Playing games to increase productivity

A quality assurance expert develops an easy, fun, and creative way to teach terminology and improve employee performance by awarding prizes for Bingo patterns.

When is a blackout ever a good thing in the manufacturing industry? When the incentive for employees to cover every space on a bingo card for a prize keeps the business running smoothly. Quality/Productivity Bingo, developed in 1992 by Dewayne Gest of the Gest Group (Centreville, MI), not only motivates employees to improve things such as attendance or safety, but it also can familiarize workers with quality terms they can use on the shop floor.

“It takes about a minute a day to manage the game,” says Gest. “Draw a number, put it on the board, and you’re done.”

One bingo set includes 144 laminated reusable cards with 25 spaces on each card. Game rules are provided but can be customized by each employer to address a variety of topics.

In the past five years that molder P.H. Sloan (Mendon, MI) has been using Gest’s bingo game, president Paul Sloan says the results have been spectacular. “We originally started out using it as an attendance tool,” says Sloan. “We had specific rules and some people tried to opt out, but everybody had to participate. If everyone came in, we’d draw a number. If somebody doesn’t show up for work, it affects everyone.” Sloan started with six different patterns; a bingo earned cash prizes and a grand prize was awarded for covering the whole card, which would take about 90 days to complete.

What was the initial outcome on attendance? “I didn’t have to take care of it,” says Sloan. “Other employees would say, ‘Either get here and do what you need to do, or quit.’” As the employees took the game more seriously over time, the incentives grew. In addition to cash prizes, winners started having the option of choosing prizes in one of three bags, which have included diamond jewelry, gift certificates, computers, and even summer vacations.

With the help of the bingo game, things are running so smoothly that about nine months ago P.H. Sloan formed a partnership with Taiwanese-based Creator Injection Molding Machines to be its first U.S. distributor. Now, in addition to running the Creator machines in its own shop, P.H. Sloan can help supply other molders with the new machinery that has helped its operation put out good-quality parts and kept it in business in a competitive market.

“For an employer to achieve goals over an extended period of time, they need to honor their employees,” says Gest. The extra incentive of Bingo prizes has certainly helped Gest’s customers to expect hard work and attention to every detail from their employees.

To find out more about Quality/Productivity Bingo, call (269) 467-4491 or visit www.gestgroup.com.