As the speed of emerging technology accelerates and work environments continue to evolve, agile and effective corporate learning has become essential for both employees and their companies to stay competitive. However, despite high demand for training at work, with 92% of employees valuing professional development, keeping employees engaged in learning remains a significant hurdle. In fact, the Kahoot! Superstar Presenter Spotlight survey revealed that audience engagement is the top challenge when giving presentations, one of the most common methods of delivering training.
Gamification: A Game-Changing Solution for Engaging Training
One solution that companies are increasingly turning to is gamification. When done right, gamification can be a powerful strategy to drive engagement in learning by boosting intrinsic motivation, tapping into employees’ natural instincts for friendly competition. Training that challenges employees and makes tackling that challenge enjoyable and rewarding, not only takes engagement to the next level but can also elevate learning outcomes.
When learners actively engage with training through gamified elements and apply what they learn right away, they achieve deeper focus and stronger knowledge retention. This can lead to significant ripple effects in employees’ overall satisfaction and performance, leading to higher employee retention rates. In turn, companies save time and money on talent acquisition and minimize disruptions to the team, all with a relatively simple-to-implement new approach.
4 Key Tips for Gamifying Your Training Strategy
1. Take advantage of technology.
While simple gamification tactics such as badges, trophies or leaderboards can be effective, tech tools can also be transformative in making the experience more immersive, dynamic, engaging and accessible for everyone, including those working remotely or at different locations. Explore technologies that offer a game experience employees would enjoy even outside work. At the same time, look for solutions that track employee participation and performance in the training, which can help identify knowledge gaps and other areas for improvement. Finally, see how much time you can save on content creation with generative AI tools and features, such as generating interactive quiz questions or adding attractive visual design elements.
2. Create a gamified learning culture.
Fostering a company culture where employees are continuously learning is critical to keeping pace in a rapidly changing business environment. Gamification makes it easier to keep employees motivated to learn by making it genuinely engaging and enjoyable. Integrate game elements across training and team communications, including presentations, meetings and training sessions, whether in-person, virtual or hybrid. Introducing gamified experiences frequently also gives employees more opportunities to win or succeed, which is key for keeping motivation high.
3. Empower everyone to be a learning leader.
Not all companies have large training and development teams, but peer-to-peer learning can be a powerful solution, democratizing learning by unlocking the knowledge within your current workforce. In Kahoot!’s 2022 Workplace Culture Report, 58% of workers reported holding back valuable knowledge that could benefit their co-workers, mainly due to lack of opportunity or space to share it. However, 77% of workers said they would highly value an easy and fun way to share knowledge with their co-workers. Gamified peer learning makes it easy for employees to share insights through fun challenges, promoting a culture of knowledge sharing.
4. Experiment, learn and iterate.
Just as employees are continuously learning, trainers should continuously be gathering insights to personalize the gamified learning experience for their workforce’s needs and preferences. Experiment with both individual and team-based gamified challenges or try a cooperative game experience to bring the whole workforce together for a common goal. Regularly gather feedback to determine the types of activities that resonate most with your employees and adapt to their changing preferences for maximum impact.
Supporting employees with the professional development they need to stay up to date and grow is business critical in the modern era of work. With gamification, trainers can create learning experiences that meet this demand and have employees coming back for more, inspiring them to share their own knowledge and multiply learning across the company.
