Most managers wouldn’t consider playing video games during the workday a productive use of employee time, but Dan Pontefract, chief envisioner of Telus Corp.’s transformation office, thinks differently. When Pontefract joined the company in 2009, he saw that engagement in the workplace was pretty standard, hovering right above 50 percent. However, he wanted to improve those rates. “How are we all going to proverbially sing from the same choir sheet?” Pontefract recalled asking himself, speaking during a recent webinar. “Employee engagement is a measure of your culture. Maybe there’s a case to be made that you need to invest in the employee experience, simultaneously putting your customers first.” His answer? A speed skating video game. The method takes the idea of gamification literally. Employees play the game over six weeks as part of a competition; races take place every Friday. However, the goal isn’t necessarily to “win.” The game teaches Telus’s leadership principles. “We want to teach empathy,” Pontefract says. Winners get to choose which charity will receive a corporate donation. The game, among other efforts, has been wildly successful. Pontefract reports that in 2015, engagement hit an all-time high of 87 percent.