Game mechanics are the rules and systems that make a game engaging and fun. But did you know that they can also be used to improve the way you onboard new employees? In this article, we'll explore some of the game mechanics that are most effective for creating a positive and productive onboarding experience for your new hires.
Onboarding new employees into an organization requires more than just teaching them the basics of their job; it's about making them feel welcome, motivated, and aligned with the company's goals and values. Game mechanics can play a role in this process by providing clear and immediate feedback on their progress and performance, creating a sense of challenge and achievement through goals, levels, and rewards, fostering autonomy and choice through customization and branching options, encouraging social interaction and collaboration through leaderboards, teams, and chat features, as well as stimulating curiosity and exploration through hidden features, Easter eggs, and surprises.
Don't. Rewards are not games. Leaderboards and chat features? C'mon, AI, do better. Make your employees feel secure, welcome and important to the organization. Game mechanics are a form of manipulation, which is great when sharing drinks and laughs around a table. They're not appropriate for the workplace.
This a great and recent way to use games, with the rise of platforms like Roblox, many companies aré starting to see value in using virtual, interactive worlds to attract new and younger talent. Gaming Is a simulation in the end, you can simulate real World challenges, mix them with fantasy themes, narratives and tasks to complete. Use Gaming to teach, educate and bring new talent to your team
Designing effective game mechanics for onboarding requires consideration of the learning objectives and outcomes, target audience profile and preferences, brand and culture style, platform and format of onboarding content, and the balance and pacing of game elements. To help with this process, you can use tools and frameworks such as the MDA model (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics), the Octalysis framework (Eight Core Drives of Motivation), or the Gamification Canvas (a visual template for gamification design). All of these will help ensure your game mechanics are successful in onboarding users.
When designing your onboarding program, you can use or adapt game mechanics to make the experience more interactive and engaging. Quests, levels, customization, leaderboards, and teams are all great examples. Quests involve assigning tasks or challenges that are relevant to the new hire's role and guide them through the different stages of onboarding. Levels divide the program into different levels of difficulty and complexity. Customization allows new hires to personalize their experience by choosing their avatar, theme, name, or preferences. Leaderboards display rankings based on performance, achievements, or participation. And teams involve grouping new hires into teams that share a common goal or project. These game mechanics can make the onboarding journey more enjoyable and help foster a sense of competition and camaraderie among new hires.
Using game mechanics for onboarding can be a great way to engage and motivate new employees, however, it requires careful planning and execution. It's essential to align the game mechanics with your learning objectives and outcomes, and to understand the preferences of your audience. Additionally, you should keep the game elements simple and intuitive, avoiding unnecessary distractions or frustration. Lastly, it's important to test and iterate the game mechanics before launch; collect feedback from new hires, mentors, and managers, and improve and adjust the game mechanics based on the results.
Using game mechanics for onboarding can present some challenges and limitations that you need to be aware of. For instance, the cost and time of development and maintenance can be expensive and time-consuming, especially if you need to hire external experts, tools, or platforms. Additionally, there is a risk of over-gamification or under-gamification, meaning you need to find the right balance and fit for your onboarding program. Finally, ethical and legal implications of using game mechanics can arise, such as privacy, consent, fairness, diversity, and inclusion. It is important to respect and protect the rights and interests of your new hires, as well as comply with the relevant laws and regulations.