Game On! for the HR community
The best way to make a child learn is when he/she experiences the action. It’s a tried and tested method – and it is the basis of all our primary education. As we grow older and we begin our professional careers, we tend to forget this ‘experience’ part and move on to execute what we had been taught so far. While it is essential to apply what we have learnt in our different programs, it is equally imperative to keep on learning for better work.
Organisations devised strategies to keep employees engaged and develop through various learning modules. Some worked for a while, and most of them didn’t. The HR had to go back to their boardrooms to chalk out plans to retain, engage and stimulate employees. The main task was to see how to make learning an enjoyable process – since employees essentially view any kind of learning as going back to school and it didn’t evoke the kind of emotions that it ought to – with regard to learning. With technology entering the fray, learning has become a much easier process for employees.
The HR world has woken up to gamification of the learning processes. Organizations around the world have been rooting for the gaming dynamics to reduce the number of disinterested employees and learners. They have realised that gaming increases productivity of their existing workforce. Gamification revolution started in 2010, and since almost all major organisations have embraced it for their own betterment. Experiential learning methodology uses critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making to deliver a training module. This has become an established method to accelerate learning.
Gamification expert Gabe Zichermann attributes 75% of strategy’s high engagement rate to psychology, and 25% of its success to technology. As a result, learners engaged through this process (that is gamified learning experience) retain more information and can recall them at the time of work. According to a study conducted by the University of Colorado on the impact of simulations and games in adult learners, participants in gamified eLearning experiences scored 14% higher in skill-based-knowledge assessments, 11% higher in terms of factual-knowldege and 9% increase in retention rate. This shows that gamification not only helps online learners acquire knowledge and skills more effectively but also it allows them to retain information and commit it to long term memory for future use.
In a gamified learning environment employees naturally stay focussed on their agenda and are engrossed at their work because they are sure of one thing – getting to know the results in real time. eLearning gamification is not just beneficial for the learner, but can lead to a significant boost in revenue for professionals who choose to focus on eLearning game design and development. A research conducted by Ambient Insight shows that game- based global revenue in 2012 was $1,548 million, and with a five year CAGR of 8.3%, this revenue is expected to reach $2,309 million in 2017. Simulation-based global revenue in 2012 was $2,364 million, and with a five year CAGR of 23%, this revenue is expected to reach $6,648 million in 2017. The total global revenue in the learning games market in 2012 was $3,912 million and with a five year CAGR of 18%, this revenue is expected to reach $8,958 million in 2017.
The future looks promising for the industry but with challenges. But one cannot deny that the art of talent management has received its biggest scientific boost – and it’s Game on! For the HR community!