Why gamifying the workplace can be a nightmare for workers
Why gamifying the workplace can be a nightmare for workers
Why gamifying the workplace can be a nightmare for workers
October 5, 2022
By Adrian Hon
Summary
Available from Basic Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc. Every week brings word of another company bringing gamification to the workplace, whether it's Amazon workers in India competing to deliver packages in order to score "Runs" in a thirty-day, cricket-themed Delivery Premier League for rewards like smartphones and motorbikes, or United Airlines' short-lived experiment to help staff "Build excitement and a sense of accomplishment" by swapping their bonus with a lottery - available only for those with perfect attendance records, of course.
Despite my skepticism, I have to admit it's at least possible that some instances of workplace gamification are effective in improving worker happiness, if only because there's no conclusive evidence either way; most companies refuse to share the results of internally commissioned research, and any research that makes it through to the public is likely to be carefully vetted to paint a glowing picture.
If the evidence indicates workplace gamification doesn't significantly increase worker output or hap- piness, why do companies keep trying it?
In Emily Guendelsberger's book On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane, she describes the reward Amazon warehouse workers get if they make a hundred picks in an hour: one or two "Vendor dollars" valid in some of the vending machines in the building.
There's another way to describe workers labouring longer for the same pay: it's called cutting their wages.
As Guendelsberger has written, countless Amazon warehouse workers are subject to physical pain and exhaustion, and according to reporting by Reveal, the rate of serious injuries at their facilities is more than double the national average for the warehousing industry.
For Smith, the novelty effect didn't last long: "The 'FC Games' are not even a Band-Aid for the symptoms wrought by the grueling nature of the task, the endlessness of the work, and confronting what infinity mentally feels like. In fact, the games exacerbate many difficult aspects of the work."
Reference
Hon, A. (2022, October 05). Why gamifying the workplace can be a nightmare for workers. Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://bigthink.com/the-present/workplace-gamification/