Video game-like rewards could help employees

An American researcher has said reward systems could help younger employees engage and motivate themselves in the workforce.

Lee Sheldon from Indiana University has told ITNews.com.au that managers should rethink how they approach the next generation of works who are used to clear-cut goals and rewards.

“As the gamer generation moves into the mainstream workforce, they are willing and eager to apply the culture and learning-techniques they bring with them from games,” he said. “It will be up to management, often of pre-gamer generations, to figure out how to educate themselves to the gamer culture, and how to speak to it most effectively.”

Sheldon said rewards systems in games are often based on experience points, which are used by gamers in certain games to upgrade levels and gain more powerful features. He also said an experiment in his own game design classes saw him replace traditional grades with experience points, gained by giving presentations and finishing class work.

He said members have engaged far more than before. “The elements of the class are couched in terms they understand, terms that are associated with fun rather than education.”