Well-being and QWL: a place for serious games?

Improving management practices, putting in place solid foundations for a better quality of work life, preventing psychosocial risks… For nearly three years, the National Agency for the Improvement of Working Conditions (Anact) has offered a range of games for companies.

“Behind each of our games, there is a proven method and solid knowledge resulting from research conducted by scientists or interventions in companies,” notes Ségolène Journoud, head of the transfer solutions development department for the Anact network.

Each year, Anact explores several key themes in the quality of work life. “With games, learning is no longer done through theoretical and intellectual levers and repetition, but through sensory, experiential and situational learning. The participants can thus tackle sensitive and difficult topics in a safe environment, with the right to make mistakes and the removal of hierarchical barriers. There is only a facilitator and players“, develops Ségolène Journoud.

The “Casual Sexism” board game, on sale on the Anact website (216 euros), is the latest addition to the public agency’s range of products. “This game allows you to learn how to unmask the different facets of sexism and identify their possible components in everyday work situations, while creating a necessary debate between employees,” describes the Anact website.

Anact’s first video game is called “Ergasia, the new territories of work”. “It is an awareness and training game on improving working conditions. Teams compete on different determinants of well-being at work and must conquer new territories. In addition to a consistent and solid learning, there is spice related to the challenge and the confrontation of ideas“, explains the specialist.

In the field of health, the ARS Pays de la Loire (Regional Health Agency) has also chosen to invest in this field of play by developing a catalog of games that look like escape games.

For Vincent Tharreau, founder of Kiplin: “We all know that we should be more active, that we should eat better, sleep better… But nobody really applies it. The idea is to use the game to change our behavior, to drive these changes. Instead of rolling dice or flipping a card, you play with your physical activity and your phone. Did you walk 3,000 steps, 5,000 steps, or 7,000 steps today? Every step you take in your daily life earns you points and allows you to advance in step-by-step stories.”

The serious game can also lead to an individual experience. For example, the transport company DB Schenker France recently equipped its employees’ smartphones with the Play Stay Safe game developed by Récréaction, a specialist in corporate gamification.

The app’s objective? To reduce the number of work-related accidents, especially on the docks during loading and unloading. “We have relied on the telephone, used by all employees, with an approach based on video games for micro-learning awareness, i.e. by sequencing the learning in very brief formats“, comments Céline Berger, founder of Récréaction on ActuTransportLogistique.fr

A routine of three minutes a day (no more) has been set up for the group’s employees with a daily video game and a health quiz.

Dorothée Duchemin