Our people are at the heart of our business, and we’re committed to supporting their growth and developing their skills. Our Learning and Development team work hard to identify and implement processes that aid and accelerate training, and ‘gamification’ is increasingly coming to the fore. But what does this mean, and how is it used within a workplace environment? Our Learning and Development Manager, Chris Fenner, discusses its benefits for both businesses and employees, and offers insights into the areas which ATM will be focusing on for the future.
In a fast-paced world and work environment, employees can understandably suffer with a short attention span when embarking on training practices. Part of our job within the Learning and Development team is to ensure we engage with learners to make it more interesting, constantly reviewing content and its effectiveness.
Introducing gamification into Learning and Development is an exceptionally effective tool, but what is it and how is it used? Simply put, gamification is adding game-like elements into training processes. This could include rewards systems such as earning ‘badges’, virtual reality simulations and leaderboards, all aiming to engage and incentivise the way employees learn. In short, it’s about making it fun.
The Benefits for Our Business
We have been introducing gamification into our training at ATM since the beginning of the year, using our Litmos LMS platform.
Although this is a process that takes time to fully implement, by introducing small changes we have already seen heightened motivation and enthusiasm from our staff when they are taking part in specific learning goals.
We have seen individuals, be that new starters or existing team members, improve productivity, completing tasks with increased efficiency and enjoyment. It is also a great tool to assist with recruitment. For our new starters, it really helps with onboarding and to build and portray a company culture. If a workforce enjoys and thrives in their role, feeling rewarded and incentivised, they will be less likely to move on. The results mean better employee retention for a business. For anyone who has recently joined the business, the training structure is clearer.
Our new starters can really see the progress they are making through gamification and certificates of completion.
Using gamification is a great way of promoting and instilling ATM’s company values and desired behaviours, helping us meet specific goals we are looking to deliver for our clients and the wider business.
In recent new starter training, I have noticed trainees working together to achieve. Our new starter courses now contain ‘Perfect Call’ assessments at the end of each week. The trainees are encouraged to pass these calls to enable them to progress through the rest of the programme.
The ‘Perfect Call’ assessments have also helped us see the quality of the training and all of our trainees have passed since it has been introduced. We hope to see this as a continued trend, reducing call quality failures and improving customer satisfaction.
The Benefits for Our Employees
As mentioned already, the benefits of gamification are already present in some of the changes we have made, but how is gamification a direct advantage to an individual employee?
One of the biggest benefits in adding gamification is that it makes training more flexible for remote working practices. Those employees who are often reluctant to attend, for many different reasons including unfamiliarity, time away from high priority work tasks or incurring high travel expenses, can embark on an adaptable training programme that can work around them.
‘Games’ that offer team play can encourage social connections amongst colleagues, and this is particularly beneficial for new starters who can get to know their peers, helping them settle into a new job and environment.
Incentives are a huge aspect with gamification and it is incredibly important to listen to what drives each individual, so incentives and rewards can be adapted to suit. Some may want a salary raise, or badges that show everyone else they are the go-to expert on a specific subject. Others may prefer quiet praise or access to open up other training opportunities.
The Future and Gamification at ATM
Introducing advancements in technology and helping learners see progress, pushes the boundaries of training. We want our people to want to learn and develop. We also want them to enjoy our training programmes and be able to recognise where they are improving.
At ATM, we are always looking at ways to increase employee engagement and we aim to keep our content and systems fun and relevant.
Long and drawn out training courses have their place, but for training to be engaging and interactive, gamification can make a huge difference.
Gamification aims to give learners the ability to achieve and see their achievements in real time using digital technology. As our push for greater technology integration in our world continues, so does our desire to increase our knowledge quickly.
The ATM Learning and Development team continues to focus on great quality content, systems and people as part of our commitment to gracefully growing our business. We will always look at the latest technologies to assist us in delivering that, but at the same time investing in, and acknowledging where, people are able to deliver amazing training sessions too.
LEARN WITH ATM
At ATM we want learning to be fun, learning to be smart and most importantly, learning that looks to the future.
