What Ailuna can do is create a series of challenges – called actions – that employees choose to take. They focus on a single action at a time, and do this same task repeatedly over a period of time (up to 30 days) until a new habit is formed. Along the way they get support from the community of colleagues who have either mastered the action – acting as mentors – or others who are currently taking the action where peer group support is provided.

The collective outcome across a cohort of employees is to make change stick. Tools like leader boards, badges for action completion and peer group recognition all reinforce the collective sense of achievement. And even better than this is that you can make it fun – by creating team and site based competitions – whether that is recognising the lowest square foot energy consumption by building, or by recognising the team who has achieved the great improvements month on month. Mix and match the games and tactics to keep everyone engaged.

What we know from other studies into human behaviour is the simple act of informing someone where they lie in a league table can act as a catalyst to take action. In the world of personal exercise and the desire to stay healthy, fitbit type gadgets use tracking and algorithms to monitor everything from the number of steps taken to how many calories are burned. By providing this data instantaneously, and allowing it to be shared, these tools do more than inform. They reinforce, motivate and reward by turning exercise into a game.