Omnicare, a pharmacy management software company, was experiencing long wait times at its helpdesk. It tried to implement a gamification solution by adding a leaderboard and cash rewards for the fastest times. However, this caused wait times, employee turnover, and customer satisfaction to decrease instead. The employees felt micromanaged by the scoring system. Omnicare then changed the system to focus on achievements and non-cash rewards, tailored challenges to employees each shift, and saw improvements in wait times, customer satisfaction, and employee retention as a result. The key lesson is that gamification design must consider what motivates each specific group of employees.

1. OMNICARE
Gamification in Employee Engagement

2. Prepared By
Manu Melwin Joy
Assistant Professor
SCMS School of Technology and Management
Kerala, India.
Phone – 9744551114
Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com
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3. OMNICARE
• Omnicare is a more IT-
centric organization that
produces pharmacy
management software --a
kind of outsourced
helpdesk for pharmacies.

4. OMNICARE
• Omnicare was
experiencing long wait
times at its helpdesk.

5. OMNICARE
• The employees were
experienced and
knowledgeable about the
service. The company
wanted to gamify a
solution to improve
efficiency.

6. OMNICARE
• It started by adding a
leaderboard and showing
the reps the board. They
also issued cash rewards to
employees with the fastest
times on the floor.

7. OMNICARE
• However, the results weren't
what management
expected. Immediately wait
times increased and
employee turnover spiked;
people were quitting their
jobs and customer
satisfaction plummeted.

8. OMNICARE
• The difference here
versus the Target
example is that the
client didn't think about
what was motivating the
reps.

9. OMNICARE
• These helpdesk employees
were high tech and,
according to Zichermann,
felt like they already had a
sense of control over their
own life.

10. OMNICARE
• When Omnicare
introduced a scoring
system as it did, these
employees felt like Big
Brother was watching
them.

11. OMNICARE
• "To a Target cashier, it's
positive feedback to a
high-end helpdesk rep,
it's Big Brother," says
Zichermann.

12. OMNICARE
• So Omnicare iterated and
changed the design of the
system. Now instead of
being all about time and
motion, they set up a
series of achievements
that reps could reach.

13. OMNICARE
• The reps are given a
challenge at the beginning
of every shift. For example,
a helpdesk support analyst
might receive a note like
this at the beginning of
their shift.

14. OMNICARE
• "Today find three
customers who have a
specific problem with
billing and help them
with billing."

15. OMNICARE
• As they progress through
these series of challenges,
they are given short-term
rewards that are
achievement and
recognition oriented (non-
cash incentives).

16. OMNICARE
• "Time in their waiting
queue was halved,
customer satisfaction
went back up and
employee turnover was
down.

17. OMNICARE
• It's a very different design,
but with the same core
premise and with wildly
different results," says
Zichermann. The bottom-
line is that there is no one-
size-fits-all answer.