Enhancing Employee Engagement through Gamification: Empirical Study of an Indonesian State-Owned Enterprise

Abstract

Highly engaged employees are vital in Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises. Considering the condition of deterioration in previous findings, particularly infrastructure services, one of the firms within the cluster has launched a nongaming context learning program known as UlarTangga for improving employee engagement. However, the effects of implementing the system to enhance engagement remain uncertain since previous studies showed ambiguous results, especially engagement in the context of an industrial or working environment. This study examines the possible effect of gamification on enjoyment through needs satisfaction to enhance employee engagement. The survey was conducted across departments that have experience using the game-mobile apps. The analysis in this study employs a quantitative methodology, with a total of 129 respondents remaining after a data cleansing process for outliers and testing assumptions. Inferential statistics and correlational analysis with partial least squares structural equation modeling were then used to analyze the data. This study discovered that enjoyment significantly affected employee engagement; gamification significantly affected enjoyment; gamification significantly affected need satisfaction; and need satisfaction significantly affected enjoyment. In addition, enjoyment fully mediates gamification and employee engagement; enjoyment fully mediates need satisfaction and employee engagement; need satisfaction and enjoyment fully mediate gamification on employee engagement; and need satisfaction partially mediates the effect of gamification on enjoyment. Thus, concluded that gamification elements could enhance engagement among workforces in a state-owned firm.