When Saby Labor, manager of learning and development (L&D) at California State University Fullerton, decided to gamify one part of an employee wellness program, the last thing they expected people to get excited about was a limited-edition water bottle. But that’s exactly what happened, with a “hydration bingo card” being one of the most popular games due to the prize: a high-end, branded water bottle for the first few people who got a bingo.

The university’s staff and faculty were extremely into it. CSUF had more than 150 people submit bingo cards during the first run of the promotion.  

“People were so pumped about it, and it was just, like, a $20 water bottle,” Labor said. “But we only printed so many of them, so it created that urgency factor.”  

The game was part of the Ignite program to spur professional and personal development at CSUF. The success of hydration bingo spoke to a few benefits — and keys — to gamification. The program found something that motivated the users — in this case, free swag. It identified something they were interested in, namely wellness. Most importantly, it was fun.

Ignite launched in the 2023-2024 school year with a Google Doc and a dream, as it were. Participating employees were encouraged to fill out scorecards in a document Labor created detailing their professional and personal development efforts, everything from getting a certification or attending a conference to stopping by a wellness table event. Those with the highest point totals each month won $30 vouchers to the university’s bookstore.  

Labor’s department updated the program according to employee feedback for the next year, achieving a much higher engagement rate with a smaller number of participants. In 2024-2025, more than two-thirds of the 98 registrants participated regularly, submitting 4,600 scorecards over nine months.  

Labor outlined the program during a session at SHRM25 in San Diego to provide some insights into best practices, potential pitfalls, and other lessons learned from applying gamification to the school’s L&D program.  

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What Works in L&D Games

Labor said there were several things they believe contributed to the program’s wins.  

• Motivation: Ignite gave players purpose. “They’re having a hard time showing up to work and feeling like, OK, well, how do I focus when all these things are going on in the world?’ ” they said. “And they can say, ‘I get to go to work and engage in a game that rewards me for investing in myself.’ ”

• Accountability: Employees liked that the game helped them stick to plans for pursuing professional development. “They said, ‘The game creates accountability for me to track my professional development,’ ” Labor said.

• Community: The social aspect of the program created community and camaraderie among the participants, Labor said.  

• Engagement: With a variety of incentives, rewards, and methods for competitors to get recognition, “it’s another perk of being employed at our university,” Labor said.

Motivation is a big factor prompting Ryan Grace, an HR assistant at the National Association of Social Workers, to consider gamifying the organization’s forthcoming training program, he said. So much continuing education for social workers is required for licensure that his organization is looking to provide other options that are less regimented and more engaging.

“We’re looking to bring in something more fun,” Grace said. “For our population, it would be really popular for us to gamify it because it helps provide a new way of thinking about training, other than it just being a requirement.”

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Lessons Learned in Gamifying L&D

Labor made several adjustments in the second round of Ignite to address some hindrances.  

• Equity and accessibility: Not all employees were able to engage enough to be at the top of the leaderboard, due to job function or departmental budgets. So Labor added a random drawing that included anyone who submitted anything on their scorecard to motivate those who might not have a ton of autonomy to participate.  

• Scoring confusion: Simply put, employees didn’t “understand the scorecards,” Labor said. In round two, they moved away from Google to a tool more familiar to university employees.

• Learning and development inspiration: When users needed help knowing which activities would “count” toward their scorecards, Labor’s team rolled out a monthly newsletter listing all the university's different programs, talks, table activities, and other options that participants could pull from.  

Tips for Getting Started with Gamification

Ignite is just a small part of Labor’s job, but they want to spread the word that starting some level of gamification is possible, even with minimal budget. A few tips for how to do that:  

• Iteration: Just like Ignite changed significantly (read: got a lot better) from year one to year two, “iteration is absolutely expected” in any gamification rollout, Labor said. “Sometimes you might have to pivot after you launch the game.”

• Communication: The more communication, the better. Provide very clear instructions on how the game works — but keep text concise. “We used more graphics and less text” in round two, Labor said. “People weren’t reading it.”

• Words matter: Similarly, use the vernacular of your industry for the games: “Black diamond” or “bunny hill” would work well for employees of a ski resort, for example.

• Leadership buy-in: Getting managers on board is critical because managers are the ones who give employees time away from their desk or project to invest in themselves. “We’re trying to change the culture so employees know we’re investing in them,” Labor explained. “And we often need to work with managers to bring them along with that message too because they see fun as not belonging in the workplace.”  

• Use AI and data: Employee data can be crucial to knowing what your learners’ motivations are — and what kind of games they’re likely to engage with. Similarly, AI can be hugely helpful in crafting content for games.