Learning or Playing? Making a Game Out of Employee Training Can Yield Returns

Managers are encouraging their employees to play during work hours at some of the world's largest corporations: Walmart employees learn how to use new customer service systems by doing challenges on a virtual reality headset; Coca-Cola built a simulation game called Revenuepoly to teach employees new corporate strategies; and The Home Depot introduced PocketGuide, a mobile game to help employees develop more in-depth product knowledge. 

When companies developed these gamified training programs, the goal was clear: to make learning on the job faster and more fun. But new research suggests that by gamifying employee training, companies may be doing more than just improving their employees' experience — they are likely to move their bottom line, too.

According to data compiled by Zippia, more than 60 percent of US employees receive at least some gamified training at work, and nearly all of those employees report that the training makes them more engaged, more productive, and happier at work. In Learning or Playing? The Effect of Gamified Training on Employee Performance, Columbia Business School Assistant Professor Wei Cai and her co-authors, Ryan W. Buell and Tatiana Sandino of Harvard Business School, demonstrated how employee gamified training could quantifiably improve business goals as well.

To understand these dynamics, the researchers collected data from professional services firm KPMG, a global company with more than 300 offices worldwide. The company introduced a gamified system called KPMG Globerunner, which was meant to enhance employees' understanding of the company's range of services in the hopes that such knowledge might lead to new sources of revenue. 

Prior attempts at KPMG had been neither engaging nor cost effective. “Have you ever tried reading a services guide about over 150 ways a professional services [firm] can help clients with audit, tax, and advisory services?” wrote Christian Gossan, KPMG's chief learning officer. “All I have to say is, good luck! It's dry content but nevertheless critical for client-facing staff in a professional services firm — such as KPMG — to know.”

The researchers analyzed five points of data from KPMG before Globerunner was introduced in 2016, comparing it to the two years after employees began using the program. To implement the training, KPMG randomly selected 24 offices with client-facing employees. The game allowed employees to create a character and “race around the world” by answering questions about the company correctly and earning “travel points.” Employees could choose from four modes: single-player, mini-game, quiz mode, or tournament mode. They also outfitted the game with a global leaderboard that displayed a player's rank, fostering friendly competition among employees.

The researchers found that the use of gamified training, when done right, can significantly improve employee performance. At KPMG, the offices that used the new program showed a 16 percent spike in number of clients, better client retention, and an increase in fees of more than 25 percent. 

Engagement Is the Key to Success

All the KPMG employees who used the Globerunner program improved their job performance, with the largest improvements seen in employees who were already engaged in Edge and who played the game the most. Because less engaged workers likely won't show the same robust results as more engaged employees, the researchers recommend that companies set office-wide performance goals to understand the impact of the training rather than the impact of employee motivation.

Cai and her fellow researchers also observed a correlation between leader participation in the game and an increase in revenue. They attribute this to a twofold benefit: First, leaders are deeply connected to clients and are therefore in an ideal role to implement what they learned from the game; and second, their involvement appears to influence the level of engagement in the office. 

“Leader engagement in gamified training really matters because leaders can serve as role models,” Cai says. By using the gamified training, they indicate best practices around the office. Approximately half of American white collar workers are casual gamers in their personal time, but it can be counterintuitive to play games at the office.  “Some employees may not be sure if it's OK to play during their working hours,” Cai says. “If leaders are more engaged, it provides some legitimacy.” 

Game On 

Effective gamified training can be applied across industries and corporate needs, including ethics and conduct topics. For example, many firms are using programs to help employees hone their cybersecurity skills and reduce phishing and virus incidents. Options span from free online games such as “The Weakest Link” to a virtual escape room. Some companies choose customized training, incorporating their existing training materials into a gamified program — or “learning management system” — with point systems and in-house leaderboards for anything from onboarding to harassment training. 

To select an effective gamified training product, the researchers found that the program must engage employees for the long haul, offering lessons over time, providing instant feedback, and fostering competition. At a professional services company like KPMG, effective gamified training will lead to better-informed employees who can be more intuitive when cross-selling to existing customers or identifying new business prospects. 

Cai cautions that gamified training is no panacea and executives who try this approach should not expect instantaneous results. The researchers urge companies that are considering gamified training to have patience: At KPMG, Globerunner had an office-wide impact, but the company didn't see significant performance boosts until the second and third quarters after it was introduced. 

“Leaders and managers who implement the platform should be patient for the outcome, because it takes time,” Cai says. That patience pays off. The study has been complete for a year and a half, but the researchers are still tracking employee performance, and “our result does not suggest the effect fades away in the long run,” she says. Invest in gamified training now, and companies could see the positive impact of the new technology for years to come. 

Read: Playing for Excellence? How Gamified Training Impacts Employee Performance