Business Scenario
Some employees adopt changes easily, while others may be a little disinclined to accept the new change. The best way of introducing a new idea is to start with something which is entertaining, fun, and easy to use, which would create interests in employees and make them want to join and contest. The implementation must enable employees to see that the system is rewarding, and has a positive impact on daily working life. It is also important to have a visible long-term plan in terms of future career development.
Gamification a new trend that aims to improve people’s engagement, inspiration, reliability, or participation. Gamification is inspired by the accomplishment and attractiveness of video games and looks for ways to use the game’s features in non-game contexts, as a way to drive game-like engagement.
Gamification as such one of the most popular topics right now in Learning and Development. By leveraging unique elements of the game, Gamification techniques act as building blocks to increase engagement levels.
Bunchball Nitro for SAP SuccessFactors Learning is part of the core functionality of the SAP SuccessFactors Talent Management system. Tracking learning completions, course enrolment, launching, sharing and recommendations requires no additional installation. You can add gamification and performance analytics to your LMS and training resources without any additional installation. All you need to do is configure your SuccessFactors Learning to integrate with Bunchball Nitro.
We will explore how Gamification works within SuccessFactors LMS, and how it boosts engagement for learners with effective Gamification strategies and take advantage of the games’ power with lesser costs and effort.
Configuring a Learning Game Server
Before you can administer the game settings in SAP SuccessFactors Learning, you need to set up the game server.
After provisioning sandbox and production instances, Bunchball provides the API Key and Secret Key for the new instances. These keys are also available in Nitro Studio > Configuration > Site Settings > Overview. A default configuration is provided as a starting point for new SAP SuccessFactors Learning customers, which includes a standard strategy workbook document as a guide.
Note: Always use the Bunchball Strategy Workbook to initiate changes to your program. Versions of the workbook should always be the same as the configuration in Nitro Studio.
GAMIFICATION System Properties File
After the game server is configured, you connect to it from the LMS through the
GAMIFICATION system configuration. SAP SuccessFactors Learning sends points to the game server, where your company's game is configured. The game server runs the game logic and sends back user achievements (badges, points, leaders, and so on).
Procedure
Go to
System Administration> Configuration> System Configuration > GAMIFICATION.
- Configure the connection to the game server in the GAMIFICATIONproperties file.
- These settings control the connection from SAP SuccessFactors Learning to the game server and the gameplay inside SAP SuccessFactors Learning.
- Each game server is identified in brackets. For example, the Bunchball server is identified by the prefix gamificationProviders[BUNCHBALL] and the setting gamificationProviders[BUNCHBALL].enabled is the enabled setting for Bunchball.
Establish the Bunchball UserID
The configuration is available within SAP SuccessFactors Learning that specifies which user ID can be used in the integration. An auto-generated user ID is a default. This auto-generated ID is not a widely known ID for the employee. It is specific to the integration. And thus, prohibits customers from bringing in data from other systems under a common user ID.
A second and more preferred option for customers is to use the standard custom field available with the integration. This field can be used to store an employee ID which can then be used in the integration.
You can also use the
gamificationStudentID parameter of the User OData API to add the custom ID during creation or update.
- POST /learning/odatav4/user/v1/Users
- GET /learning/odatav4/public/<admin or user>/<service name>/<version>/$metadata.
Call the metadata to see descriptions of the data of the entity, data types, related entities, and requirements.
This method allows for future extensions into the Bunchball instance (i.e. populate additional data outside SAP SuccessFactors Learning). Currently, this would have to be maintained manually, either through individual user updates or through an Excel file bulk upload.
Importing Game User IDs to SAP SuccessFactors Learning
Import game user IDs to SAP SuccessFactors Learning so that SAP SuccessFactors Learning users are matched to the game server user IDs.
If you set
autoGenerateGamificationUserID to true in
System Administration> Configuration> System Configuration> GAMIFICATION, then you can skip this step because your IDs are automatically generated.
If you set
autoGenerateGamificationUserID to false in
System Administration> Configuration> System Configuration> GAMIFICATION, then you must import game user IDs.
Next Steps
Depending on the number of users that you are importing, you might have to run the import as a background job. It is recommended that after you import, you check a few users in
People> Users. You can look up their game IDs in the Gamification User ID field in the user snapshot.
User Permissions to Enable
Workflow permissions enable action logging from SAP SuccessFactors Learning to Nitro. You must enable the following workflows within SAP SuccessFactors Learning for the role.
- Go to Menu> System Administration> Security > Role Management
- Find the role for the administrators who administer gameplay and assign the workflow Manage Gamification Settings to the role.
- Find the user role for users that will participate in the game and assign the role
- Access Gamification Elements
- Post Gamification Events
Assigning Game Points to SAP SuccessFactors Learning Events
Assign game points to SAP SuccessFactors Learning events so that the game server rewards the correct number of points when users complete a learning action (such as enrolling, recommending, completing, and so on).
The game points for learning events are the points that all events receive when they perform a learning action. For example, if users rate a QuickGuide, they can receive a number of points and those points are sent to the game server. In completion events (for example, completing a program), you can override the default setting at the entity level.
Go to
System Administration> Configuration> Gamification Settings.
For each event that you want to send to the game server, select the
Published checkbox.
For each published event, add a number of points for users to earn in the Base Points column.
Click
Save.
To override the completion points for anyone learning item, go to
Learning Activities> Items, open the learning item, and change the points in the Gamification Base Points field.
To override the completion points for anyone learning program, go to
Learning Activities> Programs, open the program, and change the points in the Completion Points field.
Gamification Settings
Gamification settings determine what events are sent to the gamification server and the default point values for those events.
Gamification rewards users for learning with social points and artifacts, like badges. Users can earn points and badges for doing things in learning, like completing a course (learning item) or sharing a course.
In System Administration> Configuration> Gamification Settings, you configure which events earn users points and the default base points for the event
. For example, you can assign 100 points for completing a learning item.

Actions completed in SAP SuccessFactors Learning are logged in Nitro as per the available configurations. Actions coming from SAP SuccessFactors Learning are batched every few minutes.
Conclusion:
SAP SuccessFactors Learning Use Cases
With Bunchball Nitro for SAP SuccessFactors Learning, you can enhance ongoing learning:
- Increase enrolment and improve completion rates
- Focus teams on priorities and goals
- Provide real-time feedback on performance metrics
- Recognize high performers and incentivize others to achieve the same
- Create achievable goals for incremental improvement

With Nitro for SuccessFactors Learning, you’ll be able to drive meaningful engagement. That, in turn, can help you:
- Improve completion of mandatory and optional learning
- Enhance employee retention
- Increase compliance and expertise
- Demonstrate ROI for SuccessFactors Learning
- Improve learning KPIs, including:
- Onboarding time
- Customer satisfaction
- Compliance
- Retention
- Proficiency and expertise
Because Nitro for SuccessFactors Learning is fully integrated into the user environment, it’s easy for employees to keep track of their accomplishments, chart their progress, and view leader boards to see where they stand compared to their peers.
