Employee training can often feel dull and tedious, especially if you are working remotely and doing it in a vacuum. Reading long documents and watching endless lectures on video just isn’t cutting it anymore. Instead, many companies are turning to gamification to spice up professional development.
British computer programmer Nick Pelling is credited with coining the term in 2002. “Gamification” is the process of applying game mechanics and strategies to a non-gaming activity to boost engagement, motivation, happiness, curiosity, retention and loyalty. During corporate employee training, gamification often entails adding points, badges, and rewards. It also often includes gaming elements to otherwise traditional employee training courses to enhance the learning experience. The competitive and storytelling nature of these tools makes learning new skills more fun and interactive.
Between the increase in remote work, AI, demand for gamified mobile solutions and the need to engage employees after workplace engagement hit an 11-year low this year in the United States, the gamification market is projected to grow from $9.1 billion in 2020. And its project to grow to $30.7 billion by 2025, an annual growth rate of 27.4%.
Whether you are an employer or employee, it’s helpful to understand how gamification is used in professional development, why it’s so effective and examples of how it’s being implemented successfully by all types of companies.
How gamification works
By using elements of games like play, rules, scoring and challenges, gamification employee training tools establish goals and use points and levels to track progress. These tools also create competition by listing participants’ status on leaderboards. This helps encourage employees to complete modules, do well on quizzes and tests and interact with the material so they learn more effectively. According to a survey, the top five motivating gamification elements according to employees include rewards, badges, points, leaderboards and levels.
Rooted in psychology, gamification works because it focuses on motivating people in three core ways, according to Harvard Business Review.
Gamification allows employees to control their learning experience
First, gamification allows autonomy when participants have control over their learning experience. This autonomy increases their intrinsic motivation and commitment to the training process. At Ling, a language learning app company, skill trees are used to chart out all the skills for learning ranked by importance. “For example, in our IT department, we developed skill trees for different roles like user, operator, administrator and developer,” explains Jarir Mallah, human resources manager at Ling.
“Each path allows employees to choose their learning journey, focusing on the skills most relevant to their career goals.” This approach not only makes learning more engaging, but it also ensures that the training is personalized and relevant. He has found that employees feel a sense of accomplishment as they progress through the skill trees. This in turn boosts their confidence and competence.
Gamification boosts employee competence
Second, games provide experiences that help people progress and feel competent after facing challenges. Gamification structures learning around clear, attainable goals, and achieving these goals is inherently motivating for most people. “Accumulating points, earning badges or achieving a new rank are all ways that gamification can help individuals gain a sense of progress and accomplishment towards outcomes,” notes Darrin Murriner, co-founder and CEO of Cloverleaf.me, a technology platform that delivers automated team coaching to enterprises. There is even a physical response as a result. Feel-good hormones like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins release when employees reach a new level or earn a badge, which helps keep them wanting to play—and learn—more.
Gamification fosters employee connections
Third, gamification creates ways for employees to connect with each other through either teamwork or competition. Group tasks, challenges and achievements build camaraderie among employees, improving corporate culture and morale. Some friendly competition allows staff to forge new connections at work. “You can allow your staff members to compete with one another or with different departments within your business,” says Murriner. “You can also use gamification and competition to motivate your departments individually, even when they’re working remotely.”
Employees also enjoy the instant feedback they receive. Levels, scoreboards and leaderboards provide a real-time snapshot of their performance throughout the training. This allows employees to understand their strengths and areas for improvement, adjust their strategies and view the impact of their efforts immediately. Seeing progress indicators keeps people motivated, as they want to reach the finish line and achieve their goals.
Gamification is quite versatile and therefore can be applied to many different types of employee training programs. Quizzes with a point system may be used to onboard new employees and share critical information in a fun, welcoming way to help them get started at the company. Corporate leaders may choose to schedule a team-building day by inviting everyone to participate in a virtual scavenger hunt. Or the sales team can be incentivized to meet or exceed their quarterly goals through sales contests, competitions and giveaways with prizes for the best numbers.
1. Gamification tools for business resource groups
The most effective gamification tools are ones that can benefit all participants in a productive, clear and relevant way, says career development coach Michelle Enjoli. She incorporated gamification into a business resource group at Mercedes-Benz USA to help employees and leaders connect for career development. “I held a speed networking event in which each participant was graded via a scorecard on their networking skills when they met with leaders from different departments in the company,” she explains.
The winner was awarded a free executive coaching session with a professional coach. “This approach proved to be effective because…each participant was incentivized to improve their networking skills to interact with leaders they normally wouldn’t have immediate access to. It also created a competitive environment in which the winner was awarded additional professional assistance, which they wouldn’t have pursued on their own.” Participants found the experience educational, fun and an effective way to make connections.
2. Cornerstone
Mallah has found Cornerstone to be the most effective gamification tool used by Ling employees. This is due to its comprehensive platform that integrates learning management with performance tracking. “Our employees earn points and badges for completing training modules. This has significantly increased engagement and motivation,” says Mallah.
“For example, one of our customer service teams saw a 40% improvement in training completion rates after we introduced Cornerstone’s gamified elements. The competitive aspect, combined with clear visual progress, keeps everyone motivated.”
3. Classcraft
Victor Karpenko, founder and CEO of SEOProfy, prefers to use Classcraft’s gamification platform for structured and formal employee training sessions to try to keep the company culture as fun as possible. “We love it specifically because it encourages teamwork and collaboration during gameplay,” he explains. “They have role-playing games where teams are expected to strategize together, which familiarizes employees with the unique strengths of their colleagues and also have interactive missions that team members can complete together.”
Some key industry research highlights the impact gamification can have in the workplace. TalentLMS’s survey found that employees say gamification makes them feel more productive (89%) and happier (88%) at work. Additionally, 83% of those who receive gamified training feel motivated. And 61% of those who receive non-gamified training feel bored and unproductive.
1. Improves employee performance
A study that evaluated KPMG’s Globerunner training program found how it helped boost employee performance. Meant to deepen employees’ understanding of the firm’s products and services so they could better identify business opportunities, employees were asked to design a character and play a game. The game entailed racing around the world answering questions about the firm’s offerings. They earned travel points and unlocked new levels for answering questions correctly.
As a result of the gamified employee training, fees collected by participating offices increased by more than 25%. The number of clients also rose by up to 16% and opportunities from new clients increased by as much as 22%. And the more that employees played Globerunner, the more their job performance improved.
2. Strengthens employee training programs
Additionally, corporate leaders have seen firsthand how gamification has enhanced their employee training programs. For example, Michael Ashley, business expert and founder of Ashley Insights who also served as the chief of staff at Citi, has seen how gamification tools that leverage technology to create an engaging and interactive experience, have been instrumental in increasing employee engagement, motivation and retention rates. “These tools have allowed us to recognize and reward employees for completing training modules or achieving specific goals, creating a sense of accomplishment and competition among team members.”
3. Leads to positive results for employees and companies
Gamification also improves knowledge retention and transfer, enhances collaboration and provides valuable data-driven insights, says Ashley. “Gamification was great for our organization. It allows us to create an enjoyable and interactive learning experience that drove tangible results. By including gamification elements in our training programs, we saw significant improvements in employee performance, job satisfaction and retention rates.”
As more companies tap into gamification for employee training, continued positive results are anticipated. If your company doesn’t offer gamified professional development yet, be sure to inquire about it and highlight all the potential benefits it can offer.
Photo courtesy of insta_photos/Shutterstock
