Serious games have gained a lot of attention in recent years, with many companies implementing training programmes involving the use of corporate video games.
The methodology on which serious games are based is particularly useful for learning soft skills such as time management, creativity, teamwork, problem-solving, etc. These are traditionally more difficult to teach in corporate training. These are traditionally more difficult to teach with traditional methods in corporate training.
In this article you’ll find out some corporate serious game examples, the benefits of serious games for business and some of the sectors in which corporate training games are more promising.
SERIOUS GAMES FOR CORPORATE TRAINING
“Those who make a distinction between entertainment and education may not know that education should be fun and entertainment should be educational”.
This quotation from the sociologist Marshall McLuhan fully refers to the concept of edutainment, an Anglo-Saxon word born from the fusion of “education” and “entertainment”, i.e. the idea of educational entertainment, or rather of an education that at the same time includes fun. In the past, this concept was mistakenly associated only with the education of the youngest and in relation to non-formal contexts or those linked to leisure time, but it maintains its prerogatives intact in the most varied contexts, such as serious games do for corporate training.
It is no coincidence that, in recent years, the use of games has also been cleared through customs in adult education and in the professional sector, as already pointed out in our article “Gamification In Business As New Model of Training within Companies“. In fact, it has been amply demonstrated that people, including adults, learn better thanks to the game dynamic.
So-called game-based learning (GBL) is a training methodology that is more effective than ordinary e-learning because of its interactivity. Everyone likes to play, and this preference makes learning games, or serious games, an outstanding resource for corporate training.
CORPORATE TRAINING GAMES BENEFITS
Adults are often no longer used to studying as much as children, which is why using a gamified approach can stimulate their attention, interest and cognitive processes to a greater extent, ensuring that motivation and training are maintained over time.
This is confirmed by various studies and scientific institutes, including the Federation of American Scientists, which claim that playing games improves adult performance:
- it increases self-confidence by up to 20%;
- improves conceptual knowledge by 11%;
- increases retention of learned content by 90%;
- achieves 20% more practical knowledge;
- increases the number of completed activities by 300%.
In addition, numerous advantages were found in the development of both soft skills, i.e. personal transversal competences, and hard skills, i.e. technical and vertical competences of a specific sector.
SERIOUS GAMES AND SOFT SKILLS
With regard to personal and transversal skills, serious games for corporate training are able to stimulate
- practical sense - thanks to simulators, typical of the gamified approach, real-life situations are recreated so that certain skills can be put into practice without concrete risks, thus enhancing personal and management development;
- problem solving and strategic planning - most game-based learning requires thinking quickly and using logic to solve problems. Aspects such as strategic thinking, putting oneself in the shoes of others, developing analytical and communication skills, negotiation, time management and personal productivity are very important requirements in business;
- memory - by correcting certain behaviours and repeating certain actions, users end up memorising, almost unconsciously, those behaviours that help them solve the game, going on to get positive feedback;
- adaptation to new technologies - even older people, through the use of games on digital devices, have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with virtual challenges, interactive scenarios, internet browsing or the simple management of users and passwords;
- coordination and attention - using the keyboard and mouse requires attention of both body and mind and helps develop coordination between the eyes and hands. This combination of physical action and mental attention, provided by game-based learning, stimulates spatial vision and cognitive development.
SERIOUS GAMES: THE DIFFERENT PROFESSIONAL SECTORS OF USE
In recent years, games for corporate training have been applied in various professional sectors. One of the first sectors to adopt the gamified approach in professional training was the air transport sector, through the use of flight simulators adopted since 1982.
The healthcare sector has also benefited, allowing healthcare professionals to practice in virtual operating theatres, simulate emergency situations and learn special techniques related to medical equipment. The same applies to patients, through the acquisition of a healthy lifestyle, and to the rehabilitation sector, where simulation helps to recreate a spatial relationship with patients.
The military and security sectors have also benefited from serious game for education and training over the years, in order to prepare professionals for emergency situations that require great concentration, organisational and management skills: policemen, firefighters and soldiers practise in realistic and at the same time safe environments, learning to cope and react in emergency and alarm circumstances.
The recruitment sector also uses games to assess psycho-aptitude components by confronting potential candidates with choices requiring certain skills, such as listening and communication skills. The recreated scenario brings out the transversal competences and character of the candidate in an experiential environment so that a more plausible and reliable assessment can be made compared to traditional recruiting methods.
THE FUTURE OF SERIOUS GAMES
In view of the numerous advantages in the professional field and the progressive digitisation in the corporate field, there is a prospect of an increasing number of educational activities in a growing number of work sectors.
The real success of serious games for corporate training depends on their use in fields of real application in everyday life by users and professionals. This opens up numerous challenges for serious game developers, who will be able to investigate the needs of the training and educational market, covering the most diverse areas for a diversified user base based on the training needs of each sector.
Thanks to their effectiveness, active involvement of participants and reduced costs, serious games are increasingly conquering a good share of the adult education sector with prospects for growth and development.
