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The eLearning gamification company that levels up corporate training

Gamification training, or gamification of learning, is the use of gameplay elements in a learning experience. At ELM, we know that gamified learning, when backed by an understanding of neuroscience, is a powerful tool for inspiring learners to challenge themselves.

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Why use gamification in corporate learning?

Gamification is uniquely poised to motivate your learners and level up your corporate training. By adding game elements—think leaderboards, points, timers, and challenges—learners are able to approach training in an autonomous, meaningful way that engages their brains and introduces a little healthy competition without learners actually being together.

Traditional training can suffer from too much info—or not enough. Our gamified learning solutions give learners a chance to demonstrate their knowledge in a stimulating way before moving on to new or more difficult topics. Learners will incrementally improve on and master topics without informational overload. The result? True learning autonomy and mastery.

Our approach to gamified learning

Gamification has the potential to increase productivity by 50%, reduce overall training time by 90%, and reduce new-hire training time during onboarding by 70%, but it’s often overlooked as nothing more than a trendy buzzword. By combining what we know about neuroscience, cognition, and motivation with engaging design, gamification becomes part of a training strategy that is anything but child’s play.

Brains have powerful neurological pathways that activate depending on what we’re doing. The brain’s default mode network (DMN) is responsible for “autopilot mode,” which is sometimes what we’re in during traditional training. When the brain is challenged or entertained, its working memory network (WMN) takes over. The WMN lets learners absorb new information and convert it into long-term memory.

ELM utilizes our extensive understanding of neuroscience to trigger your learners’ WMNs via gamification. By building in stories, challenges, and giving users real-time feedback, information converts to long-term recall without learners even realizing it.

Benefits of gamification

Applying gamification judiciously at the right places and times adds a layer of depth and entertainment to your content. Some of the benefits you’ll see from gamifying your training include:

Motivation & Engagement

Learner motivation. Gamification rewards learners and challenges them to keep going.
Meaningful goals. Leveling up and completing games gives learners meaningful, tangible goals to work toward.
Emotional connection. Gamification often uses storytelling to help learners apply what they’ve experienced in simulated situations, creating an emotional link (which builds stronger neural connections).

Autonomy & Personalization

Learner autonomy. You’ll tap into intrinsic motivators like competition, improvement, and completion while allowing individuals to learn at their own pace and level.
Self-Paced Learning: Gamification allows learners to progress at their own speed, revisiting content as needed, which fosters deeper understanding and mastery.
Customized Learning Paths: Games can be designed with branching narratives or adaptive challenges, enabling personalized learning experiences that cater to individual needs and skill levels.

Feedback & Improvement

Instant feedback. Games provide feedback as players demonstrate their mastery. If they do well, it’s onto the next level; if not, they get another chance to see what they missed.
Progress Tracking: Learners can visually track their progress, scores, and achievements, which provides a clear sense of accomplishment and motivates continuous improvement.

Social Learning

Social learning. Friendly competition and collaboration allow learners to forge new connections.
Peer Recognition: Leaderboards, badges, and other in-game rewards can foster healthy competition and provide opportunities for peer recognition, strengthening community within the learning environment.
Collaborative Problem-Solving: Many gamified experiences include team-based challenges or quests, encouraging learners to work together, share knowledge, and develop collaborative skills.

Cognitive Efficiency & Focus

Cognitive relief. Brains love to multitask, but multitasking can hurt training efforts. Games direct attention to one task at a time, which increases focus and reduces the cognitive load on the brain.
Reduced Cognitive Load: By breaking down complex information into manageable, game-like challenges, gamification reduces the mental effort required to process new information, making learning more efficient.
Enhanced Attention Span: The interactive and engaging nature of games helps to sustain learners’ attention, preventing the “autopilot mode” often associated with traditional training and promoting active engagement with the material.

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FAQs

Gamification design adds game-like elements to training and learning experiences. This can include awarding points, incorporating leaderboards, and adding levels to training content.
ELM was tasked with making a compliance course for a car rental company more “tolerable.” Using a road trip theme, we issued each user a Compliance Passport, which they used to collect stamps for completing each micro course along the simulated road map. The stamps worked like badges, rewarding employees for completing a module, and the map showed users where they were going—and where they had been.
If you’re thinking of gamification for your next training, we can help. We always start by asking “What motivates the audience and what gaming features make the most sense?” We create games that translate to your workplace and don’t distract the learner from productivity. Our gamification design experts ensure that the games relate to your specific business goals and that the gaming data can be used to measure your ROI.
Measuring the ROI for gamified training solutions involves tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) before and after implementation. This can include:
- Increased Productivity: Gamification has the potential to increase productivity by 50%.
- Reduced Training Time: It can reduce overall training time by 90% and new-hire onboarding time by 70%.
- Improved Completion Rates: Games can be designed to encourage higher completion rates for training modules.
- Enhanced Knowledge Retention: By engaging the brain’s working memory network, gamification helps convert new information into long-term memory.
- Behavioral Changes: Observe if the training leads to desired changes in employee behavior or skill application in the workplace.
- Reduced Errors/Incidents: In areas like compliance or safety, a reduction in errors or incidents can directly demonstrate ROI.
ELM Learning’s gamification design experts ensure that the games relate to your specific business goals and that the gaming data can be used to measure your ROI.
Yes, gamification can often be integrated with existing Learning Management Systems (LMS) and other training platforms. The specific integration capabilities depend on the LMS and the gamification solution. ELM Learning’s approach involves understanding your existing infrastructure and designing gamified experiences that work seamlessly within your environment. Our experts can help you decide where to incorporate games into your training to best encourage user completion rates or introduce a social element, often leveraging your current systems.
ELM Learning’s neuroscience-backed approach to gamification stands out because we combine an understanding of neuroscience, cognition, and motivation with engaging design. We move beyond gamification as just a “trendy buzzword” by:
- Triggering the Working Memory Network (WMN): We utilize our extensive understanding of neuroscience to activate learners’ WMNs, which are responsible for absorbing new information and converting it into long-term memory. This is in contrast to the brain’s default mode network (DMN), which can be active during traditional, less engaging training.
- Building in Stories and Challenges: We incorporate storytelling and challenges to create an emotional connection and direct attention to one task at a time, increasing focus and reducing cognitive load.
- Providing Real-time Feedback: Our games offer instant feedback, allowing learners to demonstrate mastery and get another chance if they miss something, which aids in information retention.
- Focusing on True Learning Autonomy and Mastery: Our solutions give learners a chance to demonstrate knowledge in a stimulating way, allowing them to incrementally improve and master topics without informational overload.
This approach ensures that gamification becomes a strategic part of training, leading to true long-term recall and meaningful learning outcomes.
While gamification is often associated with lighter topics, it can be highly effective for complex or mandatory training topics like compliance and safety, especially when designed thoughtfully. ELM Learning’s experience shows that gamification can make even “tolerable” courses engaging. For example, we transformed a compliance course for a car rental company into a road trip theme, using a “Compliance Passport” and stamps (badges) to reward completion of micro-courses.

The key is to:
- Relate games to business goals: Ensure the gamified elements directly support the learning objectives of the complex or mandatory topic.
- Avoid distraction: Design games that translate to the workplace and don’t distract the learner from productivity.
- Focus on high recall: Gamification works well for topics requiring a high rate of recall, which is crucial for compliance and safety.
- Provide meaningful goals: Leveling up and completing games gives learners tangible goals, motivating them through potentially dry subjects.
By applying gamification judiciously, it can add depth and entertainment, making even critical training more engaging and effective.

Case studies

Check out how we’ve taken inspired ideas and transformed them into workable realities for our clients.

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Gamified Onboarding Experience

How do you make a new work environment feel like home on day one? A large pet retailer wanted to increase confidence in new associates so they felt comfortable in their stores. Our eLearning design made first-day training a more interactive process with plenty of in-the-moment feedback to better prepare employees to make recommendations and guide customers through the store.

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Changing Hearts & Minds With Food Law

The legal department of a multinational confectionary and food products manufacturer was ready and willing to offer guidance through the production process, but found that it wasn’t being effectively utilized by employees. While they had plenty of helpful content, ELM knew that instilling confidence in the department was priority #1. Our designers helped change the way employees saw legal while highlighting what the department had to offer.

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