Select your language
True gamification is not solely about improving KPIs, but about establishing a healthier and more sustainable workplace culture.
Employee engagement is at an all-time low, and thankfully, the world is beginning to emerge from a pandemic; however, burnout and mental health issues at work are at an all-time high. Gallup’s 2025 Workplace Report shows that only 21% of employees worldwide are engaged at work, and more than 40% of employees report some symptoms of workplace stress. Organizations are rethinking gamification, and not just from a race to points and badges, to one of wellbeing and sustainable performance.
In this article, we will discuss the use of mental-health-driven features in gamification platforms to help employers enhance engagement and reduce burnout and toxic work environments.
Gamification has been used for a long time to motivate and drive productivity. Nevertheless, poorly designed gamified experiences can lead to added pressure, even stress. The World Health Organization’s guidelines about workplace mental health refer to the need for psychologically safe places to work (World Health Organization, 2025); and ISO 45003, the internationally recognised standard, provides some clarity on how to support wellbeing at work.
When used with thought and consideration, gamification can:
Rather than only keeping track of line items or sales, challenges can also include wellness practices like taking breaks, moving, eating healthily, or practicing mindfulness. Some companies (like Virgin Pulse) gamify wellness by combining step goals, hydration reminders, and using breathing exercises as refocusing moments in their challenges.
Short, regularly scheduled, anonymous check-ins allow employees to report their stress levels, workload and mood, so organziations can use AI analytics to help detect patterns with enough time to intervene prior to something more serious (burnout levels).
Leaderboards can be replaced, or supplemented by personal progress tracking, team milestone completion, and group reward systems. This helps minimize the potential for harmful social comparision.
Employees can readily access self-care options (like meditation sessions, counseling services, or content for self-directed learning) as part of being healthy in the workplace, rather than a activity to schedule outside of work.
Another option would be that tasks and goals could adjust for an individual employee based upon their workload and capacity i.e goals may be challenging but doable.
Mental health is sensitive data. Platform providers need to ensure that they are compliant with GDPR, HIPAA (where applicable), and workplace wellness standards which focus on best practice anonymization and consent.
The 2025 O.C. Tanner Culture Report reveals that organizations which have meaningful mental health programs have 37% less turnover and participation in employee engagement surveys increased by 31% if an organization really demonstrates commitment to well-being. Imagine the impact of gamification focused on well-being to once again help people—that increases performance and retention!
Measuring ROI from well-being features can be challenging. There is always the risk of over-customization. If a user gets too many options to customize, it can lead to feature fatigue if this occurs.
We also need to prepare leaders to have a positive lens when consuming well-being data.
That said, the future looks bright: as the culture of work continues to reinvent itself, gamification designed to support mental health will be best practice, rather than the exception.
In 2025, gamification is evolving from descriptors of pure performance-driven mechanics to include a healthy mix with mental health support. Gamification platforms woven into wellness, privacy, and meaningful engagement will become the new norm of responsible and effective workplace technology.
