How to stop gamification from becoming a horror story
How to stop gamification from becoming a horror story
How to stop gamification from becoming a horror story
By Sabina Weston
Summary
Employees outside of the sector are still more likely to encounter gamification as a consumer through reward cards or virtual chatbots, than in the workplace.
Workplace gamification is supposed to be enjoyable for its participants, with many firms using it as an employee retention tactic amid the so-called Great Resignation.
"To be honest, after the publication of our paper, we were contacted by so many companies because, even though there is a positive connotation behind gamification, most employees were really worried about the level of control," she tells IT Pro.
Although the negative effects were much rarer when employees were allowed to opt out of the gamified experience, Dr Hammedi notes, "Very few companies" actually make gamification voluntary.
What are typically advertised as 'friendly competitions' in the workplace can, in reality, be incredibly stressful if an employee falls behind or feels the system is unfair that include things like responsibility for one's work, agency in one's work, being given meaningful work to do, variety, recognition of achievement, et cetera.
Even as a co-founder of a gamification provider Barral acknowledges there can be stumbling blocks, including unhealthy competition between employees.
"As soon as you put a game in play, and the goal is not perfectly clear for your employees, they can end up in something that would be very unfair and turn into very harsh competition. The main drawback is to be wrong with the goal you want to put in front of your employees and the second one is not knowing them."
Reference
Weston, S. (2022, May 03). How to stop gamification from becoming a Horror story. Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://www.itpro.co.uk/business-strategy/careers-training/367554/how-to-stop-gamification-from-becoming-a-horror-story