Examining the Differences in Motivational Levels of Corporate Employees Who Participate in One of Three Different Gamified Trainings: Leaderboards, Badges, and Storylines
Examining the Differences in Motivational Levels of Corporate Employees Who Participate in One of Three Different Gamified Trainings: Leaderboards, Badges, and Storylines
Date
2023
Authors
Iwao, Kimberly Koide
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Irvine, Christine S.
Paek, Seungoh
Paek, Seungoh
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Learning Design and Technology
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Gamification in the corporate world is a multi-billion-dollar industry and is being applied to employee training with the intention of increasing learner performance, engagement, and motivation. There is no set formula for incorporating gamification elements into the corporate environment, as the success of utilizing them depends on the context and the needs of the individual learner. The purpose of this concurrent nested mixed-methods research study was to examine the differences in motivational levels of corporate employees who participated in one of three different gamified trainings (leaderboards, storylines, and badges), as well as the perceptions of such employees about how the gamification elements influenced their motivational levels, if at all. 88 corporate employees at a Hawai‘i corporation participated in the study and were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups. Each employee participated in the five week online asynchronous training which consisted of five modules on various leadership topics, including emotional intelligence, how to conduct meetings, writing like a boss, effective presentation skills, and how to build highly effective teams. Data were collected through an online motivational assessment administered to all corporate employees and semi-structured interviews with participants. Responses from the post-training motivational assessment revealed no statistically significant differences in motivational levels amongst the participants in the three different treatment groups. Based on the qualitative data, three different themes emerged as follows: (1) public display of scores can have a positive or negative effect on motivational levels; (2) badges can provide a sense of accomplishment or completion on an individual basis; and (3) an embedded storyline may be fun, rewarding, and engaging, but it may not be as motivating as a leaderboard. The findings in this study may be used by corporations and their training departments to improve their corporate training delivered to employees. Additional research is suggested for an improved understanding of whether increased motivational levels influence employee learning performance.
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Educational technology,
Gamification,
Gamified trainings,
Leaderboards badges and storylines,
Motivational levels,
Online corporate training,
Self-determination theory
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