Designing Digitally
05/29/2017
Using serious games in the corporate sector is a recent phenomenon, but it is one of the fastest growing trends. Serious educational games make learning challenging and fun. Learners do not realize they are learning when immersed in the game environment, and yet the results are mind-blowing. A study conducted by the University of Colorado Denver Business School revealed that knowledge was almost 11% higher for trainees who learned via simulation games as compared to others who learned through a different mode. Their retention was 9% higher and the self-efficacy was 20% more.
Here are a few benefits of using serious games to train your employees.
Serious games utilize the system of goals and rewards to motivate the learners. The more motivated an employee is, the more productive they get. A serious game designer uses character and reward loops to keep the learner emotionally vested in the game. The game dynamics used in the learning ensure that the learner learns the required skill well and applies it to their workplace. This results in enhanced productivity and a collaborative corporate learning environment.
Learners need a safe yet realistic corporate learning environment to practice their skills. If they practice in the real-world job setting, the business may suffer from their mistakes. On the other hand, a gamified simulation allows them to make mistakes and learn from them, without harming the business. At the end of the session, the employees are better equipped to reduce the number of errors in the workplace.
Serious games encourage creativity in employees. The choices they need to make in order to excel stimulate the mind and improve cognitive function. And, enhanced creativity results in better productivity in the regular job role. In a gaming scenario, the learners collaborate and communicate with each other, which leads to a better flow of ideas. Employees who learn through games collaborate and work towards achieving a common goal. They feel like part of a team, which results in a sense of belonging.
Serious games are designed in a way that the players can play several times and explore different paths available to them. The more they play, the better they get. Since the games are reusable and can be distributed organization-wide, it is highly cost-effective.
Serious games help organizations focus on developing specific skills of their employees. Essential skills like communication, stress management, and negotiation are best taught through serious games. With serious games, learners develop particular skills continually over a period of time.
Organizations that utilize serious games to train their employees are desirable to prospective candidates. For the millennial workforce, monetary aspects are not the only deciding factor for joining an organization. They value training and development equally. When prospective employees see that the organization cares enough for the employees to invest in gamified learning, they are more inclined to favor the company.
At Designing Digitally, Inc., we develop serious games for a platform that fits your corporate learning needs. We can output them as SCORM packages or xAPI for your LMS, websites accessed in a browser, executable files for Windows, or custom applications for iOS.
Get in touch with us with your requirements.
We bring a personal and effective approach to every project we work on.
