How the gamification of learning can benefit

Do you know what gamification is? As a specialist term, many people will not have come across it before, but the vast majority of us will have encountered it, some perhaps without even realising.

In short, gamification is the use of game-playing elements and principles in non-game contexts. So, for example, Tripadvisor’s use of badges and leaderboards to reward the number of posts or performance of its contributors. The purpose of this is to encourage people to write more reviews by providing recognition and creating competition among users.

You don’t need to be a multinational social network to take advantage of gamification in business, though. Businesses of all sizes can benefit from the gamification of learning for their employees.

Improves learning

The most obvious benefit of gamification, where employee learning is concerned, is that it actually improves the effectiveness of learning. Not only has this been shown to be the case, but there is solid science behind it and you can see evidence of it in the success of language learning apps like Duolingo.

There are a number of ways that gamification helps to improve employee learning. To begin with, greater recognition and competition increases uptake. A more ‘fun’ learning environment is another factor in this and also helps to improve knowledge retention.

Employee engagement

The same aspects of gamification can also help to improve employee engagement within a company. By providing increased recognition and, therefore, uptake, it’s possible to increase employee engagement with the company itself. By developing a healthy atmosphere of competition, meanwhile, and perhaps even offering incentives, it’s possible to increase engagement among employees.

Bottom line

Ultimately, a more highly-skilled and engaged workforce will improve the bottom line of a company. More adept employees are, of course, more productive, while more engaged employees make for a happier working environment, itself a factor for improving overall company performance.