As a great philosopher once said, “players gonna play, play, play, play, play.”
Whether it’s video games, sports, Wordle or drag trivia, there’s bound to be a game that tickles even the least competitive player. There’s something very human about wanting to, well, play. For some it’s about winning, for others it’s about PBs, for others it’s about that sense of camaraderie you get when united towards a goal or against a nemesis.
But what has that got to do with corporate training, workplace learning, and up-skilling employees? Enter: gamification.
What is gamification?
Gamification is the practice of using game design principles and game mechanics in non-game settings. By incorporating elements like leaderboards, badges, winning streaks and other scoring incentives, the user experience is enhanced for better engagement and more enjoyment.
When gamification is applied to an educational context, we call this gamified training. It’s what we at Yarno do best. Gamification elements have been built into the Yarno platform from the start, and with an average feedback rating of 4.52/5, we’re confident it works. The features our customers have at their disposal include:
- Leaderboards
- Badges (for 5, 10, 20 and 50 question streaks and over 80% correct answer rate)
- Progress bars and indicators
- Strongest and weakest topics
- The quiz format itself
Gamification adds a layer of fun, interactivity and effort investment to what might otherwise be Just Another Thing To Do. And it’s a powerful tool when it comes to knowledge retention, with gamified training growing in popularity for good reason.
The problem with traditional training programs
“I fondly remember completing my favourite eLearning module. Clicking through two dozen text-heavy slides was a great use of my time and I’m motivated for more training sessions” - nobody
Sometimes ‘traditional’ hints at something being extra awesome. Pizza comes to mind. But with training, traditional methods are often seen as boring and uninspired. Think endless ‘next’ buttons, long lectures, dense reading materials and death by Powerpoint. No exquisite stone-baked dough here, just inefficiency and a few eye-rolls.
Lack of Engagement
A key feature of many traditional learning methods and resources is that they are passive. Flat slides, one-sided seminars and poor design all contribute to a lack of engagement. If employees aren’t actively involved in the learning process, they are less likely to retain knowledge and more likely to form negative connotations with workplace training.
Lack of Diversity
These programs typically do not accommodate different learning preferences, modalities and paces, potentially leaving some employees behind or under-stimulated. If we’re serious about hiring diverse teams who bring unique strengths and approaches to the table, we can’t expect homogenous, blanket-solution training to be effective.
Lack of Efficiency
Old-fashioned learning formats no longer cut it for today’s modern learners. Like it or not, many employees are easily distracted, overwhelmed, and time poor, so efficiency should be a key consideration when developing training resources. Trapping them in a two-day workshop? Not necessarily the answer. Designing a flexible microlearning approach that seamlessly embeds into their existing workflows? We’ve all got time for that.
The thing is, workplace training is a crucial part of growing a business. But it doesn’t need to be a compulsory box-ticking activity that feels like going to the dentist (i.e. annoying, time-consuming, requires considerable effort despite sitting still). With gamified training, we’re bringing engagement and enjoyment to these must-do processes, and making them more memorable, more interactive, and ultimately more effective.
Using gamification in corporate training
So why does gamification work so well for workplace learning? Why is gamified training so effective? Why are questions better in threes? Let’s find out.
We’re more engaged
- Interactive elements used in gamified training make learning a participatory experience rather than something you just watch or listen to
- One survey found that 95% of employees enjoy having game-inspired elements incorporated in their work environment
- Adaptive gamified platforms can adjust the difficulty and content based on individual performance, providing a tailored learning experience that caters to different needs and skill levels
We’re more motivated
- Gamification incentives such as points and badges help reinforce positive learning patterns, leading to better completion rates (at Yarno we have completion rates of over 80% #slay)
- By participating in gamified training together, employees contribute to conversations, banter and friendly rivalry, developing a positive learning culture and all-round good vibes
- Rewards using gamified training tap into extrinsic motivations, while a sense of achievement taps into intrinsic motivations (you can read more about that in this blog post)
We’re better equipped
- Gamified elements like simulations and quizzes require employees to apply their knowledge in practical scenarios, which helps reinforce learning and improve retention
- In fact, studies like this one found that gamification led to 89% of employees feeling more productive in their roles
- Gamified learning can feature immediate feedback mechanisms and spaced repetition, allowing employees to learn from their mistakes and make adjustments quickly
Training through gamification: a (super quick) practical guide
At Yarno, we’re learning experts. However, we also know that we don’t know everything. Creativity has no limits, and as technology advances, the opportunities for more sophisticated gamification increase.
Here’s a handy shortlist of things we’ve learned about gamified training so far, as we strive to create the best learning experiences for our customers:
Do’s
- Align with learning objectives: Ensure that gamified elements are designed to meet specific learning goals and enhance the overall training objectives. In this context, the fun has to make sense (adulting, amIrite).
- Incorporate relevant rewards: Design rewards that are valuable to the specific group of employees, such as custom badges, industry-specific prizes or team incentives.
- Promote healthy competition: Use leaderboards and challenges to foster a sense of friendly competition, encouraging both individual and team performance.
- Provide clear instructions and expectations: Make sure that the goals of the gamified training are clearly communicated to avoid confusion and ensure that employees understand how they can succeed.
Don’ts
- Overemphasize competition: While we might be aiming for some healthy team rivalry, avoid creating overly competitive environments that might lead to stress or resentment among employees.
- Neglect content quality: Gamified elements should not overshadow the educational content. Gamification is a tool to (greatly) enhance training, and the primary focus should remain on delivering valuable and relevant learning experiences.
- Ignore user feedback: Regularly gather and analyse feedback from employees and other platform users to make improvements and address any issues with the gamified training UX.
- Assume one-size-fits-all: Recognise that different companies, industries and employees have different learning preferences and needs. Clever gamification is irrelevant if it can’t be adapted for multiple use cases.
Gamified training in practice: two Australian examples
Blackmores
Vitamins, minerals, supplements, oh my! Blackmores is Australia’s leading natural health company, and when they approached us looking for an innovative training solution, we were thrilled to deliver. The challenge of up-skilling a dispersed sales team on financial and commercial acumen (a snooze-fest for some, let’s be honest) really lent itself to the gamified elements in our Yarno platform.
94% of people got involved and participated. That's pretty unheard of in L&D and the uplift we saw was 20% which is phenomenal.
Tom Bailey, Head of Capability
Through their use of all our gamification mechanics, Blackmores achieved astounding participation and engagement. To find out how we did it, check out this topline case study.
Winning Group
Working across multiple teams, locations, products and services, Winning Academy (a division of Winning Group) is the definition of a dispersed and diverse workforce. They needed to be able to deliver training that was easily accessible, super flexible, and constantly adaptable to their business’ changing needs, not to mention being engaging and motivating for learners. Gamified training was the perfect solution.
We use Yarno to help support businesses across retail, sports and logistics to scale the knowledge of their teams, which leads to an increase in performance.
Chris Tan
Learning and Development Manager at Winning Group
Through our gamification design, Winning saw a significant decrease in business expenses and a marked increase in campaign performance for their employees, which you can read more about here.
The point of gamification (see what I did there)
At Yarno, we get to partner with a whole range of businesses as they train their employees, and although the the contexts, topics and users vary, the ultimate goal remains the same: behaviour change.
Gamification works in corporate training because it’s proven to engage diverse learners, improve knowledge retention, and increase work performance. (It also looks fun, and we’d be lying if we said that slick graphics, badges and progress bars were more appealing than big text blocks and PowerPoint font parties).
But it’s not just about the lols, either. Companies worldwide lose a staggering $13.5m per year per 1,000 employees due to ineffective training. So it’s in our best interest to keep workplace training engaging, to keep the campers happy and also to bump up the bottom line.
To get some insights on how Yarno’s gamified training could bring out the best in your business, get in touch with our friendly crew. We’d love to listen, chat, and compare Mario Kart results.
