Beyond Gamification: Unlock True Engagement Through Playfulness

In the quest for greater productivity, some workplaces have turned to gamification as a strategy for boosting employee engagement. But is relying on competition and extrinsic rewards the best strategy for getting workers to go the extra mile at work?

In her TED Talk, “Gaming Can Make a Better World,” game designer Jane McGonigal argued that gaming taps into deep psychological motivators such as purpose, challenge, and connection. Yet many workplace gamification strategies focus only on competition and extrinsic rewards, missing the core elements that make play truly engaging. Research suggests that while gamification can enhance performance, it doesn’t address employees’ intrinsic need for creativity, autonomy, and social connection.

Gamification is the use of gamelike elements in nongame settings, such as the workplace. It has become a popular tool for boosting engagement and productivity. By incorporating elements such as points, badges, leaderboards, and rewards, this approach taps into competition and extrinsic motivation to engage employees and drive results.

Playfulness, on the other hand, is more than a set of mechanics: It’s a mindset. Rather than pressure and unhealthy competition, a culture that embraces curiosity, experimentation, and collaboration fosters innovation and long-term resilience.

“When organizations prioritize extrinsic rewards, such as badges or rankings, they risk overlooking the deeper, intrinsic factors that drive meaningful engagement — creativity, autonomy, and connection,” explained Alex Alonso, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, chief data and insights officer at SHRM. He went on to highlight the distinction between gamification and playfulness, noting that, “Playfulness is not merely about offering incentives; it represents a mindset that fosters curiosity, encourages experimentation, and enables individuals to derive joy and purpose from their work.”

This perspective invites us to consider the roots of sustained engagement and innovation. How might embracing a culture of playfulness, rather than relying solely on external motivators, unlock greater potential within individuals and organizations? By shifting focus to intrinsic motivators, we may uncover new pathways to creativity and collaboration, sparking deeper conversations about what truly sustains engagement in the workplace.

While gamification has its place, organizations must look beyond points and prizes to create workplaces where employees are genuinely engaged. By prioritizing meaningful, playful experiences, businesses can drive lasting motivation, productivity, and satisfaction.

The Rise and Benefits of Gamification

Workplace gamification gained widespread popularity around 2010, as companies such as Bunchball and Badgeville pioneered platforms that applied gamelike techniques to influence user behavior and boost engagement. These developments reflected a broader trend of leveraging game mechanics and “fun” to drive workplace participation and performance across industries.

For many businesses, gamification has been successfully implemented through reward systems or gamified learning programs to increase efficiency. Employees have reported that gamification makes them feel happier, more motivated, and more productive at work.

“Gamification, when thoughtfully implemented, holds significant potential to enhance workplace dynamics by increasing employee engagement, improving productivity, and driving tangible performance outcomes,” observed Alonso. “By carefully aligning game mechanics with organizational objectives, businesses can streamline processes and foster a more innovative, results-oriented environment.”

Gamification can streamline recruiting and upskilling processes, which in turn stimulates emotional and cognitive processes, improves knowledge retention, and increases motivation to learn. It can also enhance training programs by boosting employee motivation. Research shows that gamified training can lead to a 60% increase in engagement and improve skills retention by 40%.

By gamifying training programs, KPMG experienced a 25% increase in fee collection and a 22% percent boost in new business opportunities. Additionally, a 2023 study revealed notable improvements in performance metrics at KPMG offices that adopted a gamified training platform. Offices with greater participation in the gamified training saw more significant boosts in productivity, highlighting gamification’s effectiveness in driving results.

Gamification Can Have Downsides

While gamification offers certain advantages, it’s not without its pitfalls, and its application must be carefully considered. A 2023 study shows that the effectiveness of gamification in enhancing work engagement depends on factors including:

• Design of the gamification system.
• Preferences and motivations of individual employees.
• Organizational goals and culture.

Poorly designed and implemented gamification can have negative side effects, which include:

• Competition Undermining Collaboration: Excessive performance tracking can foster unhealthy competition among employees. Instead of encouraging teamwork, it may increase stress, lead to burnout, and hinder collaboration.
• Rewards versus Ethics: When rewards take center stage, employees may prioritize incentives over ethical decision-making. This can create an environment of favoritism, reinforce biases, and undermine a fair workplace culture.
• Superficial Engagement: Extrinsic rewards such as points and badges, while motivating at first, can erode intrinsic motivation over time. Overreliance on gamification risks turning work into a series of transactions rather than fostering meaningful engagement. This approach can ultimately reduce employees’ satisfaction and genuine connection to their role.

“When gamification solutions aren’t designed with both employee motivations and organizational culture in mind, they can create challenges instead of driving positive outcomes,” said Jim Link, SHRM-SCP, CHRO at SHRM. “Gamification for the sake of achievement alone risks disengagement, frustration, and even resistance — especially when it focuses too heavily on competition or extrinsic rewards, rather than fostering true connection and purpose.” 

Instead of boosting productivity as intended, gamified work environments have been found to reduce job satisfaction and engagement levels of front-line employees. Disneyland Resort Hotels’ attempt to introduce workplace gamification also serves as a cautionary tale: Failure to consider thoughtful, worker-centric design in employee engagement strategy may lead to adverse outcomes detrimental to employee morale and well-being.

To truly unlock the power of employee motivation, Link explained that employers instead need to focus on what matters most: the intrinsic motivation of teams. “By prioritizing meaningful engagement, opportunities for collaboration, and genuine culture-building, we can turn challenges into opportunities and create an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute to a shared vision of success.”

The Limits of Gamification and the Search for Meaning

Finding meaning at work isn’t a luxury — it’s a core part of job satisfaction. SHRM’s The State of the Global Workplace Culture in 2024 report identified “meaningful work and opportunities” as one of five key drivers of positive workplace cultures. When employees find purpose in what they do, they’re more engaged, resilient, and committed to their organizations.

Gamification is often seen as a shortcut to injecting that sense of purpose. By layering game mechanics such as points, badges, or leaderboard rankings into work tasks, companies can aim to make routine tasks more enjoyable and rewarding. But is it truly the most effective way to create meaningful engagement?

Research on why people play games provides insight into why they engage in work. Game researcher Richard Bartle developed a taxonomy that categorizes players by their motivation for engaging with a game. His work finds that only about 10% of players are primarily motivated by achievement. In contrast, nearly 80% are most engaged when driven by social connection. Yet many corporate gamification strategies rely on extrinsic rewards rather than tapping into the deeper, more sustainable drivers of motivation.

While earning a badge or topping a leaderboard may spark short-term excitement, these extrinsic incentives rarely build lasting commitment. In fact, over time, they can erode intrinsic motivation — turning work into a series of transactions rather than a source of creativity or connection.

By reducing engagement to mechanical behaviors, poorly designed gamification systems risk stripping away the organic playfulness that makes games enjoyable in the first place. True motivation doesn’t come from points — it comes from purpose, autonomy, and the feeling of being part of something meaningful.

Gamification is popular because it seemingly taps into psychological motivators to engage employees, making tasks feel more purposeful. But playfulness offers another path for achieving this sense of purpose.

Playfulness Has Benefits at Work

Playfulness at work is the ability to complete tasks with a spirit of curiosity, camaraderie, and lightheartedness, even when the tasks themselves are serious. Playfulness has a host of benefits at work, such as boosting creativity and productivity. For many organizations, encouraging a playful mindset at work is becoming a critical component of employee engagement strategies.

“Playfulness at work isn’t just a bonus — it’s a cornerstone of a thriving workplace,” said Link. “When teams feel supported and safe to explore, innovate, and even share laughter, it fosters creativity, drives performance, and unlocks new possibilities for growth and success.”

Integrating playfulness in work involves creating an environment for purposeful, intentional mental exploration. This mindset not only makes work less monotonous but also less frustrating. This approach contrasts traditional work environments, which may stifle creative thinking by focusing solely on productivity and outcomes. However, playfulness shouldn’t be dismissed as “goofing off” or mere frivolity. Rather, it should be embraced as a powerful way to boost employee well-being and organizational success.

Creativity and Problem-Solving: Playfulness is especially important in jobs that require innovation or dynamic problem-solving. It enhances creativity, curiosity, and original thinking by shifting employees’ mental state in a way that encourages fresh perspectives — similar to how many people have good ideas in the shower.

Innovation: Playfulness fosters a culture of experimentation and innovation by encouraging employees to take risks, adapt quickly, and learn from failure. This mindset, embraced by leading tech companies, fuels creativity, agility, and a spirit of continuous improvement.

Productivity: Playfulness can make tasks more engaging and dynamic, encouraging productivity as employees challenge themselves and find creative solutions. In particular, playfulness makes meetings more productive because it keeps people engaged.

Playing games helps people learn new skills to solve emerging problems by stimulating a shift in perspective and improving knowledge retention. A playful mindset can also help foster a flow state, or deep, focused engagement in work. This heightened state of mind can boost energy, brain function, and overall productivity.

Well-Being and Social Connection: A playful mindset can boost well-being by reducing stress, building connections, and fostering teamwork. Social interaction, a key component of playfulness, creates positive work environments and counters loneliness. Studies even compare play deficiency to sleep deprivation, highlighting its critical role in health and satisfaction.

Workforce Resilience: Incorporating play into the workplace helps employees embrace fresh ideas, adapt more easily, and improve team performance. By fostering a sense of playfulness, employees can bring their best selves to work, reduce burnout, and feel more engaged and fulfilled.

“Play unlocks creativity and helps us tap into the resilience needed to thrive in the workplace,” said Gary Ware, corporate facilitator, keynote speaker, and certified coach, on an episode of SHRM’s Honest HR podcast.

Integrating Playfulness at Work

Organizations can cultivate workplace playfulness without gamification by nurturing engagement and purpose through genuine social interactions. For example, consider emphasizing spontaneous social activities that prioritize building human connection rather than promoting competitive games.

Teams can integrate playfulness in everything from daily meetings to high-level strategic planning and product development. Ways to encourage playfulness without gamification include:

• Social Connection Through Play: Encourage informal games, team challenges, or playful icebreakers to strengthen relationships.
• Creative Brainstorming Techniques: Use improvisation exercises, role-playing, collaborative problem-solving, or mind-mapping games to spark fresh ideas.
• Collaborative Workspaces: Design flexible environments with playful elements such as writable walls, relaxation zones, or interactive installations.
• Playful Leadership: Model humor, curiosity, and a lighthearted approach to problem-solving to create a more open culture.
• Team Challenges: Frame challenges like innovation sprints as open-ended, playful competitions to generate bold, out-of-the-box solutions.

Beyond gamification, organizations can bring playfulness into the workplace by embracing cross-functional projects and lighthearted rituals that foster collaboration. While thoughtful gamification has its place, true engagement comes from a culture that values exploration, innovation, and dynamic problem-solving.

The Power of Playfulness

While gamification has its place, true workplace playfulness stems from intrinsic motivation — especially social connection. A culture of genuine play fosters creativity, collaboration, and innovation in ways that game mechanics alone cannot. By shifting from rigid, outcome-driven structures to environments that encourage curiosity and experimentation, organizations can cultivate a more dynamic and fulfilling workplace.

Prioritizing connection over competition ensures that work remains engaging and meaningful, driving not just productivity but also long-term employee satisfaction and lower turnover. By embracing playfulness beyond gamification, companies can build workplaces that inspire, empower, and sustain success.