The past few months have been filled with positive enthusiasm, rivalry and bonding between supervisors and their teams across the entire organization. Key executives from 13 European countries tackled several tasks focusing on managerial best practices. The Gamification Manager of Choice was divided into 5 phases: recruiting, onboarding, development, daily work and leaving the organization. The project attracted such great interest that the involvement of the managers exceeded the expectations of the organizers.
Over 75% of gamification participants passed each of the 5 modules by completing all the activities available on the platform. The quality of the tasks performed also exceeded the organizers' target: the average level of fairness reached 79% and some of the questions were truly surprising and required great creativity. In recent months, the Manager of Choice has been the most discussed topic in the company. When new activities appeared on the platform, all project participants were ready for action. Collaboration between managers was a very positive phenomenon. Sometimes project participants discussed the activities that appeared on the platform by telephone, organized review meetings or created online groups to quickly exchange information. As many as 40% of managers answered questions within two hours of their publication.
A lot of interest from the managers was to be appreciated. Therefore, the closure of the project had a special frame. The awards ceremony was recorded and broadcast live by a Warsaw studio so that every manager and member of the HR team involved in the project could attend the event in real time. The best managers received congratulations and thanks from the Group's CEO, Ewald Raben, who personally hosted the ceremony together with Anita Koralewska-Ratajczak, Head of Group HR. Although due to current restrictions each winner was in a different location, during the gala they connected live with the studio, received congratulations and shared their impressions of the project with others.
The top managers summarized the project during the award ceremony. Each of the winners stressed that participating in gamification was an interesting and developmental experience for them. "I had a lot of fun learning and competing with other managers of the Group" - said Beata Wozniak, sixth in the standings. "Strangely, even during my vacation, I would sit at the computer at 9:00 and wait for new homework." - said Dorota Kondrot, who ranked fourth in gamification. Piotr Mędlewski, who was in seventh place, compared the work of a manager in Raben to the role of a director: “When I thought about the Group's project and my role as manager in Raben, I came to the conclusion that being a manager is a bit like being a director. The point is that great films are not made only by the director, but by all the people who work together and create the atmosphere." Each of the winners stressed that the success in gamification would not have been possible without the support of their teams. . "I absolutely want to dedicate this award to my IT team in Germany. Thank you for your support and for our team spirit. It is a pleasure for me to work with you." - said Rene Lüthen, 14th place in the standings.
There was a very positive atmosphere during the ceremony and the winners congratulated each other. “Congratulations to all the participants because it was not easy. It was a difficult time for all of us. For me personally, the Manager of Choice has been a nice element of the last few months where we have worked remotely, sometimes with the guys, sometimes without. This was really good. "- summed up Maciej Jarosz, the winner of the program.
Has the knowledge acquired through gamification translated into an actual behavioral change? Absolutely! The key to the victory was the collaboration with the teams at every stage of the game and the practical application of the knowledge gained during training.
“As an HR department, every day we see that managers have taken deeply to heart everything they learned during the program. Among the specific changes that have taken place in our organization, for instance, we see that participating managers pay special attention to ensuring that each applicant receives comprehensive, fact-based feedback. In addition, it is becoming more common to stay in touch with prospective employees after the recruitment process is completed.” - explains Anita Koralewska-Ratajczak, Head of Group HR.
The key to success of the project was that the tasks completed by the managers not only reinforced or transferred knowledge to the participants, but also encouraged them to interact with their teams (e.g. record a video together for a new employee). The program made managers realise that in order to increase the engagement of the team, many simple changes can be applied which do not require special funding, such as greater care in adjusting tasks to the predispositions of employees, introduction of praise or knowledge sharing. During the gamification, concrete and easy-to-implement ideas were also developed, like ways to motivate the team. Now these ideas are being implemented step by step and they are changing the company culture. Managers, on the other hand, organize special briefings for employees to ensure proper flow of information. They provide an opportunity to discuss current tasks, as well as to appreciate the team's commitment and ensure a positive atmosphere.
The Manager of Choice project has been a success. The aim of the activities was primarily to change attitudes and to develop sensitivity in managers towards aspects related with team management. The changes observed by HR employees show that the goal has been achieved.
Martina Alemani
PR & Marketing
Raben Italy
martina.alemani@raben-group.com