Gamification of employee training and development

Abstract

Gamification has become increasingly common in employee training. Simultaneously, our scientific understanding of gamified learning has grown. However, there are few resources that provide specific recommendations for science‐based gamification in employee training to address the research–practice gap. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to describe our current scientific understanding of gamification as it can be used to realistically improve web‐based employee training. First, because gamification is commonly misunderstood, we explain what gamification is in the context of training. Second, because gamification is commonly misapplied, research on the effectiveness of gamified learning as related to training design is reviewed. Finally, to provide a clear roadmap for training design, we describe a formal process for gamifying web‐based training in a scientifically supported way.