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Workplace Achievements

Create achievements and motivate workers with them
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In gaming the concept of "achievements" has become popular. They can include such things as "kill 100 monsters without using a weapon", "jump 10,000 times" or even "die within 10 seconds of spawning".

Achievements connect to a reward system in the human brain and add a good deal of fun to otherwise mundane parts of a game.

I propose that achievements be set up for workers. Bonuses for getting a project done on time or improving a metric are well baked but this would include many more objectives and objectives that wouldn't necessarily directly improve performance. Things like "call tech support ten times in a single day" could be included. If management is worried about this slowing productivity the achievements could be hidden until unlocked. Bonuses could be offered for unlocking a given number of achievements.

It would add an element of fun and motivation to the workday.

Voice, Aug 15 2014

Baked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification
[hippo, Aug 15 2014]


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       Linkedin? Stack overflow? Are you seriously presenting these as examples of this idea? None of the examples on that page even faintly resemble this.
Voice, Aug 15 2014
  

       No, sorry - what I meant was the general idea you're proposing, of using gaming concepts and dynamics in a non-game context - including the workplace - is baked and is called gamification (LinkedIn is an odd example for that list - I think it's there because they added a game-like incentive to their site to tell people that they only had to add x more items of personal data for their profile to be complete, at which point they'd get a little on-screen 'profile complete' badge as a reward - so this is an example of gamification)
hippo, Aug 15 2014
  

       I disapprove of both this idea and gamification in general because it's behaviorism. While I don't think behaviorism in itself is bad, the increasing application of it to society as a rationalization definitely deserves critique. I'm frightened of those who internalize behaviorist paradigms as the slavish pursuit of rewards and the avoidance of punishment, or wins and losses to not acknowledge the absurdifcation, in theory produces very low human agency, and fat clowns. The entire behavioral avoidance regime is reified by epitomized actors, and the positive rewardist are just as indoctrinating with their rational orientation.
rcarty, Aug 15 2014
  

       What behavioral avoidance regime?
Voice, Aug 15 2014
  

       Well I look at regime as a set of behaviors that corresponds to an ideology, so obviously when I say behavioral avoidance regime it itself is a behavior to be avoided in at least one behavior avoidance regime perspective. However there are actually several. One is that the behavior is dysfunctional to social order, second is that it ostensibly indicates paranoia, third is it is rendered absurd by the positive reward pragmatic truth formula.
rcarty, Aug 15 2014
  

       Thanks for clearing that up, it's all so obvious now.
8th of 7, Aug 15 2014
  

       //It would add an element of fun and motivation to the workday//   

       Why, in the first place, are you working at a job that requires fun and motivation to be added, for fucks' sake?
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 15 2014
  

       So while everybody must participate in behavioral avoidance regime to some extent, it only reifies in those who embody the sign structure of the ideology, and become physical matter in its regulatory process.
rcarty, Aug 15 2014
  

       //Workplace Achievements   

       I stayed the whole day...how much gametime do I get...
not_morrison_rm, Aug 15 2014
  

       / "call tech support ten times in a single day" /   

       An excellent way to get yourself fired.   

       Seriously, this kind of goal setting will get you results similar to a Russian 5 year plan or telling the CEO they'll get 20% of whatever profit the company makes next quarter. That is bad or unpredictable results.   

       The hidden thing might help until people figure out the goals or even just think they have figured out the goals. As long as they believe and act on their beliefs, the crazy bit will happen again.   

       Carrot (or stick) will work to motivate the troops, but you have to be careful what you ask for because they will really try to get it for you.
popbottle, Aug 16 2014
  


 

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