[Intern Insight] Imagining the Future: How Workplace Fun Transforms Companies.

People love duality. You have ‘black’ and ‘white’, ‘love’ and ‘hate’, ‘good’ and ‘evil’, ‘ying’ and ‘yang’. It makes things easier if you only have to pick from two sides. And naturally, duality must apply for all aspects of our lives. Nowadays, we speak in terms of ‘personal’ and ‘professional’ life; workplace fun seems oxymoronic. They are separate entities, locked in eternal combat, two sides of the same coin…all the romantic terms you can think of. The point is, they are extreme opposites and never mix. Or do they?

How workplace fun has evolved?

It has come to my attention that somehow, somewhere, a curious aspect – definitely shelved in our personal life – has crept into our professional life, and it’s called ‘fun’.

The concept of ‘fun’ is starting to change how we perceive our working space, how fast we learn new skills, how engaged we become in our jobs and how long we remain in our current position.

Fun is shaped by the change in attitude towards gamification. If we make it a game and it is fun, then the learning process is simplified and sustainable over a longer period of time. Even more so if this is incorporated into a digital mobile platform.

And how do retail companies respond to that?

Again, we have two opposite sides.

The general fear is if employees spend time playing on their phones, then they do not dedicate enough time to the customer. While correct, we have to think outside of the box. Shouldn’t we be tapping into this ‘mobile playing’ obsession by adding game elements to learning materials to improve employee engagement? Is the time spent with the customer well used? Just adding the right elements in the right order does not necessarily mean it would work.

How would a mobile application change that?

First of all, more than 74% of companies currently use learning management systems (LMS) and virtual classroom/webcasting/video. From the other perspective, 77% of internet users network via mobile phones daily. It can’t be helped, it’s like a drug! 966 million — or 78% of all 1.2billion gamers worldwide — admit to playing games daily. It’s like a match made in heaven!

 How exactly would a gamified mobile app help?

It would reduce employee turnover and increase employee performance. It’s like a game of dominos, really! Everything is connected! It will also affect customer satisfaction, loyalty, and general sales.

Is it future-oriented or just a passing fad?

As proven by Kurzweils’ Acceleration Law, technological advancement intensifies faster with each year. Therefore, an app that keeps up with all the demand changes, offers personalized training, and makes it so much fun that you would be playing it in your spare time, is definitely a thing of the future! It will still be ‘a la mode’ 100 years from now when employees sell oxygen masks on Mars!

This post is brought to you by one of AQ’s Undergraduates, Laura Susnea. As part of our internship programs, undergraduates and classic interns are encouraged to take part in company culture. Laura’s primary project focusses on training programs and eLearning and how best to adapt this to industries under pressure. As a result, she knows a lot about the subject being discussed in this guest post: Workplace Fun.