Bringing gamification to the warehouse workforce

Last week we talked in class about the job as forklift driver this triggered me to talk a bit more about jobs within warehouses. Working as a picker or forklift driver in a warehouse doesn’t seem to be the most inspiring job in the world. If you ask younger people on what do you want to become when you’re older less then 2% (I have no scientific research data, just an estimation) would answer, a warehouse picker or forklift driver.

However the job is still quiet important and with all package handling today we at the moment still needs these jobs to exist. The popularity of gamification on the workforce is taking a huge flight at the moment. Gamification is adding some game and fun elements to your core job to increase the entertainment and engagement of the employees and to become a great place to work for employers.

At the moment always every employee in the warehouse has a mobile phone which they use for their core business process, scanning boxes/products in the warehouse. The Enterprise resource planning tool they use in their job is getting more smart but some applications are also adding gamification in their process.  Gamification can increase motivation, engagement and creates a collaborative culture. It is based on video games in non-gaming situations like working in a warehouse. The warehouse is a perfect scenario for adding/using gamification elements. Warehouses can have anywhere from dozens to hundreds of employees, many of whom likely don’t interact on a regular basis. By using elements like challenges, badges, levels and leaderboards, gamification can help create a more interactive and compelling workplace environment.

Imagine a reward system based on the amount of packages you handle during the day individual or with your team? Image a pokemon go look a like app, so that during the day you can catch achievements which are located on your routes for example?
It would be a great idea to add a formal reward system in money or development courses for employees to get more inspired and to work harder during the days to increase productivity of the warehouse.

The following video provides a small introduction to gamification in our lives.