Gamification and sustainability are two topics that have gained a lot of attention in the past few years, both from the corporate sector and the academic community. Yet, the connection between the two concepts has seldom been made. This study addresses this research gap, by presenting the novel concept of gamification and connecting it to established theories in the field of organisational change. It then creates a discussion around the question of the potential of gamification as a tool to foster sustainability practices within organisations.To answer this question, this thesis followed a qualitative research design. By performing semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of gamification, the study explored different aspects of gamification, namely its definition, the opportunities and challenges it faces in regards to sustainability, the organisation’s responses towards the concept and the hypotheses for the further development of gamification.The results of this study suggest that gamification has great potential to foster sustainable practices within organisations. With its element of fun, gamification has the power to engage employees in sustainability issues, create a deeper understanding of the topic and relate it directly to the employees’ personal values and decision-making process. By offering different perspectives and helping employees see the bigger picture, gamification can inspire a sense of meaningfulness and contribution to something bigger than oneself. However, this can only happen when the tools are designed and used in the right way. Building an understanding of the user and implementing the fitting game design elements to create an impactful experience for the player is, however, a complex and time-consuming process, and therefore put forth as one of the biggest challenges. Furthermore, gamification should strive to expand beyond the commonly used game design elements of points, badges and leaderboards to tap into the user’s intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.

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The oversight of systematic approaches to reducing voluntary employee turnover decreases educational institutions’ budgets and performance. In the United States, public schools spend over $2.22 billion annually in voluntary employee turnover costs. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies public school leaders use to reduce voluntary employee turnover. The population consisted of 3 leaders from 1 public school located in Georgia, with successful experience reducing voluntary employee turnover. The conceptual framework for this study was grounded in Vroom’s expectancy theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews and organizational documents and artifacts. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the data collected: building a collaborative and supportive work environment, creating work motivation, and implementing incentives, rewards, and professional development. The implications for positive social change include the potential to reduce the local government’s expenditures associated with the replacement of employees and to increase resources for supporting social initiatives and more effective instruction for students in the community.

Masters of Commerce / Organisations should focus their attention on strategies that mitigate the intention to quit of employees, this can be achieved through creating an environment that is favourably disposed to an efficient and engaged workforce and by driving transformational leadership approaches. Recognising the immense value of human capital and the devastating effects linked to the loss of valued employees, organisations should direct their focus on effective ways to deal with undesirable staff turnover issues. In the present challenging economic times, organisations and researchers are increasingly exploring factors that could contribute to retaining talent and improve leadership as well as employee engagement practices to optimise organisational outcomes through employees’ talent. The present study sought to contribute to existing research pertaining to transformational leadership, employee engagement and intention to quit, by observing the variables in a service sector environment. The main objective of the research study was to determine the nature of the relationships among the variables on a sample of employees at a selected organisation. An online questionnaire was sent to 296 possible respondents by means of an electronic link. Out of these, 206 questionnaires were used for analysis. Employees were selected to participate in the study by means of convenience sampling. Four questionnaires were used to gather data namely, a self-developed biographical questionnaire, the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire developed by Avolio and Bass (1995), the Utrecht’s Work Engagement Scale developed by Schaufeli and Bakker (2003) and the Turnover Intention Scale developed by Roodt (2004). Statistical analysis of the data was performed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 and the LISREL 8.80 software program. Item and dimensional analyses were executed on the subscales to identify poor items and to ensure uni-dimensionality of the subscales. In order to test the hypotheses structural equation modelling was used. The multiple regression analytical technique was used to identify the variable that explains the most variance in intention to quit. The research results indicated that a positive relationship between transformational leadership and employee engagement exist. There were significant, negative relationships between transformational leadership and intention to quit and between employee engagement and intention to quit. Regression analysis indicated that employee engagement had a more significant impact on intention to quit than transformational leadership. The limitations of the study and future recommendations for the organisation are discussed.

After a setback due to the dotcom-bubble at the beginning of the 21st century, the tech sector is today again a redhot place for pursuing a career. Much of this popularity can be accredited to the image that companies of this sector enjoy as workplaces with great opportunities for creativity, self- fulfilment and self-expression. Also, strong cultures and generous benefits add to the image of the dream-job. This study aimed to question this image by exploring experiences and attitudes of employees working within the mobile game development industry, a sub- industry of the tech sector. In order to achieve this, a successful mobile game development studio was studied at close range through observations and interviews with 25 individuals of various roles within game development. On this material, the theoretical frameworks of employee engagement and work motivation were applied to assess how personally and emotionally engaging work is within this context. Findings both confirm and nuance the public image of mobile game development as a place to work. This study finds support that the environment and atmosphere surrounding the work in large lives up to the public image of the industry; culture is strong and drives personal and emotional involvement in work and the good of the company. Within the work tasks themselves however, the free-spirited, ad-hoc creativity and opportunities for self-fulfilment promised in the public image seem delimited by a set of organizational circumstances, among them strategic decisions on company-level. Work demands alignment with directions chosen by the company, that by some are perceived as limiting to creativity, self-fulfilment and excitement. In this, the study identifies a risk in a possible discrepancy between expectations on work and the actual experience of it. Finally, the study finds signs that  the strength  in  atmosphere  and  culture can  outweigh  these perceived  limitations  in  creative space and demands of alignment, and so adds to research asserting the potential and value in a strong culture.

To lead an organization in change is complex. Leaders today struggle with how to adapt to the digital transformational change organizations are being exposed to. Digitalization forces leaders to go beyond the traditional way of leading when professions are getting automated. This requires leaders to engage subordinates in the leadership to handle a transformational change since both subordinates and leaders are expected to adapt to technological development. Here is when the role of shared leadership becomes preferable. To investigate this complexity in the banking industry, a case study has been done. A qualitative method was used to collect and analyze the data needed to understand what leaders do to engage subordinates in the transformational change the banks are being exposed to. The results indicate that the leaders to some extent take advantage of shared leadership to involve subordinates. The findings could be applied to the shared leadership model, and the analysis shows that leaders tend to use all components to engage their subordinates, and all components are proven to be equally important. But, the analysis also shows that the banks still face challenges with being hierarchical, which inhibits the subordinates to be completely involved and engaged in the leadership. Conclusions have been made that the leaders believe they engage subordinates in transformational change, whereas not all subordinates perceive it that way.

The high costs associated with turnover and the loss of skilled employees have a significant adverse effect on organizational performance. The loss of one skilled worker can cost 25-500% of an employee's salary with respect to replacement, training, and productivity. The purpose of this descriptive multiple case study was to explore strategies for frontline managers and human resource managers to reduce voluntary employee turnover. The sample consisted of 5 frontline supervisors and 6 human resource leaders with successful experience designing and implementing strategies to reduce voluntary employee turnover in 8 organizations in Orange County, Florida. The conceptual framework for this study was the competing values framework, which researchers have used to explore turnover in different settings. Methodological triangulation occurred from individual interviews, a focus group, and companies' documents. Interview data were analyzed using the modified van Kaam method and the constant comparative method. Analysis resulted in 4 themes (a) knowledge of your workforce, including what motivates your employees; (b) communication, including addressing communication barriers; (c) employee engagement, including leadership development; and (d) performance evaluations, including using a 360-degree feedback system. Social change implications include the potential to help human resource leaders align employee values with the organizational culture, thus increasing job satisfaction and decreasing voluntary employee turnover, which may contribute to lowering unemployment and minimizing the need for social services due to the loss of income.

Retaining qualified employees is a problem for many organizations, which costs companies both monetary resources and hours of productivity. A contributing factor to the problem of employee retention is the lack of trained managers who are equipped to foster and increase employee job satisfaction. The purpose of this single case study, using a transformational leadership framework, was to explore managerial strategies to reduce turnover at 1 store in a national grocery store in the Midwestern United States. Methodological triangulation was achieved through the semistructured interviews of 5 managers, as well as a review of company training documents, and a review of the company's website. Prior to the interviews, 1 manager was interviewed as a pilot study (for validation of the interview questions). Three main themes emerged from coding the transcribed data: implementing effective management practices and an approachable leadership style, increasing and maintaining job satisfaction, and planning for future employee attraction and retention. In addition, several subthemes emerged in each of these broader categories of strategies. According to study findings, transformational leadership style was a successful strategy in employee retention in some instances. The implications for positive social change include the potential to reduce turnover and unemployment, as well as for organizations to create a supportive workplace for their staff.

In the food manufacturing industry, employee engagement is critical to the survival of organizations because engaged employees increase productivity, profitability, and sustainability. Using the transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that leaders in the food-manufacturing industry in the northeastern region of the United States use to engage employees. Participants were purposefully selected based upon their experience implementing effective employee engagement strategies. Data were collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews with 7 food manufacturing leaders and the review of organizational documents on employee engagement. Data were analyzed using inductive coding of phrases, word frequency searches, and theme interpretation. The 3 themes that emerged were: involving employees in decision-making increased employee engagement, open and honest communication promoted employee engagement, and recognition and compensation increased employee engagement. The findings from this study contribute to social change by providing food manufacturing leaders with insights that can promote organizational growth, enhance sustainability, and increase productivity and profitability. An increase in profitability and productivity might lead to new employment opportunities and promote prosperity for local families and the community.

Turnover rates are climbing every year, with a lack of engagement cited as a top reason, costing employers money in lost productivity. Slightly over one-third of workers worldwide consider themselves engaged. Employers are at risk of losing top talent due to a lack of engagement. Business leaders need to adapt to changing engagement practices invoking human resources (HR) as a strategic business partner. This study focused on strategic planning tools HR leaders in used to increase employee engagement. Interviews with leaders in a small-sized cloud-based data storage company in the Southeast region of the United States, were analyzed to identify themes. The inclusion of Bandura's social cognitive theory to increase self-efficacy was evident in the research as an important technique to increase success. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the top 2 leaders from a small-sized cloud-based data management company in Orlando, Florida. Data collected from interviews were transcribed and coded to analyze emerging themes. Three themes discovered as strategic planning tools were feedback, timeframe, and leadership. The results of this study could contribute to social change by assisting employers in understanding the value of a successful strategic plan for employee engagement in lowering turnover. Lowering turnover in the immediate Orlando, FL area leads to lowering unemployment throughout and outside of the state. When employers understand the relationship between engagement, leadership, and human capital can shift employee self-efficacy and increase job satisfaction. Involving HR at the ground floor of an organization can provide much-needed balance and personnel management to increase overall engagement, reduce turnover, and impact municipal and regional businesses.