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The use of gamification in workplace learning to encourage employee motivation and engagement
(2019)
When we think about playing a game, be it a card game, board game, sport, or video game, we generally associate the act of playing with a positive experience like having fun, enjoying the interaction with others, or feeling a greater motivation to reach a certain goal. By contrast, workplace learning is often perceived as being dull. Employees are likely at some point in their career to find themselves stuck in a rigidly defined seminar for a long period of time or in front of their computer navigating through a mandatory e-learning course on a dry topic such as standards of business conduct of safety policies.
In recent years, organizations have tried to leverage the motivating quality of games for more serious learning contexts. Gamification entails transferring those elements and principles from games to nongaming context that improve user experience and engagement. In this chapter, we will specifically focus on the context of workplace learning.
Many researchers have explored the phenomenon of intercultural communication since Edward T. Hall first brought it to light in the late 1950s. Although the literature is quite extensive, the ongoing sociopolitical struggles are evidence that even in the twenty-first century, society has limited intercultural as well as intracultural communication competence. This limited understanding continues to bring about discord in every facet of life, including work.
The modern workforce is expected to possess certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are inherently different from those expected from previous generations. Due to globalization, intercultural competence and highly effective communication skills are at the top of the list - a working knowledge of English as the lingua franca of today's business world can be considered as a first step.
There is no denying that organizations, whether domestic or global, whether educational, governmental, or business, are undergoing rapid transformation. However, what is causing it? Prompted by the need to remain relevant and competitive, organizations constantly try to reinvent themselves. Those that do not, according to the laws of economics, will simply serve no purpose and will eventually cease to exist. Regardless of sector or industry, an organization's success pivots around its human talent. Hence, it is crucial to manage it and cultivate certain traits, knowledge, and skills. In today's global economy, organizations are more interconnected than ever before and thus the challenges they face require that employees possess not only expert knowledge, problem-solving, cross-cultural, and cross-functional teaming skills, but also good communications skills and agile thinking.