Gamify to unify: understanding employee collaboration through mobile app gamification
Rupa Rathee, Swati DagarPurpose
Employee collaboration plays a crucial role in improving organisational performance and knowledge sharing. Traditional methods for enhancing collaboration often fail to sustain employee engagement. In response, organisations are increasingly adopting gamification strategies to motivate employees and strengthen collaborative behaviour. This study aims to examine how gamification influences employee collaboration by analysing key motivational drivers from the Octalysis framework, including purpose, development, ownership, social influence, unpredictability and avoidance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the relationships between motivational drivers and collaborative behaviour. Data were collected from 398 IT employees using a seven-point Likert scale. Six hypotheses were tested to determine the impact of the primary six drivers on collaborative gamification.
Findings
The results indicate that four motivational drivers – purpose, ownership, social influence and avoidance – significantly influence employees’ willingness to engage with collaborative gamification systems. In contrast, development and unpredictability were found to have no statistically significant impact on collaboration. These findings suggest that certain motivational mechanisms are more effective in encouraging collaborative behaviour within gamified organisational environments.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the gamification and human resource management literature by identifying the specific motivational drivers that influence collaborative behaviour in workplace gamification systems. The findings provide practical insights for organisations seeking to design gamified applications that enhance employee interaction, engagement and teamwork. By identifying key motivational drivers, organisations can develop more effective gamification strategies that support collaboration and improve overall organisational performance.