ARE YOU GAME?: Exploring Gamification as an HR Strategy in the Changing Times

As a concept, Gamification has gained a lot of momentum in the recent times. With companies trying to sustain themselves and grow in today's VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world they need to seek out more ways of keeping their ambitious, competitive and highly networked workforce more engaged. This paper is directed at studying the concept of Gamification in the context of motivating and engaging employees. Gamification has reaped rich dividends in terms of attracting, motivating and retaining talent in organizations. Using the dynamics and mechanics of gaming in a non-game context, Gamification helps in infusing interest, building connect, incentivising learning and serving as a career planning tool, thereby, allowing the companies to leverage on the psycho-social needs of their employees. This paper explores the construct of Gamification with its nuances, and discusses its application in various workplace contexts. The paper also attempts to showcase Gamification as a strategy which is outside of the realm of the current strategies- as an HR strategy that can make a difference.