The Gamification Revolution: How Leaders Leverage Game Mechanics to Crush the Competition

5IGNITING EMPLOYEE INNOVATION

When you think of employee-driven innovation, federal governments are rarely the first thing that comes to mind. But in the United Kingdom, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has become one of the leaders in driving innovative ideas from within its own ranks. The agency’s gamified economic marketplace for innovation, called Idea Street, has been spreading employee ideas and then turning them into realities—and the timing couldn’t be any better (Figure 5.1). In the midst of the austerity programs gripping Europe, the DWP is still the United Kingdom’s largest government agency. The agency accounts for nearly 28 percent of the nation’s budget, spending £121 billion (over $190 billion) and delivering a range ...