Organisations use various technologies and learning management solutions to make their corporate training more efficient and engaging. According to LMS development experts, gamification, or the introduction of game mechanics into eLearning, is one of the best techniques for involving more employees in training and helping them absorb knowledge better by making education fun.
Let’s explore five main benefits gamification brings to corporate learning, the most popular gamification strategies companies apply, and a couple of real-life examples of gamified learning.
Benefits of Gamification
1. Greater learner engagement
In today’s corporate environment, many employees work in front of computers and tablets and may not want to spend more time in front of a screen completing workplace training. Gamification with different challenges and quests, narratives, and competitions, and gamified visual design can engage employees and help them easier acquire knowledge without perceiving training as much of an obligation.
2. Better training effectiveness
A person’s attention span varies greatly depending on multiple factors. A dull corporate training article or PowerPoint presentation can’t keep employees’ focus for long. In contrast, gamification techniques can help to not only increase employees’ attention span but also inspire them to learn and play more.
For example, employing gamification to train employees to spot insider threats contribute to insider threat prevention by cultivating a culture of engagement and awareness among employees regarding security protocols and potential risks within the organisation.
In addition, from a psychological point of view, people learn better when they’re actively involved in learning and the training is socially interactive and joyful, which can be achieved by adding game elements to the corporate learning process.
3. Healthy competition
Gamification, with its challenges and quests, doesn’t pit employees against one another to see who’s the best. Presenting learning in the form of a game where players can continuously track their progress in real time, identify their strengths, and see how they perform against other players fosters healthy competition among employees and encourages them to earn more points, special badges, or rewards for achieving the next level.
4. Skills development in a safe simulated environment
Game-based learning can incorporate quests and simulations, allowing employees to learn and practise new skills in a safe simulated environment. For example, sales agents can practise communication and various sales techniques without worrying about making mistakes and adverse reactions from customers.
5. Favourable company reputation
By implementing game elements into corporate learning, companies also create a favourable image of the organisation and promote the idea that the organisation is a forward-thinking, dynamic, and appealing workplace.
Key gamification strategies for corporate learning
Let’s explore the most common gamification strategies that companies apply to make their corporate learning engaging and keep employees motivated.
Progress mechanics 📈
Organisations can use mechanics like points, badges, or leaderboards to track learners’ progress and encourage them to achieve more.
- Employees can receive points for completing tasks, challenges, or quizzes to trace their growth.
- Using badges or rewards for completing a particular level or reaching a specific milestone can create a feeling of achievement in employees and encourage them to continue learning.
- Leaderboards display user learning progress and results along with other employees’ achievements, which can contribute to healthy competition and motivate learners to continue earning points.
Narrative and characters 📚
Our brain processes information more efficiently when this information is presented in the form of stories or narratives rather than a long list of facts. That is why companies can present some of their educational materials in a story-telling format with characters, backgrounds, and plot twists.
Challenges and quests 🚀
Implementing challenges and quests is a strategy that encourages skills development. Employees need to apply effort and problem-solving skills to complete a task that doesn’t pose any real-life risks or have a negative impact if they fail.
Teamwork activities 🤝
If the training aims to improve employees’ teamwork and social skills, companies can consider integrating collaborative tasks into their corporate training. These can include group projects or assignments and challenges that employees need to solve as a team. Companies can also consider integrating group chats or discussion forums with learning courses for easier collaboration.
Interactive elements🎮
Companies can integrate interactive elements, like short games and simulations, into their gamified learning strategy to enhance interactivity and engagement. For example, in a simulation game, employees can explore scenarios of real-life situations and processes, make decisions, and see the consequences of their actions in a safe environment. Additionally, companies may need to hire developers with expertise in game design and programming to create these interactive learning experiences.
Real-world examples
An international retailer, Sally Beauty, developed gamified eLearning modules to help store assistants understand hair colouring specifics and recommend suitable hair colour products to customers. Sally Beauty employed a scenario-based game with instant feedback on players’ answers and, in time, achieved significant results: one product line was sold within 48 hours after the sales assistants started to put their knowledge into practice.
Another successful example is KPMG which developed a gamified corporate learning program called Globerunner to increase employee understanding of the company's audit, tax, and advisory products and services. The training was made as a single-player game where users travel around the globe answering questions and earning points. The game also has a tournament mode where employees can compete against one another.
The company achieved significant results: they noticed a 24% improvement in overall awareness of the organisation’s capabilities, 71% of the platform users are now more comfortable addressing a client’s challenge, and 89% of people stated that the training gave them a positive impression of KPMG as an innovative place to work.
In conclusion
Some companies may think that adding game elements to learning and, even worse, to the corporate environment is inappropriate, goes against stringent business rules, and encourages employees to play games at work. Nevertheless, examples of many companies have already proved that with the right approach, gamification of corporate learning brings many benefits.
As Chris Shuster, Director at KPMG Learning and Development Advisory, says:
“Game-based learning presents the opportunity to reinvigorate learner interest, tap into learners’ competitive inclinations, and drive higher learning engagement and satisfaction. Gamification is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach, nor will it achieve all types of learning objectives. However, games are a great way to introduce new learning concepts, augment live training experiences, and reinforce key concepts over time.”
That is why the company’s leadership needs to communicate the concept and the benefits of this technique to promote the adoption of gamified learning.
