Highfive, Turning the Culture of Appreciation into Fun Gamification

We all understand that appreciation and recognition play an important role in the workplace. It makes someone’s day a little brighter. It inspires people to be better. And it makes work pressure seem lighter.

The rule of the game is pretty simple: always say thank you whenever you receive assistance from others. But let’s turn a simple, ordinary ‘thank you’ into a fun thing you’re always waiting for! At Bukalapak, we call it Highfive — a centralized, point-based appreciation system created for Bukalapak’s internal teams.

“When your colleagues help your work, you can give them points and write comments to appreciate their hard work. A chatbot will help you throughout the process, including announcing your appreciation to the company’s Telegram group,” says Rick Daniel, Bukalapak’s Senior Software Development Engineer, who developed the Highfive system together with Ibrahim Arief, VP of Engineering and R&D in the company.

The good news is the points aren’t virtual. They can be converted into BukaDompet balance at the end of the month and can be used to shop around.

“It took us a while to determine the conversion rate. Initially, it was set at Rp1,000 per point. But then people started to use their points to buy gorengan (a typical Indonesian assortment of fritter),” says Ibrahim. “Then we changed the conversion rate: 1 point for Rp1,337. I know the number is odd, but we just want it to be used accordingly.” he continues.

Providing emotional comfort

The Highfive system first ran in December 2016 and as of early March, 2019, there were around 8,600 Highfives given every month; 2,378 employees extended their appreciation, and 2,511 employees received Highfive.

“People are happy with the Highfive system,” the duo conclude. Regardless of the numbers, the Highfive system also creates a more positive work atmosphere in the company — and it’s priceless!

“There’s a special kind of feeling seeing your name being mentioned in the Highfive system. Just when you think you have an ordinary day, your colleague makes it special by appreciating your help and work,” Ibrahim explains.

Rick also shares the opinion. He believes that the Highfive system helps the company to promote kindness, compassion, and appreciation amidst their day-to-day job.

Although their colleagues already love their bot, Ibrahim and Rick continue to improve the Highfive system. Rick is currently developing a website that enables employees to both looks at their Highfive scores and provides feedback to the website. This will make the Highfive system even more user-friendly and everyone will benefit from the collegial and collaborative work environment it creates.

Want to learn more about the Highfive system or be Highfive-ed? Consider joining our team. We are always looking for new talents who are driven and passionate in their fields.