Gamification In Business For Gen Y

Abstract

Even after hiring the best teams and providing best online training courses using multimedia, still managers find low learning effectiveness in employees. The reason is primarily the workforce and its approach towards learning. Today the corporate world has combination of Gen X and Gen Y workforce whose approach towards digital world is quite different. The main characteristics of Gen Y is its love for technology andthey have different values and beliefs regarding family, career, learnings, loyalty, gender roles, the environment and expectations from people as compared to Gen X. So in future it is essential that there should be a paradigm shift in the approach to Learning and development for Gen Y. Looking into the characteristics of Gen Y and their descendants (sometimes referred to as Gen Z are people born after 1995 few of whom are just adults and have never known a life without the internet, computers and mobile phones3) are mostly digitally active and derive instant action and satisfaction by using the internet technology. In order to utilize the best of their potentials (further in paper wherever Gen Y is mentioned it will include Gen Z as well), Gamification seems to be a logical answer because the new education system needs to engage, recognize their interests and develop a self-learner attitude in students. It is observed that when words like play, fun, and games are mentioned, a positive energy is generated in the people and the environment. Hence developers and educators are looking at gamifying the learning processes. The term 'Gamification' simply means applying game mechanics in non-gaming environments so as to make processes more effective. In recent years this term is making a buzz in many sectors including business, management, training, health, social policy, and education. This conceptual paper is an attempt to understand the effect of game thinking and game mechanics into understandable behavioral elements of Gen X and Gen Yin non-game environment.