Gamification for Corporate Training – 5 Compelling Reasons

Games and learning have been intermingled since old. Gamification is using a game-based approach to increase participation in non-gaming environments that include learning and training. This improves users’ motivation and engagement in the given activity. Given the benefits, the e-learning community has adopted gamification for corporate training. Now, you can’t say online learning is just a slide-turning and quiz-taking activity. As a training manager, you can bring the gravely needed liveliness to your online learning, through gamification.

Not convinced? Here are five compelling reasons to use gamification for corporate trainings.

1. Engages Employees Well

When employees are interested in learning, it becomes easy to gain the required skills and knowledge necessary for them to work. Engaging employees will bring the needed interest. Gamifying the training brings the required difference.

Most employees get bored with training, but when you give it in the form of a game, they do it without hesitation. Gamification gets your employees’ attention using the emotions of pleasure, competition, and more. Games motivate your employees to learn new things.

In traditional online learning courses, learners have to go through a series of modules and take the quiz at the end. If the relevant instructional strategy hasn’t been applied, it turns into a ‘click the Next button’ activity; but gamified courses motivate learners to participate in the learning process actively. This boosts learners’ engagement levels and increases their knowledge and abilities by the end of the game.

While taking the gamified approach for your online learning, it’s important to balance the challenge levels of the game and skill levels of the learners. If you address this issue, learners will stick to the game till the end, and learn the required skill without getting bored or anxious.

Check this article to know how to make your e-learning stress-free with gamification.

2. Increases Knowledge & Retention Rates

According to research by Professor Traci Sitzmann at the University of Colorado Denver Business School, those who played video games had 11% higher factual knowledge level, 14% higher skill-based knowledge level, and 9% higher retention rate than others. Gamifying corporate training also develops the self-efficacy of employees – the confidence to achieve their goals.

This data helps you clear your doubts on implementing game mechanics in workplace learning and delivers you from confusion.

3. Allows to Fail and Learn

Gamification provides a safe space for your employees to fail and learn, in a virtual environment. Going to work without training can be dangerous in some situations. For example, possible threats and hazards are many when working in heavy machinery industries and huge construction sites. If you take employees through a virtual working environment via gamification, they can learn without harm, though they commit mistakes.

Gamified learning courses provide immediate feedback as learners go forward, unlike traditional e-learning which reserves feedback till the end. Learners develop a sense of accountability at each level. In a sense, it works as a self-correcting framework.

Check this blog post for a comprehensive view of gamification in e-learning.

4. Aligns with Educational Theories

Some assume that since everybody likes games, businesses have started applying this in learning too. However, pedagogical theories such as Constructivism and Situated Learning affirm the use of gamification in learning.

Constructivism says people learn from what they see, listen, do, read, and the demonstration of concepts. Gamification facilitates learning by helping them understand as they play, interact with the gaming elements, and comprehend content.

The Situated Learning Theory suggests that people learn better when they are placed in authentic contexts that relate to their real world tasks. Interacting with others in those situations makes sense, rather than gaining theoretical knowledge that is applied later. Game-based learning works on the same principle of playing in different contexts and situations.

5. Works on Minds

Gamification works on the affective and cognitive domains of our mind. The affective domain helps apply learning and take decisions on values, emotions, and attitudes. The cognitive domain focuses on recollecting, understanding, evaluating, and analyzing information. These functions are associated with a person’s learning, so they’re important for online learning and corporate training. As learning games work at the cognitive level, it’s easy to apply them at work.

Want to know how does gamification help deliver better training online? Check this presentation.

Gamification in corporate training provides immersive learning experiences and promotes inherent learning in your employees. Active participation in the learning activity improves employees’ confidence, thereby strengthening the bottom line performance of your organization.