Can games encourage creativity in employees?

It’s very important for companies that their employees are motivated and enjoy their work. Only then can they perform outstandingly. But how can you encourage employees in this scenario?

With Games. Yes, you’ve heard correctly! Big companies such as Google, Leroy Merlin, Telefônica, Carrefour, Santander, Siemens and others use Game Jams to develop several qualifications of their employees.

Co-creating the games helps the participants to develop different skills. Communication, innovation, creativity, teamwork and resilience are trained and can be used in daily professional life. For Fernando Seacero, co-founder of i9Ação from Brazil, adults can only learn or change their behavior when they notice the advantage of change. “That’s why it’s important that the learning experience doesn’t only touch the mind but also the heart. That way, the participants can understand, feel and apply the individual effects.”

Game Jams are events at which very diverse personalities with various skills come together to develop a game together. So it might happen that the colleagues from the marketing division dabble in game design or that programmers design graphics. Everyone can learn from each other. “That way, the participants can try new things and gain experience which might be important for their actual job,” explains Christopher Zurheiden of the InnoGames GmbH company from Hamburg in Germany.

Game development is a complex process. The methodology of the game jams encourages dedication in the participants, which are capable of producing entertaining, rich and useful content quickly. When problems occur, Game Jams help to look for new creative solutions. “Training employees through Game Jams helps staff and company to explore new ways, which they might couldn’t have done with their usual work,” reasons Monica Santos, Head of HR of Google Latin America

According to Engagement Group and Gartner, dedicated employees feel 480% more committed to the company and submit 250% percent more suggestions to improve the company in every division than indifferent employees. Less dedicated employees tend to quit their job four times as much. Less dedicated managers are 3 times as likely to lead teams that are also less dedicated.

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