How many CombiCoins did you get today? These days, this is a common question among students in the greenhouses of tomato grower CombiVliet.
In consultation with the students and with the help of an application developer, the company developed a game to make working in the greenhouse more attractive and fun. After a pilot last year, the game is now running at all locations.
"And with success," says Swen Mesken, application manager and data specialist at CombiVliet. "The students and our company managers are enthusiastic, parents are positive and the game has also roused interest among fellow growers who had already heard about it through the Harvest House newsletter, among others."
Gamification
A year and a half ago CombiVliet started putting the game on paper. The idea had been on the table for some time. Gamification, the use of game principles and playing techniques in a non-game context to steer human behavior in a positive way, is also not a new concept. Swen: "The technique has been used for some time. At CombiVliet, the idea had been floated before, but a year and a half ago the decision was made to actually put it into practice."
The decision was made to target students. "The competition for students is fierce. They can go and work anywhere. That's why we wanted to make work more attractive and fun. And a game fits in well with that today."
Objectives
The game at CombiVliet incorporates objectives and challenges, in game form. "As long as you can think up objectives for a group of people, you can also make them into challenges. Together with the students, we looked for challenges. It is important for them to be enthusiastic about it."
In the game, the challenges are divided into components. The obvious ones are speed and attendance. And there are some more general challenges. The students work towards some of the challenges throughout the year. For example, working for x-number of hours. Other challenges start every day. Think about improving speed or meeting the set harvest standard.
Reward
In the game, students receive CombiCoins for achieving their goals. "A game only works if there is a reward in return," says Swen. "In our case, that is the CombiCoin, which is worth 2.5 euro cents. You can get them for completing the challenges. Every day it is fun for the students to see that their work pays off.
Even without a game, there is still competition in the greenhouse. Work registration systems help with that. "But now it's much more interactive," explains Swen. "At any moment of the day, the student can see how things are going if they look at the app or log in on the internet. That fits in better with today's generation. Even at primary school, they are already using gamification."
Anyone who has enough CombiCoins can have them paid out. This can be done in five grades, starting at 12.50 euros. For this purpose, there is a payout button in the game. And also an incentive to save. "Those who do not choose to pay out immediately at 12.50 Euros, but wait, can receive up to 15% extra payouts. Good for the students, but also easier for us because of the administration."
Ensuring quality
Many challenges are quantitative in nature, but at CombiVliet quality is ultimately paramount. How do you ensure that that remains guaranteed within the game? "Good question. We had to think hard about that. The game must not ignore our quality objectives. That is why we continue to work with quality grades for activities, including for other staff. If a score is insufficient, the CombiCoins accrued on that day are forfeited. In this way, we guarantee quality and encourage not only fast but also good work."
Meanwhile, human compliments also remain important. "But in a large greenhouse full of students and temporary workers, it is difficult for managers to encourage everyone properly and give them the same amount of personal attention. The game helps a little with that."
Opportunities
And this game is now paying off. Both literally for the students, but also for CombiVliet, because the students are enthusiastic. "At the last location where the game was played, at Zeevliet, they were eager to get started."
Now that the game is running everywhere, Swen himself can throw himself into new technical challenges. "There is plenty to do in the field of data and with, for example, autonomous cultivation. And who knows, maybe we will use it for other groups in the future. Especially for targets that are easy to automate, such as those of temporary workers, I see opportunities."
For more information:
CombiVliet
www.combivliet.nl
info@combivliet.nl
Swen Mesken
swen@combivliet.nl