Corporate play is becoming increasingly popular. Whether organised online or face-to-face, these initiatives offer valuable opportunities to strengthen team cohesion.

The engaging nature of games facilitates the transmission of information while capturing the attention of employees. it creates a playful environment in which the bonds between colleagues are forged or strengthened. This strenghtens the feeling of belonging to the company.

That’s why Leroy Merlin, the famous DIY chain, has chosen to use gamification in the workplace to celebrate its centenary with its teams.

In this article, we take a look at this inspiring example to learn lessons that can be applied within your organisation. From the definition of objectives to the choice of game mechanics, not forgetting the distribution strategy and performance monitoring, let’s discover the keys to this gamified success.

SUMMARY

• Why integrate corporate gaming?
• An ambitious Leroy Merlin project for the brand’s 100th anniversary
• Lessons learned from this campaign

Gaming is much more than just business entertainment. Here a few strategic reasons to adopt it:

• Facilitating learning: edutainment formats enhance memoruzation and make training courses more attractive.
• Creating links: competitions and challenges strengthen team cohesion and stimulate collaboration.
• Boosting commitment: Employees are more inclined to invest when they feel valued and involved in a collective project.
• Boost internal communication: Gamifying key messages helps to capture attention while effectively raising awareness among teams.

To celebrate its centenary, Leroy Merlin launched an in-house game lasting nine months, from January to September. The aim of the project was to unite its 25,000 employees around an emblematic event, while strengthening its employer brand and image.

A fun, participative corporate gaming strategy

The campaign skillfully blended interactive games and collaborative content creation:

• Participative games: Quizzes on the company’s history and mini-games such as “Mega Jump”, designed to stimulate friendly competition between colleagues.
• Collaborative challenges: Challenges that encourage employees to share anecdotes, photos, videos and personal stories, often in pairs or teams.
• Hybrid mechanisms: by combining entertainment and personal expression, Leroy Merlin has guaranteed genuine involvement, rooted in the compan’y values.

Everything was accessible via a dedicated platform and punctuated by an interactive calendar gradually unveiling the events. This structure kept participants interested throughout the campaign.

Effective multi-media distribution

To maxmise participation, Leroy Merlin has deployed a wide range of internal communications:

• Regular alerts on the calendar integrated into the collaborative social network.
• Publications on the intranet to remind the highlights of the operation.
• Internal newsletters, stimulating support and encouraging interaction.

By drawing on these multpile channels, the brand ensured optimum visibility for the campaign, boosting employee commitment.

A collective success, a source of cohesion and pride

With 21,500 registrations out of 25,000 employees, the campaign recorded an exceptional participation rate, demonstrating the strong support of teams.

An emblematic end product

One of the key results of this initiative was the creation of a 100th anniversary book, compiling the anecdotes, photos and testimonials collected during the campaign. The book served several puposes:

• Strenghtening collective pride: Employees felt valued when their contributions were highlighted.
• Extending the impact of the campaign: The book, posted on the intranet, helped to maintain commitment beyond the end of the event.

A stronger employer brand

By mobilising its teams around a common project, Leroy merlin has consolidated its internal and external image. Employee-generated content (UGC, User Generated Content) has helped to promote the company’s values and history to its customers and partners.

The “100 years of Leroy Merlin” operation offers valuable lessons for any company wishing to organise an in-house competition. Here are the key steps for maximising the impact of this type of initiative:

• Define clear objectives: In-company gaming must be part of a strategy that is consistent with needs. Potental objectives include:
  1. Facilitating the integration and training of teams.
  2. Strengthen cohesion and team spirit.
  3. Valuing employees while boosting internal communication.
• Choosing the right mechanics: To maintain interest, it’s essential to combine entertaining games (quizzes, mini-games) with more engaging mechanics, such as collaborative challenges. This mix encourages genuine and lasting involvement.
• Optimising distribution: A successful campaign relies on mutl-media communication, adapted to employee’s habits. the use if newsletters, intranets or internal social networks is essential to boost visibility.
• Measuring results: Monitoring performance is essential: participation rates, quality of content generated or impact on defined objectives. This data will guide the improvement of future initiatives.

Based on these principles, Leroy Merlin has shown that a competition can become a tool for mobilising its teams, strengthening ties and enhancing the company’s culture. Whether to celebrate an event or achieve HR objectives, gamification offers endless opportunities to inspire and unite.

Conclusion

Corporate gamification is a powerful way of stimulating activity, commitment and cohesion. Taking the example of Leroy merlin 100th anniversary campaign, you can organise competitions tailored to your objectives and the aspirations of your teams. Check out our catalogue of mechanics to get your staff involved!