? 
   
    
2. 61% of Millennials say they need specific directions from their boss to do their best work — a level twice as high as observed among Boomers - Millennials want to know they are on track more than any other generation, and thanks to growing up on Web, we want to know in real time.  Gamification technology satisfies this need, and also automates the process. I log on to Salesforce and see a list of challenges my boss wants me to focus on. This gives me a clear picture of what’s expected and allows me to zoom in on what matters most.  I can easily distill this information by seeing the corresponding point values or rewards that are generated by completing the tasks at hand. Here’s an example of some starter challenges:
   
   
    
3. 8 out of 10 Millennials want regular feedback from their boss- It would be pretty difficult for any manager to provide employees with regular feedback, but with gamification technology I don’t need to ping my boss to know where I stand. Leaderboards tell me. For example, if I’m on Team East Coast, and we’re placing last on the team leaderboard, and I’m in last place on the team - - do I really need to ask my boss how I’m doing? It’s pretty obvious. On a more positive note, when I do log valuable actions or win challenges in Salesforce, I get instant feedback from pop up notifications congratulating me on a job well done. What a lovely feeling! And one that my boss doesn’t need to provide me with directly on a daily basis because it’s done automatically.
   
   
    
4. 8 out of 10 Millennials think they deserve to be recognized more for their work- Okay, so maybe this is where we get a bad rep for being entitled. But we are the generation who got trophies for merely showing up to things, so when we actually do something worthy of recognition, we really want that recognition. Nitro for Salesforce uses a digital trophy case to incent the team to accomplish more challenges. Challenges I haven’t completed are greyed out. Challenges I have completed are highlighted on my profile page.  Furthermore, when I unlock a digital trophy, that accomplishment is broadcast in our newsfeed and on Chatter for the whole company to see. I can also use my points to redeem physical prizes in our rewards store. No golf clubs for me, thank you. I’m working on that first class ticket to San Francisco! 
   
   
   
   
    
5. Three-fourths of Millennials think that if the workplace were like a game, they’d know how to “level up” faster than others- This one is too easy. All I want to say about this point is, make us prove it. See, look at me: I only have 6,525 bazingas to go