Case Study – Baker’s Journey:
A Leading Financial Institution Gamifies HR System Adoption for Employee Engagement
A leading financial institution in Singapore was seeking a fresh and engaging way to support employees in adopting a new HR system. The objective was to ease the transition, boost employee readiness, and foster positive engagement throughout the change journey.
By partnering with Gametize, the organization launched a 3-month gamified experience that employees found fun and rewarding, using a variety of interactive challenges and team activities to drive participation and learning.
4790+
Players
3.6k
Achievements
70k
Completions
160+
Team
About The Client
A leading Singapore-based financial institution, with a strong presence across Southeast Asia and Greater China. As part of its ongoing commitment to employee experience and innovation, the organization embarked on a HR transformation journey, introducing a new modernized HR platform to streamline services and empower employees with better tools and insights.
The Challenge
The organization aimed to ease employees into adopting their new HR platform by making the change journey more engaging and memorable.
The objective was to boost knowledge retention, build confidence in using the new system, and drive high participation rates.
Rather than relying solely on traditional communications, the organization sought a mobile-first, gamified approach that could deliver a more interactive and motivating experience across the organization.
Goals
The organization primary goal was to successfully onboard 3,000 employees onto the new HR platform through a voluntary and engaging experience.
Given that participation was not mandatory, the program also aimed to achieve a high engagement rate of 60% across all campaigns.
The focus was to:
- Drive early adoption of the new HR system
- Sustain engagement through gamified individual and team challenges
- Build momentum for long-term HR transformation
The Player Profile
Participants of the Baker’s Journey campaign were employees from across the organization group, spanning various departments and job functions.
The gamification strategy was designed to meet them where they are — short, rewarding interactions that fit easily into a busy workday.
The Solution: Baker’s Journey – MyHR Recipe
To bring the HR transformation to life in a fun and relatable way, The organization introduced a pastry-themed narrative — Baker’s Journey.
Employees stepped into the shoes of pastry chefs on a mission to master the new HR system, one recipe (challenge) at a time.
Pick Your Avatar
To enhance engagement, players began by choosing an avatar — stepping into the role of a pastry chef.
Each campaign was framed as a chapter in their baking journey, such as “Tools of the Trade” or “Mastering the Oven.”
As employees completed each chapter, they unlocked badges representing pastry ranks — rising from Junior Baker to Master Pastry Chef, making the experience more personal and goal-driven.
Team-based Collaboration
Beyond individual play, the platform encouraged team-based collaboration.
- Employees could form teams of at least 3 players to earn bonus points
- Team leaders received additional rewards for successfully rallying teammates
- A referral function allowed players to invite colleagues and earn bonus points together
These features reinforced peer encouragement, creating a culture of shared learning.
The numbers...
The results of Playbook were impressive in terms of player engagement. A total of 34 projects were created to-date (2024), with more than 3000 players logging in to participate. The total number of completions were more than 350,000, indicating that users were highly engaged with the content.
Verdict? Gametized!
Baker’s Journey was a resounding success in driving change through gamification.
With over 4,700 players onboarded and more than 70,000 completions in a voluntary campaign, the numbers speak for themselves — already surpassing the original goals set for the initiative.
Players enjoyed the pastry chef storyline, engaging challenges, and team dynamics that made learning fun. It proved that with the right mix of story, structure, and incentives — even change management can be enjoyable.
