Best Practices To Engage Employees Using Gamification In Corporate Learning

What is gamification?

Corporate training programs must be engaging enough not to lose interest or pay attention for more knowledge. For this reason, companies have started adopting gamification techniques because these tools can help educate and train employees. And today, it is becoming a usual workplace practice to motivate and enhance employee productivity levels. But leaders must remember that gamification in corporate learning is so much more than points and badges.

Read further to know more about how you can use it in your next corporate training program.

Benefits of gamification in workplace training

Whether you're training employees on security procedures or how to operate new equipment, key knowledge gaps can doom a business. The best way to fill these gaps is with well-organized, engaging training using gamified learning.

Here's why:

• While traditional teaching methods are still effective, gamified learning management software can enhance learning and increase engagement in workplace training. 

• It uses elements aiding learners to retain knowledge easily and establishes a learning culture in the company.

• It helps employees share experiences and collaborate with the team, making it easier to relate to the information being taught. 

• Most people take pride in their accomplishments, and it helps increase employee growth, thereby increasing their work satisfaction.

• It establishes and spreads positive employer branding and promotes team building.

• It helps employees learn quickly by providing them with new challenges, encouraging them to think out of the box.

• Finally, game-based learning makes training environments more engaging and fun for the learner than traditional learning methods.

Best practices when applying gamification in corporate learning

Here are some recommended best practices for successfully implementing gamification in your corporate training programs.

1. Understand what you're trying to teach

Games are engaging because they're challenging, but they don't necessarily lead to learning without clear goals and training objectives. For example, if your goal is knowledge retention in your employees, make sure you design a learning experience by choosing a gamified experience that will help them learn something new. 

2. Choose a game that fits your employees and culture.

Each employee is different, so it is what engages them. Some people are fans of sports-related video games; others prefer role-playing games. Find out what type of gamified experience your employees relate to based on their interests and learning goals, and then go for it.

3. Establish a clear goal

Gamification is most effective when used to motivate people towards a specific end goal. Before you start designing any elements of your course, define what the learners will do or achieve at the end of it. Use the end goal to help drive everything you do throughout the training session and keep your audience engaged by boosting the competitive spirits. 

4. Make tasks fun 

It works best when tasks are fun and engaging rather than repetitive and boring. Give learners opportunities to participate in hands-on activities that will be interesting and enjoyable for them and beneficial for their learning experience.

Ensure  all of the gamified learning practices happen in a positive and friendly environment without any conflicts between teammates.

5. Offer interesting rewards

Different employees are motivated by different things, so it's important to understand what motivates each learner in your course. When designing your gamification strategy, try to find ways to reward learners for their achievements that will appeal specifically to their personal preferences and needs.

6. Motivation and Feedback 

In considering the basic needs of employees, be sure to address their learning objectives and potential motivators. Be sure to provide feedback and motivate them.

For example, what they are looking to achieve. What drives them? How do they know if they are making progress towards their goal? To what extent will providing feedback help learners achieve their learning objectives? With a clear understanding of all this, companies can reap the great benefits of game-based learning. 

Must read: The best way to engage a global virtual team

7. Achieve Balance 

This is one most important practice to understand and build in your gamified corporate learning. It is important to balance how much of a challenge it is vs. how much help is given to them? Organizations and leaders must consider this before trying to gamify corporate training. There should be a right balance between how easy it is for them to achieve their goals and the challenging aspects. 

8. Map the objectives to the gaming experience 

Make sure that your learning objectives map well to a game experience. Suppose the training and learning objectives are mapped to the experience. In that case, there is a good chance that you will be able to build upon that experience with gamified learning using different simulations. Before going for gamified corporate training, leaders must consider this, or you can look out for the best-gamified simulation learnings for your corporate training.

Conclusion

Fast-forwarding to 2022, Workplaces are embracing the benefits of a gamified strategy for corporate learning and team building. Gamification in corporate learning, if done correctly, can significantly boost engagement and adoption of learnings and foster work culture among employees. 

If you are looking for immersive and cost-effective gamified simulations for your corporate training programs, contact us and stay assured about training employees to perform at the top of their game!