Why It Works: Gamified Training For Millennials

Best Gamification Features for Generation Y

As gamification becomes more prominently used by companies and organizations, it is important to identify with whom it works best and why.

A case study done by Allen Communication Learning Services (@AllenComm) sought to analyze just that. According to the study, gamification is an especially good job training strategy for Millennials – those who reached adulthood by 2000.

Gamification has been systematically proven to engage Millennials in the workplace with three key features:

1. Bite-sized learning – Many training modules can seem overwhelming in the face of all that must be learned on the job. Company practices and values may seem abstract when introduced in the same, seemingly disconnected way. To combat this, gamification gives companies a way to have trainees gradually experience realistic simulations in a familiar context. Not only do gamified training modules feel familiar to Millennials, they also offer a more streamlined, expedient way of learning the ways of an organization.

2. Immediate feedback – As a whole, Millennials are much more extrinsically motivated than previous generations. To allow for quick feedback, employers may opt to provide gamified training modules featuring scoring, social sharing, badges, ranking and group collaboration. This will allow for an intuitive, immersive training experience ripe with competition between individuals, groups, teams and departments. Gamification is proven to better engage trainees and unite team members.

3. Big picture relevancy – An introspective group, Millennials search for relevance – experiences that they can identify with and relate to. To cater to this group, employers must provide employees with a fuller and more comprehensive understanding of the organization. As stated in the Allen Communication study, “Gamification should be introduced as part of a larger learning experience, not as a distraction or an add-on in an attempt to motivate learners.” Check out the case study here.

Millennials can greatly benefit from gamification used in company training modules. As a means of motivating and recognizing employees, gamification has empirical track record of increasing performance and identification within the organization.

As companies cater more and more to Millennials in the workplace, we may see gamification become a more widely used training strategy. What do you think will be the next big workaday gamification innovation?