Create engaging corporate training with gamification

If you work in corporate training, you probably know how difficult it can be to connect with teams and engage them with your training. 

You know it, I know it. Most professionals, when they find out they have to do a new training course, think: ‘Ugh, I have so much work to do and now this’ or: ‘They don’t pay me to waste my time on -insert training topic here-’. You’re already on the back foot.

I’m here to tell you that your training can be much more fun, motivating, and productive. How? With gamification for companies, a strategy that’s rapidly growing in popularity. 

Gamification in companies: What’s it all about?

Gamification involves applying game dynamics in non-game contexts to exploit the massive motivational power of games. The idea is to take advantage of the emotions we feel when we play games to achieve objectives that go beyond entertainment. 

Our brain is stimulated by rewards, recognition, and the idea of competition. That’s why many companies create gamified systems to incentivize sales, in addition to using gamification in marketing, customer loyalty programs, and many other activities. 

But, as I was saying, today I am here to talk about gamification in corporate training. If you read on, you will discover some of its benefits along with several tricks for boosting participation in your training. 

Gamification for HR 

The human resources departments of many companies use gamification as a training strategy, both during the onboarding of new recruits and in the training of existing teams. 

Onboarding is part of the first impression people receive of a company. It’s worth the effort to make it fun and engaging from the start. 

Beyond onboarding, using gamification helps improve the results of training on any topic, such as company culture, policies, products, and processes. 

Why does gamification improve learning? Because when we play, we release dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins in our brain, which are substances related to happiness and pleasure, motivation, and a sense of accomplishment. 

That’s why everyone likes to play games. Never underestimate the power of the game! Take Pokémon, for example. This game caused millions of people who otherwise would not have left the couch to travel miles in the hunt for these little virtual creatures. 

The benefits of using gamification in corporate training

• Gamification increases the participation of teams in training courses and helps to improve adherence and reduce the dropout rate. If the learning experience is interactive, immersive, and fun, everyone will be eager to participate.
• It improves information retention. This is because games have the ability to activate the hippocampus, the area of the brain involved in generating and retrieving memories. Retention in this context means that info is transferred from the short-term memory of our brain to the long-term memory. This is fundamental in training because it is what allows a person to retrieve that information when they need it and to use it in practice in their day-to-day life. 
• It provides a safe environment for learning and turns the fear of failure into a fun and engaging learning experience. Making a mistake in a simulated scenario is not the same as making one in a real situation. Having the opportunity to learn through play takes the stress out of learning. Without this stress, retention of concepts improves, and so does the learning experience. 
• It allows us to provide real-time feedback. This enhances learning in two ways. Firstly, getting information on learners’ progress and difficulties allows you to then adapt the materials to their needs. Secondly, when participants are unsure or make mistakes, you receive this information in the moment, so any errors are corrected on the spot and the concepts can be better assimilated.

Beyond the learning process, gamification positively impacts the company’s bottom line. Implementing a gamified training program will bring about behavioral changes at work and improve the team’s disposition towards the business project. Productivity, communication, and collaboration between people and teams will benefit.

Want an example? A study conducted by KPMG revealed that gamification in corporate training helped to increase commissions collected by participating offices by more than 25%. After using the app designed for the study, the number of customers increased by up to 16%, and new customer opportunities increased by up to 22%.  In addition, 89% of new hires who participated said that the app made them perceive KPMG as an innovative company and a good place to work. 

6 tips for increasing the participation and completion rates of your courses

1. Choose the game elements and mechanics best suited to your objectives. Leaderboards, point systems, challenges such as breakouts and escape games, or simulations of real scenarios often work very well. As for the elements: timers, countdowns, badges, and rewards will help make any gamification more motivating and exciting.

For example, you can use quizzes before a training session to find out the level of prior knowledge on a topic or after to reinforce knowledge and see the results of the training. 

Escape rooms allow you to create individual or team activities that engage and excite audiences. 

Simulations or scenarios help teams to think through different situations first hand. 

2. Establish rewards to boost dopamine in those who participate in your training. Everyone likes to receive rewards in recognition of their efforts. Reward is the key to motivation. The awards will not only motivate people to complete the course but will also give them a sense of achievement that will make them want to repeat the experience in the future. The reward is also a positive reinforcement that helps them remember the information.

You can combine a point system with a level system. To do this, define different levels of knowledge and give each level an inspiring name, such as specialist, master, etc. Participants can accumulate points for answering the questions correctly or resolving the challenges. When they reach a certain number of points, they get a badge and can access the next level.  

3. Encourage a little healthy competition. Display leaderboards showing points earned or badges received and update the information frequently. Discussing results constructively with the team can also encourage participants to want to climb positions and move up the ladder. Another idea is to organize contests to awaken a little competitiveness.

4. Use storytelling techniques for the content of your training. Create a story with one or more characters and make your training like chapters of their story. This gives a sense of continuity that drives participation because everyone will want to know how the story ends.

5. Facilitate collaboration among participants. Team games foster a sense of belonging and help to encourage active participation in training.

6. Design interactive content. Engage them with interactivity! Interactive elements boost participation and attract clicks. What’s more, interactive content facilitates self-learning. People explore each resource at their own pace, clicking when they are ready to read more information, thus ensuring participation and involvement. 

Best practices for applying gamification in corporate training

Getting the most out of gamification involves developing a complete system that combines different game mechanics, and applying the principles of instructional design. Adding some gamified content in isolation is sure to make teams enjoy the training more, but it is unlikely to lead to significant changes. 

The most important thing is always to define the main objective and the secondary objectives of the training and make sure they are always aligned with the business objectives. Is it procedural training or do you need to strengthen teamwork? Keeping these objectives in mind from the beginning will help you choose the most appropriate tools and dynamics. 

In addition to making sure that the game mechanics are in sync with the learning objectives, it is critical to think about the people you are targeting. Create a story that takes their motivations and preferences into account. 

Play! The only way to know if your gamification works well is to test it. Ask for feedback from the teams in order to improve your resources in future iterations.

Analyze your training results to identify areas for improvement and maximize the impact of your training. The results will get better and better!

Say goodbye to boring training! If you follow these steps, you can gamify your training and connect with your teams like never before.

What’s that? You already use Genially to create gamified training resources? Leave a comment to share your experience with the community and let everyone see how great your content is!