Gamification is the process of making an application fun and rewarding to use.
Subtle psychological reinforcement develops bonds with users and in studies shows more hours using an app and enjoying the time spent.

Considering the up and coming generation of users have grown up with technology, it makes perfect sense to speak the same language. Most 15 year olds have been though 3 or 4 versions of a game app and fluent with MS office.

Want more on gamification? Check out this wiki. Even Al Gore's bloviating. But to see the real world example of how gamification relates in the work place, here's a follow up from Applebee's