How gamification in corporate learning can boost engagement

Last year, as part of a company-wide strategy to promote digital transformation among employees, global banking group BBVA introduced a new and improved upskilling system.

Designed to reinforce, update, and deepen employee knowledge, the training system was created in a digital, gamified environment where employees can decide their own development pathway and learn via different methods, from videos and podcasts to simulators and game-based learning experiences.  

Courses completed in the new system increased seven-fold in the first 48 days, compared to the bank’s previous digital learning platform. 

For BBVA, recently named Europe’s most sustainable bank by S&P for a third consecutive year, gamification is an extremely important element of its training system design – as it helps to “cement employee motivation and engagement and therefore commitment to development”, says Pilar Concejo, BBVA’s Global Head of Learning. “It allows us to design experiences in which employees feel much more identified and increase their level of commitment to the learning process.”

And what business wouldn’t want to achieve that? Having a workforce that is motivated, engaged, and committed is the holy grail in post-pandemic business – where hybrid working reigns supreme, digital transformation is accelerating and employee burnout is rising.

Gamification – previously more commonly used in business as a tactic to win and retain customers – is proving that in the corporate learning landscape, it can achieve just that. A recent survey by TalentLMS found gamification makes employees feel more productive (87%), more engaged (84%), and happier at work (82%).

It’s little wonder then that more businesses, from IBM to BMW to Deloitte, are turning to gamification as a strategy not just in sales and marketing but as part of HR and learning development to attract and develop talent and boost worker motivation and engagement.

Following roll-out of its digital badge pilot program in 2019, IBM noted a 694% increase in the number of individuals who passed their end-of-course exam; while Deloitte, which uses leaderboards in its digital leadership academy to help participants develop soft skills, has seen a 47% increase in the number of return users each week.

David Semach, EMEA Head of AI and Automation at Infosys Consulting tells Business Chief that while gamification is the “go-to idea” for making modern consumers love brands, buy products, and stay loyal, it has “serious potential for internal training and engagement too”.

And since the onset of the pandemic, acceptance of gamification by business has become more widespread, as companies are forced to engage with digital transformation, says An Coppens, Chief Game Changer at Gamification Nation, which creates game-based and gamified experiences to help remote and hybrid businesses thrive.

“They realise that some of their work tools or work setups and structures aren’t quite so motivational, especially for younger employees like Generation Z who have grown up with apps and games and use them in their personal lives.”

Benefits of gamification in motivating and engaging employees

Gamification as a business strategy is nothing new. Defined by Gartner as “the use of game mechanics and experience design to digitally engage and motivate people to achieve their goals” – game-like elements have been part of business optimisation strategies and brand awareness for decades.

Big brands, from Starbucks to KFC to Nike, have been using it as a marketing tactic to enhance product sales and loyalty through incentive-driven gamified campaigns for years. While, among early pioneers of gamification in corporate learning, Hilton Garden Inn introduced in 2009 a video game for workforce training – something they insist boosted information retention among employees and improved the guest experience.

Because, while gamification is sometimes oversimplified as reimagining one’s mundane tasks as fun goals or exciting challenges, it offers a lot more than that – encouraging engagement in activities and improving the memories of those participating.

An, who frequently uses team-based gamification in an employee setting to stimulate team collaboration, says gamification of employee learning can attract more of the right people to the team, thereby stimulating a more productive team culture and improved retention. “Our motto is ‘Teams that play together stay together’ as we believe games connect us as humans on a deeper level than just communication”.

Simply put, gamification can change behaviour and create habits in a non-competitive environment. It breaks down complex concepts into bite-sized content, makes learning fun and immersive (often in a VR setting), gives feedback and measures progress in real-time, and incentivises employees allowing them to earn points, status, and rewards as they improve their skills.

“Creating a memorable experience that surprises and delights pays exponential dividends in terms of customer and employee loyalty,” David says. 

Scientists have shown how the chemicals behind the brain’s pleasure system, endorphins, and dopamine, can improve motivation, prompt repetition, and enhance learning. Taking part in challenges or competing to win a skills badge, say, can improve employees’ retention, expand their knowledge, and promote cooperation across organisations – something more needed than ever in a remote working world.

“When you know what motivates and drives your team members, you can achieve change by appealing to what they desire or what can be shown as the desirable new vision,” An tells Business Chief. “To stimulate action towards said change is to provide the first tangible next step. You would then look at ways of nudging them towards what you want more of in terms of changed behaviour and rewarding some of these items when the effort to achieve them has been fulfilled.”

Gamification and personalised learning

Today’s workers have very different expectations. Described by David as being “more meandering than ever” the modern employee doesn’t fit the mould and expects more bespoke career paths than their predecessors.

“Because of this attitude shift, personalised training, learning and development journeys are an essential differentiator for employers right now,” David tells Business Chief. “Training in the future will be both mobile and personalised – these are inherently linked to AI and gamification technologies.”

Infosys Consulting uses its own proprietary digital tools to recreate the best of in-person learning, all of which are cloud-based and mobile-first so employees can access them anytime and anywhere. “AI is vital to both virtualise and personalise L&D initiatives, moving away from the one-size-fits-all programmes in the past.”

David points to gamification as the missing piece to add to this AI-enabled training. “We are seeing increased investment in training platforms that learn your strengths, weaknesses, learning style and working preferences and adapt accordingly to create a truly enjoyable and engaging experience,” he says.

These insights can be used to automatically suggest suitable training courses and modules to a person’s role, as well as adapting the way individual training is delivered. “With these gamified applications, organisations have the ability to automate employee training programmes, saving significant time and costs in a difficult economic climate whilst actually improving employee engagement – which often falls victim when time or funds are of short supply.”