Gamification has no place in serious HR Processes

Description

Gamification is the integration of games or game-like elements into business processes to boost employee participation and engagement.
Gamification in HR is often used to:

• Streamline the onboarding process
• Increase the effectiveness of training and development programs, and;
• Elevate employee performance

Often-mentioned benefits of adding gamification elements to these processes include:

• Improved employee motivation
• A reduced dropout rate of training
• Improved knowledge retention
• An enhanced work environment

Gamification, however, is no miracle solution to solve organizational problems. Yes, gamified practices can be fun, but they won’t solve issues such as team tensions, poor culture, and low levels of engagement; they can only enhance the positives, when employed well.

This begs the question of the added value that gamification brings to various HR processes. Is there any, or is it merely a fun distraction from serious fundamental issues? Are organizations trying to use gamification to put a proverbial band-aid on a bullet wound?

This brings me to our first statement of today: Gamification has no place in serious HR processes.