Impact of Gamified Learning on Employee Engagement and Skill Development in Hybrid Work Settings: A Mediation Study of Digital Leadership and Psychological Safety

Abstract

With Hybrids working has helped to quickly implement more digital-based Learning & Development (L&D) systems in the workplace, with numerous organizations continuing to have difficulties with employee engagement and turning what they learn into a developed skill set. Gamified Learning (Game Mechanics) can be seen as a means to improve these issues as it has the potential to improve perceptions of Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness while simultaneously improving Attention and Persistence. Gamified Learning is not, however, an approach that has a consistent effect; in Hybrid Workplaces, Employees experience learning through the Leadership Behaviours of the Leader being Digitally Mediated, and by the extent to which Psychological Safety exists. Ultimately, Psychological Safety is necessary to Experiment, Seek Assistance, and Acknowledge Error without Fear of Negative Consequences. This article hypothesizes and tests a Mediation Model in which Gamified Learning will predict (a) Employee Engagement and (b) Self-Reported Skill Development, where Digital Leadership and Psychological Safety perform as Parallel Mediators of this Relationship. This Research is grounded in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model, Self-Determination Theory and Social Exchange Theory, and it is hypothesized that Gamified Learning Functions as a Job Resource that Enhances Motivation and Learning Behaviour, however the Effects are Amplified when Leaders Demonstrate Digital Leadership Abilities such as: Clarity, Responsiveness and Technology-enabled Coaching, thus Creating Structure and Meaning in Hybrid Work and Digital Leadership Creates Psychological Safety that Facilitates Learning Behaviour.