Trends forecaster Flux Trends is known for showcasing local businesses that have come up with innovative solutions to real problems. It is not only about solving problems in a smart, sustainable way, but also embracing cutting-edge trends and technology to do so.

One of the biggest changes to the nature of business and the future of work lies at the intersection between work and play. Experts have for the longest time maintained that it’s important not to take work so seriously that we stop having fun. Fun and games (and plenty of rest!) can and should be a core business strategy and competitive advantage in foresighted businesses. Bringing more fun into work and business is currently changing how we do business.

This intersection between work and play is an unfolding macro-trend to watch over the next few years, and within this there are three emerging sub-trends – two of which have South African businesses at their forefront.

Gamified touchpoint for the win
More and more companies are trying to construct win-win gamified touchpoints along the customer journey – such as a quiz to receive product recommendations – to maximise, in economic terms, ‘utility’ for all parties. These gamified journeys use behavioural economics, big data and machine learning, and combine them to incentivise customers to complete specific missions – much like a game designer would craft a game to maximise player pleasure, attention and participation. 

BreadCrumbs, the Johannesburg-based consultancy that bills itself as South Africa’s only ‘behavioural linguistics’ expert, is at the forefront of using ‘nudge’-based incentives and rewards to improve outcomes for businesses and customers alike. Put more simply, they create communication and content using words which will nudge customers to make choices that will lead them to the desired outcome, be it buying a product or completing a lead-generation form.

Carrying on into the metaverse
If 2021 was all about NFTs, 2022 is shaping up to be the year of gamification. Online gaming is exploding with massive investment and new ideas. For instance, play-and-earn gaming, which allows players to earn real money by completing game missions and trading virtual assets, is just one instance of a game that has become mainstream.

Carry1st, a Cape Town-based mobile gaming platform that has just secured a significant funding round, is a world leader in bringing games-as-a-business opportunities into the pockets of countless players in Africa. Such play-to-earn opportunities could entertain young people while helping them to earn an income, unlocking a new era of digital opportunity for the next generation.

Who said work couldn’t be fun?

Work less, do moreSpeaking of more play and less work, a growing number of businesses across the world are embracing a four-day work week. Why? Well, research from Stanford University found that working just 35 hours per week is the tipping point before productivity declines. Experts also suggest that knowledge workers peak in productivity when working six hours per day. A typical day in a 40-hour workweek just isn’t set up for efficiency in the age of screens and Teams meetings. As such, it is time to rethink productivity in terms of quality rather than quantity. After all, a happy, healthy, well-rested workforce is proven to be good for business.

Flux Trends is one of the first South African companies to have made a four-day workweek company policy. Fridays are reserved for personal develoment. IEDM Digital Marketing in Johannesburg has gone a slightly different route – everyone works a four-day week, but not everyone is off on the same day so that the office is never closed.

Although a four-day work week is often discussed and debated in South Africa, it therefore hasn’t yet gained widespread traction. But if it’s one of the employment benefits you see, another post-Covid work trend – remote work – has made it much easier to work for employers elsewhere in the world who offer the flexibility and work hours you want.

Sign up to our monthly newsletter here to receive a round-up of our latest articles for business leaders and updates on Old Mutual Corporate’s retirement funds.