Game Time

Discover how gaming mechanics can help boost the effectiveness of your employee-training programs.

Resorts seeking to motivate new hires or update an employee-training program may want to consider creating a gamified system. Incorporating typical game elements such as point scoring, competition and rules of play into training can result in a compelling program that encourages employees to gain mastery in a field.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) began to use both achievement badges and user rankings when traditional e-learning modules and 150-page binders weren’t effectively training its sales force. Working with gamification solutions group Bunchball, IHG developed an online portal to educate the sales teams that serve approximately 5,000 properties. Although the program was voluntary, the gaming mechanics proved to be highly engaging. Twenty-seven percent of users achieved expert level, a designation that took an average of 42 days to reach, according to Bunchball. IHG was also able to gather performance data to identify which content and activities were resonating the most with users in order to adjust the program accordingly.

“People love playing games to develop or improve skills, and reward systems can help motivate the employee to achieve a faster on-boarding process,” says Dade Ronan, an independent gamification expert and consultant. “Resorts can also incorporate a leaderboard and give the top-ranked person a special award. This gives the employees a feeling of accomplishment and appeals to their sense of competition. Being recognized for a job well done and having fun while doing it motivates everyone to accomplish organization goals.”

To learn about how gamification can be used to engage vacationers, look for “Gaming Travel,” published in the Q1 2017 issue of RCI Ventures^® magazine.

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