How Does Gamification Affect Motivation?

Gamification can make work more interesting and engaging by combining employees’ inherent desire to compete, have fun, and achieve in their roles with achievement rewards. Many workers say that gamification motivates them to work harder and accomplish more.

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Top gamification platforms like Centrical integrate game-design elements in non-game contexts to make work more exciting and engaging. Of course, some people are skeptical about this concept and question whether gamification actually works. Research into how gamification affects performance reveals that it significantly impacts motivation by taking advantage of intrinsic and extrinsic incentives.

Intrinsic Motivation

This type of motivation involves doing things you enjoy or find interesting. Gamification improves intrinsic motivation by giving employees the power to make decisions and take action.

It also provides employees with difficult–but achievable–challenges to foster a sense of competence and progress. Gamification aligns tasks with meaningful goals and relatable narratives that workers find valuable, giving them a sense of purpose.

Extrinsic Motivation

This kind of motivation involves specific goals or tasks that help avoid an unfavorable consequence. Employees don’t always like what they have to do, but they still have to do it to the best of their ability to keep their jobs and earn promotions.

With gamification, brands can empower employees through scaled, personalized performance experiences. The Centrical platform keeps employees aligned with company goals and offers guided performance improvement suggestions.

It also boosts their extrinsic motivation through rewards such as badges, gift cards, and days off when they accomplish important tasks. Gamification also allows your employees to receive instant and relevant feedback on their performance.

By creating a sense of healthy competition in your organization, gamification encourages employees to work to the best of their abilities.

Research Findings

Gamification research reveals the relationship between employee engagement and business growth. More specifically, gamification can:

Improve Engagement

Research shows that gamification increases engagement because employees find the work more enjoyable and rewarding when they are having some fun at the same time. People will show genuine interest in assignments they enjoy doing.

Lead to Better Learning Outcomes

Gamification improves outcomes during workplace training because learning is more interactive and enjoyable. Workers will likely take the training sessions more seriously if they find them interesting and motivating.

Change Behaviors

Setting up a health and wellness center in the workplace where employees can exercise is another way of incorporating gamification. It will encourage positive and healthy behaviors like increased physical activity.

Gamification also enables you to tap into the power of play and turn ordinary tasks into fun, engaging, and pleasurable activities.

Considerations and Challenges of Motivating With Gamification

Even as you incorporate gamification into your daily activities, make sure you are prepared for the challenges likely to come with this approach. Here are some important considerations to keep in mind when integrating gamification into your systems and procedures:

Overjustification Effect

Gamification can easily lead to an overreliance on rewards, which can undermine inherent motivation. This means employees will have less interest and desire to perform their duties well when you remove rewards.

Diverse User Preferences

Everyone responds differently to gamification; what motivates one employee might not stimulate another. Therefore, you may have to invest in various gamification elements to address diverse interests and motivators.

Balancing Efforts

It’s important to balance inherent and extrinsic motivators for long-term motivation. Don’t rely too heavily on extrinsic motivators like rewards and gifts and neglect innate motivators like the desire to succeed.

In Summary

Gamification can effectively improve both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. When thoughtfully designed and implemented, it leads to improved engagement, enhanced performance, and fun experiences.

If you’re looking for a trusted gamification platform, reach out to Centrical–an employee engagement and performance improvement management platform designed to offer your employees guided performance improvement through gamification and coaching!