100 points or $100 - Which Would You Rather Have?

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Gamification is exploding. Some critics claim it has reached its peak while others believe the surface has barely been scratched.  Gamification is now making its way into the workplace with executives and managers deploying game mechanics to motivate and publicly acknowledge their top performers.  One of the key ingredients of gamification is the use of points to recognize achievements.  I have a problem with this concept.

Points are great for airline miles, football games, fantasy sports leagues and credit card awards. Unless you’re willing to equate points to monetary items they carry little value in the workplace, especially in a sales environment.  As a sales person myself, I could care less about 100 points. What I do care about is money, spiffs and public acknowledgement for doing my job well.  I also care about my sales rank in relation to my peers. Sales managers don’t care about how many points I have. They care about how many deals I’ve closed, my current forecast, my pipeline and whether or not I am doing the required activities to be successful. Giving sales reps tangible awards instead of virtual points for achieving these goals delivers significant value and is proven to be motivating. My point is I’d rather receive $100 instead of 100 points.