Power Up Employee Experience


Brand Story – Get There Challenge gamification connects employees to productive, healthy work habits, while fueling business agility and performance.

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 Amid the myriad of factors impacting business performance—from productivity and mission effectiveness to edging out the competition and kindling the fires of innovation—is one pivotal cornerstone upon which success heavily depends: the employee.

Employees are valuable as contributors and champions. Yet, disengaged and unhealthy employees can negatively impact work culture, productivity, and, ultimately, the bottom line. Many factors drive employee perceptions and performance, but one that is often overlooked is organizational culture that allows flexibility, particularly remote work, and supports healthier work habits, which ease employee commute pain.

Already a growing trend, COVID-19 rapidly hastened the adoption of remote work. Across the spectrum of industries—tech, health care, banking, legal, and finance—businesses are (re)inventing operational models with digital hybridization that employs a distributed workforce as a keystone strategy. It is now more a question of how we can do it better than reverting back to businesses as usual.

Notwithstanding the COVID-19 crisis, employee commutes have steadily gotten longer over the last decade with bottlenecks and delays getting worse. Commute pain will likely resurface as communities and businesses push forward with reopening. Employees will yet again face stressful and draining commutes that can erode job satisfaction and productivity.

Alleviating commute pain through transportation options, such as bike commuting, transit, and carpooling, can provide safe and practical alternatives to driving alone. Businesses connecting essential, shift, or office workers to transportation options can realize a broad range of benefits tied to a less stressed, more energized and healthier workforce, plus capture financial savings in reduced health care costs and taxes.

“It’s hard to break habits and change cultural norms. People and organizations tend to habitually do things the same old way. COVID-19 has become a catalyst for rethinking how work and business get done.” explains Stephanie Millar, Get There program manager at the Oregon Department of Transportation. “We can take advantage of the disruption and lessons learned to get ahead with new mindsets and habits to keep Oregon moving.”

Millar added, “This year’s Get There Challenge enables participants to build their knowledge and skills by unlocking achievements—many that can be done from home—to earn badges, plus points toward weekly and grand prize drawings.”

Leveraging game elements like points and badges, known as gamification, provides a unique user experience, making it fun to pursue a goal and giving positive motivation to learn and do.

“Gamification has gotten a lot of attention in recent years—it greatly expands the range of possibilities for learning and participation,” says Victor Fani with RideAmigos, creators of the Get There platform. “It’s a powerful motivational tool that promotes employee engagement based on our natural need for self-esteem and recognition.”

The 2020 Get There Challenge, running between Oct. 5 and 18, boasts 19 different remote work and transportation option knowledge and skill building achievements that participants can unlock to earn badges and points toward weekly and grand prize drawings. Anyone age 18 or older who works or lives in Oregon is eligible to participate by creating or reactivating an account at GetThereOregon.org.

Organizational networks can be set up for free by contacting [email protected] to promote competition between employees during the Challenge and to track progress on metrics such as badges earned, calories burned, and CO2 reductions.

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Brand stories are paid content articles that allow Oregon Business advertisers to share news about their organizations and engage with readers on business and public policy issues.  The stories are produced in house by the Oregon Business marketing department. For more information, contact associate publisher Courtney Kutzman.