Getting your staff properly engaged behind the bar can feel like pulling teeth. You’ve got some brilliant team members, but motivation comes and goes, especially during those quiet Tuesday shifts or when the weekend rush gets overwhelming.
That’s where pub staff gamification comes in – and it’s not as complicated as it sounds.
Running this problem at your pub?
Here's the system I use at The Teal Farm to fix it — real-time labour %, cash position, and VAT liability in one dashboard. 30-minute setup. £97 once, no monthly fees.
Get Pub Command Centre — £97 →No monthly fees. 30-day money-back guarantee. Built by a working pub landlord.
What Exactly Is Pub Staff Gamification?
Simply put, gamification is taking the fun bits from games – things like points, badges, leaderboards, and challenges – and using them to make everyday work tasks more engaging. Think of it like giving your staff experience points for doing their job well, just like in a video game.
For pubs, this might mean:
- Points for upselling food or premium drinks
- Badges for perfect attendance or customer compliments
- Team challenges for hitting weekly sales targets
- Leaderboards showing who’s sold the most Sunday roasts
- Rewards for getting positive Google reviews or social media mentions
The key is making work feel less like work and more like a game where everyone wants to win.
Why Does Gamification Work in Pubs?
Your staff are competitive by nature – they wouldn’t survive weekend rushes if they weren’t. Gamification taps into that competitive spirit and gives them clear goals to aim for.
Instead of just saying “sell more drinks,” you’re giving them a point system that shows exactly how they’re doing compared to their mates. It creates friendly rivalry and gives recognition for good work that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Plus, it helps with the boring but important stuff. Getting staff to encourage Google reviews or remember to offer desserts becomes much easier when there’s a points system behind it.
Getting Started With Staff Gamification
The beauty of gamification is you don’t need fancy software to start. You can begin with a simple whiteboard showing weekly sales competitions or create badges for different achievements.
However, if you want to track things properly without drowning in paperwork, having the right tools makes all the difference. Our free SmartPubTools FOH app can help you monitor performance and keep track of achievements without adding extra admin to your day.
The important thing is starting simple – pick one or two things you want to improve, create a simple point system around them, and see how your team responds. You can always expand your gamification scheme once everyone gets the hang of it.
Ready to get your team more engaged and motivated? Sign up for SmartPubTools and discover how easy it is to transform your pub’s performance.
Free Tool for UK Pub Landlords
Used daily at Teal Farm Pub, Washington NE38
The Pub Command Centre handles everything in this article — without a spreadsheet.
Wet GP%, dry GP%, labour costs, beer line cleaning logs (12 lines), HACCP temperature checks, stock ordering, weekly P&L. All in one system. Used every shift at Teal Farm where labour runs at 15.1% against a UK pub average of 25-30%.
On a pub taking £900k a year, running labour at 15% instead of 25% is worth roughly £90,000. That is what tracking it daily — every shift, every week — actually looks like.
£97 once. No subscription. No monthly fee. Works on any phone, tablet or laptop. Setup under 10 minutes. Built and used by a Marston’s CRP licensee with a 5-star EHO rating and 180 covers.
See the Pub Command Centre — £97 →
One-off payment. Works on any device. Used by a working licensee, not a software company that’s never pulled a pint.
SmartPubTools FOH App — Free, Forever
Built by a real pub landlord from the North East. Staff gamification, shift tracking, leaderboards and rota tools — free, no subscription, no credit card needed.
📊 Your EPOS tells you what sold. Pub Command Centre tells you whether you made money.
Real-time labour %, cash position and VAT liability in one dashboard. Built by a working pub landlord. £97 once, no monthly fees. 30-day money-back guarantee.
Takes 2 minutes · Free forever · Made for UK pubs
Running your pub on gut feel?
The Pub Command Centre gives you wet GP%, cellar checks, staff cost and weekly P&L — from your phone, every shift. £97 once. No subscription.
See the Pub Command Centre →