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About the author
Prof. Ryan Buell is Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. His research deals with interactions between service businesses and their customers, and how choices affect customer behaviors and company performance
Organizational training is not a fun process or a game, but maybe it should be that way. Most of us have used (often reluctantly) corporate learning systems, such as skimming through the 50 slides of PowerPoint presentations. A new study by the CPA firm KPMG shows that training through game techniques done correctly – lessons that are conducted carefully and over time, incorporating elements such as progress through challenges and different levels, immediate feedback, points and competition – can significantly improve employee performance.
“Leaders have developed a training tool using game methods for their employees,” explains Ryan Buell, a professor at Harvard Business School and co-author of the study. “They undertook to strictly check the effects.”
The study was conducted among service providers in 24 offices who participated in the training, which took place at different times in random order. The training platform, called KPMG Globerunner, is designed to deepen employees’ awareness and understanding of the company’s products and services, so that they can better identify business opportunities.
The employees answered questions concerning the office’s activities. A correct answer earned them points that allowed them to advance. Employees could also complete various challenges to earn more points and level up. Participation was optional and open; Employees could engage with the platform as often and for as long as they chose.
Additionally, to assess employee engagement in their work, the researchers looked at how often each office’s employees logged into the platform (indicating an interest in developing their skills to help meet KPMG’s goals).
The results: a sharp improvement in performance
To determine the effects of using gamification techniques on employee performance, the researchers analyzed five metrics over 29 months: commissions collected, number of customers lined up, total business opportunities – both from existing and new customers.
The analysis showed that the training helped increase the fees collected by the participating firms by more than 25%. The number of customers increased up to 16%, and opportunities created from new customers increased by 22%. The more employees participated in the Globerunner platform, the more likely they were to improve their job performance. It also emerged that the offices increased the fees charged by 16% more than others, and the total business opportunities increased by 8%.
The involvement of managers in the training was also important. The more office managers participated in the platform, the higher the employee sign-up rate was – and this improved their results. Offices whose managers participated more than others increased the fees they collected by 19% more and the number of clients they served by 7% more.
Enthusiasm towards the employees
The researchers suggest three ways to use gamification techniques to improve employee performance. First, before adopting “gaming techniques,” organizations should emphasize the importance of executive participation. “Previous research on digital training platforms shows us that they may be perceived as a distraction,” says Tatiana Sandino, a professor at Harvard Business School and co-author of the study. “But if the leader joins the game, it encourages the employees to also take part in it.”
In addition, it also encourages employees to regard training as more important than they might otherwise consider it. “The fact that it’s a kind of fun at work may make them shy away,” says Buell. “They ask: ‘Am I really allowed to play at work?’ A manager who shows that it’s not only okay to play – proves to them otherwise.”
Measuring results in the office
Performance improvements at KPMG were more significant in offices where many of the employees were already involved in their work, but not only. “The time spent in training and the number of questions they answered increased performance even among employees who had low work engagement, regardless of whether their managers participated in the platform,” says Wei Cai, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School and co-author of the study.
However, such training is not a panacea for low employee engagement. Therefore, organizations should set office-wide performance goals instead of defining success, and not just look at how much less routinely engaged employees have improved.
Maintaining patience
Don’t expect results the same day or even the same week. Most of the performance at KPMG improved in the second or third quarter of the implementation of the training, and gradually increased thereafter. This cumulative effect is likely to continue as workers improve their mastery and knowledge. “When organizations implement this type of system, they need to give it time,” explains Sandino. “People may not be able to immediately apply all the information they have gathered.”
Today, KPMG employees continue to use and benefit from the training platform. Although the study ended more than 18 months ago, “we continued to monitor their performance,” says Kai. “And we’ve seen that the benefits last long after the initial exposure.”
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