If you’ve used the app Duolingo, you’ll know that the frequent rewards and a bit of friendly competition keep you coming back day after day. They're a far cry from learning by rote at school, or reading lengthy books and documents. The fact that learners actively want to participate in quizzes and competitions is what makes gamification such a powerful way to build knowledge.
Gamification in the workplace has evolved over several decades. Charles Coonradt’s book The Game of Work, published in 1973, is widely seen as one of the earliest examples, since it introduced elements from sports such as clear goals and score-setting. By the 2010s, we saw features such as leaderboards and scoring being added to business software.
Today, gamified learning modules are available on desktop and mobiles as part of a learning management system (LMS). It brings mandatory training to life with points, badges, leaderboards and tailored learning paths, helping to build skills and maintain compliance with changing regulations.
Many training platforms offer gamification options – but if you choose a generic one, they could be more lightweight, focusing on rewards and only surface-level information. Some platforms don’t offer gamified options at all, so learners may switch off.
Gamification reduces the barriers to training, making it more interesting and accessible, especially if it’s available on a mobile as well as a desktop. It makes abstract concepts such as AML or anti-bribery regulations more relatable, and encourages learners to be active, not passive. Take Skillcast’s Inspectors Challenge, for example. It invites users to identify potential financial crime red flags from behind the cards, scoring points for confidently getting the most correct answers.
Gamification is only as good as the content it’s built on – not sophisticated digital features alone. It must be targeted at skills requirements and enable learners to build, retain and apply their knowledge – ultimately shaping positive behaviours and a compliance culture. Like any training, it shouldn’t be treated as a tick-box exercise and may not be suitable for every learner. So choose a provider whose content, learning pathways and reporting are firmly grounded in compliance.
All gamified compliance learning must be underpinned by clear metrics, linked to your training and business objectives. Your LMS provider can lay the groundwork with engaging user-experiences, role-specific content, and active learning opportunities. Small touches, like referring to the company by name, or using its language, instantly makes the content more relatable.
You'll only know if gamification training is effective if you drill into the numbers – and Skillcast’s platform makes it easy to do that with real-time dashboards and detailed management information reports that give admins instant visibility into training progress.
Importantly, admins can generate exportable records and audit-ready reports to demonstrate compliance to both internal stakeholders and external auditors. These insights provide a broad view of skills and awareness levels across the organisation, as well as gaps. If someone hasn’t completed the training, managers can find out why (for example, they might prefer another style of learning).
Case studyBarclays used Skillcast’s gamification solutions to find out how much employees learned and remembered from an online security course. This halved the time they spend on the mandatory training course to 40 minutes, and learners could instantly identify knowledge gaps. Read more here. |
The fact that gamification makes learning engaging can, in itself, increase completion rates, so L&D and compliance teams don’t have to chase.
However, without a good LMS, completions are too reliant on the learner, so they may be inconsistent or rushed before the deadline.
Skillcast uses light-touch but consistent nudging to prompt learners to proactively complete their training in good time with automated reminders. It could be a quick game to test their knowledge or a bite-sized video covering the key elements of the regulations relevant to their role. Overdue training can be directly escalated to managers, ensuring nothing is missed within a team.
If you think of the requirements of highly-regulated sectors, you might understandably think that gamification will over-simplify them.
Whether it’s managing Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) registers and meeting FCA standards in financial services, infection prevention in healthcare or training for civil servants, gamification can break down complex subjects without undermining their seriousness.
Rather than thinking of it as a game, you could frame it as bringing real-life scenarios to life in an interactive way, aiming for deep understanding and sound judgement not surface-level knowledge and speedy responses. Choosing a platform with robust corporate governance and industry accreditations provides another layer of reassurance. Skillcast, for instance, maintains high data protection and security standards and adheres to strong governance principles.
Gamification isn’t a single solution – it should be considered as part of the wider mix of in-depth, express, refresher and micro-learning modules. It’s particularly handy for testing knowledge, giving organisations a clear understanding of current skills and gaps. Quizzes can be tailored to job roles and existing knowledge, so learners don’t become fatigued repeating the same modules. Mobile-friendly games are valuable for manual workers who aren’t always sitting at a desk.
Skillcast consolidates e-learning, policy management, staff disclosures and compliance registers into a single space, and gamification is just one part of this. Managers can track offline CPD training via Training 360, while learners are able to search approved company policies and training materials using an in-built digital assistant Aida, which provides immediate, reliable answers to specific compliance queries without hallucinations.
To book your Skillcast demo and see why over 1,400 companies trust us as their leading compliance training partner in financial services, get in touch.