Gamification at Work: Can Play Boost Health and Productivity?

Imagine turning your daily work routine into a game — complete with points, levels, challenges, and rewards. Sound far-fetched? Think again. Gamification — the application of game design elements in non-game contexts — is no longer just a buzzword; it’s becoming a strategic tool for transforming how we work, learn, and thrive in the workplace. 

Originally popularised in marketing and education, gamification is now making waves in corporate health and wellbeing strategies. By borrowing elements from the world of games — feedback loops, competition, storytelling, and progress tracking — organisations are finding new ways to engage employees, improve performance, and even foster healthier behaviours. 

What Makes a Workplace ‘Gamified’?

A gamified workplace is more than just adding leaderboards or awarding digital badges. It’s about reimagining work processes as experiences that are motivating, meaningful, and even enjoyable. When done well, gamification supports both organisational goals (like productivity and retention) and personal outcomes (like job satisfaction and wellbeing). 

At its core, gamification taps into powerful psychological drivers. Drawing from theories of intrinsic motivation, gamified systems are designed to: 

• Deliver instant feedback and rewards for progress; 

• Encourage goal-setting with visible progress markers (points, levels, achievements); 

• Promote social recognition and collaboration via teams, leaderboards, or shared missions; 

• Support autonomy by offering choices, personalised avatars, or emotionally engaging storylines. 

These mechanics aren’t just about fun — they’re about creating meaningful engagement that motivates employees from within, not just through external pressure or short-term incentives. 

Why Gamification Matters for Health and Wellbeing

Workplace health interventions often struggle with one key problem: long-term engagement. That’s where gamification shines. 

Gamified tools and programmes can make wellness goals — like staying active, eating better, or managing stress — feel more achievable and rewarding. Unlike traditional health campaigns that rely heavily on external rewards or top-down messaging, gamification can spark genuine interest, increase emotional investment, and cultivate sustainable behaviour change. 

There’s also a social component. As gaming becomes more mainstream, game-inspired interactions feel familiar and appealing to broader audiences — not just tech-savvy early adopters. Shared challenges, team missions, or virtual wellness quests can build a sense of community, especially in hybrid or remote teams where connection is often lacking. 

Real-World Examples of Gamification in Action

Gamification isn’t limited to wellbeing apps or step-counting challenges. It’s already being used across sectors to: 

• Train and upskill professionals (e.g., health, engineering, public sector) 

• Support recruitment and onboarding (e.g., via simulation-based tasks or assessments) 

• Enhance performance reviews with real-time feedback and development paths 

• Foster innovation through collaborative, challenge-based formats 

• Improve personal health habits using gamified platforms like Keas or Virgin Pulse

A Tool for the Future Workplace?

As workplaces continue to face challenges like burnout, disengagement, and constant change, gamification offers a surprisingly human-centred solution. By making work processes more engaging, inclusive, and psychologically rewarding, we can create environments where people are not only more productive — they’re also happier and healthier. 

So, here’s the real question: What game design principles could your organisation adopt to make work more meaningful — and wellbeing more achievable?

Whether it’s through storytelling, micro-challenges, or collaborative quests, the future of work might just look — and feel — a lot more like play. 

References 

Grünewald, H., Kneip, P., & Kozica, A. (2019). The use of gamification in workplace learning to encourage employee motivation and engagement. The Wiley handbook of global workplace learning, 557-575. 

Johnson, D., Deterding,S., Kuhn, K., Staneva, A., Stoyanov,S., Hides, L. (2016). Gamification for health and wellbeing: A systematic review of the literature, Internet Interventions,Volume 6, p. 89-106 

Oprescu, F., Jones, C., Katsikitis, M. (2014). I play at work: ten principles for transforming work processes through gamification. Front. Psychol. 5, p. 1–5  

Sardi, L., Idri, A., Fernández-Alemán, J. (2017). A systematic review of gamification in e-Health, Journal of Biomedical Informatics,Volume 71, —p. 31-48 

Schmidt-Kraepelin, M., Warsinsky, S., Thiebes, S., & Sunyaev, A. (2020). The role of gamification in health behavior change: a review of theory-driven studies.p.1256-1265  

Thomas, N. J., Baral, R., & Crocco, O. S. (2022). Gamification for HRD: Systematic review and future research directions. Human Resource Development Review, 21(2), 198-224. 

Torresan, S., & Hinterhuber, A. (2023). Continuous learning at work: the power of gamification. Management Decision, 61(13), 386-412.