Gamification Trends in 2019 – Packed with Tips and Ideas You Can Use

Well-designed Gamification based trainings provide help to both organizations and learners at many levels. 

 

The value from the learner’s perspective: The value Gamification based trainings bring in is re-affirmed by user feedback too. I list part of the findings from Talent LMS’s Gamification at work survey in 2018:

1. 80% of employees enjoy using Gamification software at work.
2. Employees feel that Gamification makes them more productive (87%), more engaged (84%) and happier (82%) at work. 
3. 75% of respondents who play games often were more likely to agree that they’d be more productive if their work was made more game-like.
4. Older employees are more motivated by game elements than younger employees. 

 

The value from the organizational perspective: The use of Gamification for learning provides several benefits to L&D teams:

1. Gamification is a very engaging learning strategy and when crafted right, it helps the L&D teams meet the learning outcomes (similar to other strategies used in traditional eLearning).
2. Because of a higher engagement quotient, a Gamification strategy provides higher completion rates as well as a better recall and retention.
3. Gamification can be applied to meet various cognition levels—to help learners learn, practice, apply, or upskill. When applied over a period of time (spaced repetition), it can trigger the desired behavioral change.

In this video, see the 5 Gamification Trends that are worth a closer look. For each Gamification trend, we provide practical tips on why and how they can be used.

We hope the Gamification trends featured in this video give you the required insights on how you can use them to spice up your learning strategy.

Want more? Book a free consultation with us to learn how you can leverage on the featured Gamification Trends in 2019!

10 eLearning Strategies to Create Employee Development Training

To retain and nurture talent and to remain competitive, organizations constantly invest in training. Today’s rapidly changing business dynamics demand quick skilling or upskilling.

While many organizations predominantly use the facilitated, face-to-face ILT sessions, a significant percentage of organizations use eLearning to offer employee development training. From a “good to have” mode, eLearning is fast becoming the preferred mode of employee development training and performance enhancement.

The last 5 years have seen dramatic shifts in the way eLearning strategies are transforming learning and impacting employee performance. In this article, I outline how appropriate eLearning strategies can help L&D teams offer highly customized training that can keep pace with dynamic business demands. I also share the key benefits of this approach and list the eLearning strategies that can help you maximize the impact of your employee development training.

What are the Key Triggers for Wider Adoption of eLearning for Employee Development Training?

In contrast to the facilitated, face-to-face ILT sessions, eLearning has an edge on account of the following aspects. eLearning based employee development training:

1. Aligns to the way modern learners want to learn.
2. Provides anytime, anywhere access to learning (across devices, at office, during commute, or over weekends).
3. Empowers learners as it can be consumed at their pace.
4. Aligns to learners’ preferences (device of their choice or learning assets that suit their interests).
5. Matches the varied learning styles (can be offered in different formats to suit diverse learner profiles).
6. Offers personalized training.
7. Is scalable (can be re-adapted quickly across geographies).
8. Provides ease of updating and re-deployment.
9. Is economical than ILT sessions. It can reach a wider audience group in a shorter time while providing a consistent message.
10. Can be easily tracked (for the time taken, completion rates, as well as analytics on engagement, assessments, and so on).
11. Tracks learner analytics and uses the cues to assess the impact and ROI.
12. Fosters Self Directed Learning.
13. Promotes Social Learning and establishes communities of learning.
14. Encourages a culture of continuous learning.

How Can You Leverage eLearning to Make Employee Development Training More Effective?

Adopting the eLearning-based approach makes the investment for employee development training an effective and scalable method.

While the initial investment in eLearning-based approach is high, yet it provides a better ROI for employee development training on account of its ability to offer:

• Flexibility (can be taken on the go).
• Scalability.
• Custom trainings for different levels and roles.
• Personalised trainings.
• Avenues that address the needs and expectations of today’s multi-generational workforce.

What eLearning Strategies Can Help You Create High Impact Employee Development Training?

There are a wide set of eLearning strategies that you could adopt. My recommendations include 10 eLearning strategies that will help you:

• Keep the learners engaged.
• Ensure knowledge acquisition happens.
• Facilitate the application of the acquired learning on the job.
• Accomplish the desired performance gain.
• Achieve a positive ROI on training spend.

1. Microlearning: Short, bite sized trainings that can be consumed on the go and help learners achieve a small goal each time is the new normal. You can use this approach for formal training (multiple nuggets connected in a learning path) or as Learning aids (Performance Support intervention that are available within the learner’s workflow and provide support at the moment of their need). Microlearning can be used to promote Self-Directed Learning as well as to support ILT/VILT.
2. Video Based Learning (Videos and Interactive Videos): Video is a high impact medium and Video Based Learning can add value to your learning strategy at many levels. You can use them for both formal training as well as for Performance Support intervention. The Next Gen avatar, Interactive Video, enables you to have highly interactive learning interactions and assessments. They are a great fit for trainings like Leadership Development and Sales Enablement.
3. Mobile Apps for Learning: You can opt for Apps to impart learning, especially for initiatives that have on-going updates.
4. Gamification: You can increase the engagement quotient by using Gamification techniques that can be applied to pretty much most of your corporate training needs. An extended application can help you meet the tougher mandate of behavioral change. You can use Gamification techniques for most of the corporate trainings including, Induction and Onboarding, Soft Skills, Professional Skills, Sales training, and so on. Increasingly, Gamification is being used for Compliance trainings too.
5. Scenario Based Learning (SBL): This is a powerful Instructional approach and you can use it across corporate trainings (Compliance, Soft Skills, and even Application Simulations). You can also use them to drive the right behavior.
6. Storytorials or Story Based Learning: Similar to Scenario Based Learning, stories are a great way to create a sticky learning experience. This approach is versatile and can be used for a majority of corporate trainings. They are a great approach for Change Management or Awareness initiatives.
7. Branching/Complex Decision-Making Simulations: An extension of Scenario Based Learning, you can create complex, decision making scenarios to help build decision making skills in learners. The journey helps them understand the impact/consequences of their decisions. You can have branching scenarios that are based on choices learners make at specific decision-making points. This approach is useful for Sales Enablement and Leadership Development training.
8. Personalization: Combination of eLearning and granularity of Microlearning enables you to create highly personalized learning paths. These custom pathways can be created based on role, geography, current proficiency, or learners’ interests. This approach can create a much higher impact training as the learner gets to see highly relevant and specific content.
9. Curation and User Generated Content: Providing learners access to repositories that have relevant content that is curated by Subject Matter Experts is a boon. This can be personalized too, and goes a long way in fostering a culture of continuous learning. You can further increase learner participation by enabling them to contribute to the knowledge base.
10. AR/VR/MR: These techniques offer highly immersive learning experiences. However, they are expensive to implement and have longer development cycles. Instead, you can use them as a short nugget in an overall learning journey. This is easier on the budget and uplifts the engagement quotient for learners.

I hope this article gives you good insights on how you can leverage the featured 10 eLearning strategies to create employee development training.

If you have any specific queries, do contact me or leave a comment below.

How to Enhance the Induction and Onboarding Training with Mobile Learning

We all know how time consuming and challenging the recruitment process is. Once the right candidate is selected, the mandate of getting him/her inducted and onboarded swiftly and efficiently is the next challenge. New employees can get disenchanted if they are put through a poorly designed Induction and Onboarding program.

A lot of times while the program may have been structured well, its implementation is patchy. This not only tarnishes the image of the organization but also leads new employees to re-think their decision of continuing with the organization.

In contrast, a well-structured employee Induction and Onboarding program helps the new inductees gain a faster understanding of the following key aspects:

• The organization.
• Its offerings.
• Its goals.
• Where they fit in and what is expected of them.
• How they align to the organizational goals and effectively contribute to its success.

From the organizational perspective, well-designed employee Induction and Onboarding programs ensure that new employees face a shorter learning curve to gain the required perspective, knowledge, and skills that will help them contribute in a lesser time. It also ensures better productivity and helps the new employees settle down faster.

What Is the Most Commonly Used Approach to Deliver an Employee Induction and Onboarding Program?

 We all recognize the value of human touch, and it is indeed a very effective approach to help new employees settle down. As a result, the traditional model of imparting an employee Induction and Onboarding program continues to be the facilitated/ILT approach. Besides facilitated, structured sessions, additional support is extended at multiple levels (through the supervisor, seniors, buddy and so on).

Challenges associated with the facilitated or ILT mode for delivering employee Induction and Onboarding programs

While it is a highly effective and widely used approach, the overall impact goes down on account of the following factors:

1. Inadequate time spent by managers/supervisors: All of us multi-task and always have other goals and targets to work upon. As a result, the quality time spent by managers/supervisors tends to be lower than what is required.
2. Varied impact: This challenge is applicable to all facilitated/ILT sessions where the quality and the impact of the session is heavily dependent on the trainer.
3. Inconsistent messaging: Often, the same session is handled by different trainers and can lead to inconsistent messaging leading to lower impact.
4. Delays in timely completion: Due to the pressure of other day-to-day tasks, the employee Induction and Onboarding program related tasks tend to get lower priority. If the intake of new employees is small, there can be delays in fully completing the program.
5. Cognitive overload: The new employees are bombarded with so much data in the first few weeks that is difficult for them to assimilate the information. On the other hand, this information is not in a ready to use format when they want to review it or when they need it.
6. Difficult to maintain consistent versions across the organization.
7. Difficult to update and roll out.

So, Where Does the Answer Lie?

Opting for an online employee Induction and Onboarding program that leverages Mobile Learning is a superb way to offset most of the challenges associated with the traditional facilitated/ILT programs.

• Depending on your organizational dynamics, you can decide on the right blend wherein you can retain some parts in the facilitated/ILT mode but move the larger component online.
• Remember, a blended approach will ensure that you will have a right mix of the human touch as well as self-paced learning (Mobile Learning).

How Can You Enhance the Employee Induction and Onboarding Training with Mobile Learning?

Organizations continuously seek approaches that help them effectively connect to today’s multi-generational workforce and deliver employee Induction and Onboarding training that will resonate well with all of them. The learning journey should begin with the employee Induction and Onboarding program and should offer an ongoing connect for the learners to come back for more. Modern learners prefer a training delivery that syncs up with their lifestyle, their preference on how they want to learn, and where they want to learn.

Mobile Learning is a great way to train new employees in a shorter time, with a consistent message that can create the desired impact.

You can select from a range of immersive learning strategies that create a high engagement quotient and will help learners learn and apply the acquired learning on the job.

From an organizational perspective, online employee Induction and Onboarding programs featuring Mobile Learning helps organizations in the following ways:

1. It helps organizations provide a consistent message.
2. The program can be easily rolled out to a geographically spread-out workforce.
3. It can be easily localized.
4. It can be easily personalized based on the role/business unit.
5. It can be easily adapted to address the needs of today’s multi-generational workforce.
6. As data or business dynamics change, it can be quickly updated and redeployed.
7. It can be scheduled in advance and can be tracked if the implementation is happening, as planned.
8. It can easily track and assess learner performance, and this data can be used to provide additional support.
9. It is a cheaper option when compared to the facilitated/ILT mode.
10. Given the fact that the seat time of the online version is lesser than the facilitated/ILT session, it can be completed in lesser time.

From the learners’ perspective, the Mobile Learning based employee Induction and Onboarding approach:

• Provides them the flexibility to learn on the go and on the device of their choice. They can move across devices (from laptops/desktops at office to learn and on tablets/smartphones to refresh).
• Empowers them by providing control to them to pace their learning.
• Limits the information overload as they can assimilate shorter bites of learning.
• Provides them with an easy access to information and learning aids when needed.
• Creates a more engaging and immersive learning journey.
• Elements like scores and leaderboards enable them to stay cued to their rate of progress and also check on their progress against peers.

What Learning Strategies Can Be Used to Create Effective Online Employee Induction and Onboarding Programs?

To create high-impact employee Induction and Onboarding programs, the approach:

1. Should be simple and easy to assimilate.
2. Should outline a clear learning path and time frame.
3. Should offer a personalized learning journey.

How Can Mobile Learning Be Leveraged to Enhance the Impact of Your Employee Induction and Onboarding Programs?

Here are 8 tips that will help you leverage Mobile Learning for employee Induction and Onboarding training:

1. Deliver the Induction and Onboarding program in a Mobile Learning format, giving the employees the flexibility to learn on the device of their choice.
2. Offer Microlearning or bite-sized learning, making it easier for them to assimilate it at their own pace.
3. Multiply the impact and create an immersive learning journey through Gamification, leaderboards and so on.
4. Look at adding some learning nuggets that feature Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to further enhance the immersive learning experience.
5. Use high-impact formats like Videos, Interactive Videos, Gamified quizzes and so on that keep them engaged.
6. Offer personalization (based on the role, region, or business unit).
7. Extend self-paced learning through Social or Collaborative Learning.
8. Deliver the learning journey through a custom portal for the highest impact.

Increasingly, organizations are opting for a Mobile Learning based approach to deliver their employee Induction and Onboarding programs. This approach delivers high-impact programs that can be taken on the go. It also enables them to offer a personalized learning path to induct new team members quickly and efficiently.

I hope this article gives you the required perspective on how you can leverage on Mobile Learning to offer employee Induction and Onboarding programs. If you have any specific queries, do contact me or leave a comment below.

Top 10 Microlearning Trends in 2019

Microlearning consists of short, bite-sized learning nuggets. Although short in run length (between 2-5 mins and, typically, not exceeding 7 mins), each nugget is action-oriented and designed to meet a specific learning outcome. In the last couple of years, Microlearning has moved from being a player on the side to center stage and for good reasons.

In a world that is full of distractions and diminishing attention spans, it is critical to have sharp, focused learning nuggets. Only then do you get the learners’ attention and they will invest on completing it. This is precisely what a Microlearning based training delivers.

In this video, we share Top 10 Microlearning Trends in 2019 that you must leverage on and boost employee performance.

We hope the Microlearning Trends featured in this video give you the required insights on why you should invest them into your learning strategy. 

Want more? Book a free consultation with us to learn how you can leverage on the featured Microlearning Trends in 2019!