A Guide to Engaging Gen Z and Millennials at Work – With Gamification – part 2
A Guide to Engaging Gen Z and Millennials at Work – With Gamification – part 2
In Part 1, we discussed the unique qualities of Gen Z and Millennial employees and the challenges HR faces in managing them. Now, in Part 2, we’ll dive deeper into how poor training can negatively affect your workforce and why gamification offers an innovative solution to keep these employees engaged and productive.
Most HR challenges with hiring, managing and retaining next gen employees often stem from one critical flaw: poor training.
Specifically, training that’s out of touch with the needs of Millennials and Gen Z.
Given that Millennials are the largest workforce today and Gen Z is right behind, this could be bad news for your company and its bottom line.
High Turnover Rates
Poorly trained employees are disengaged employees, no matter their generation. But as we mentioned above, Gen Z and Millennials are quick to jump ship if their companies aren’t keeping them engaged.
This could mean high turnover rates at your organisation, which are disruptive and costly enough on their own (it can cost up to 50-60% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them). But if you keep losing younger employees to your competitors, this could also damage your employer brand and impact future hiring.
Productivity Issues
Even if you manage to keep Gen Z and Millennial employees on board, poor training can still be draining your profits through lost productivity. Untrained or poorly trained employees spend valuable time figuring out tasks they should already know, which leads to inefficiencies and slower progress.
For next-gen workers who are eager to find meaning in their work and get started immediately, bad training can lead to frustration and unhappiness, leading to more productivity loss. Considering we lose $8.8 trillion globally to lost productivity each year, this is a serious problem.
Customer Satisfaction Issues
Industries relying on seasonal staff, such as theme parks and retail, take an unusually big hit from poor training. Untrained employees, especially Gen Z and Millennials who are usually the face of these roles, struggle to provide the expected level of service.
These generations thrive on tech-savvy, interactive training and expect to be well-prepared from the start. Without it, their performance drops and customer experience suffers, which can lead to lost revenue. A survey by PwC shows that 32% of customers would leave a brand they love after just one bad experience.
The fallout from poor training—high turnover, low productivity, unhappy customers—is real. But the good news is that there is a way to keep your training up-to-date and your next gen employees engaged.
Read more: How To Use Gamification at Work To Engage and Motivate Employees
Why Gamified Training Works for Gen Z and Millennials
Enough talk of doom and gloom.
Now that we know how bad trainings can hurt your business and leave next-gen employees disengaged, let’s look at why, where everything else fails, gamification can help.
Hear us out, because we’ve seen the impact this small change can make.
Why Gamified Trainings?
So alright, traditional trainings are letting organisations down and costing us in more ways than we might think. But why add gamified elements to the mix?
And how would it help solve your HR struggles with Gen Z and Millennial workforce?
Let’s see how gamifying your trainings makes a difference:
Engaging Gen Z and Millennials at Work
Yes, gamified training is more fun than traditional training, but they don’t just offer more enjoyable experiences at work. Research shows that they are also more effective at communicating essential information and committing it to memory.
Next-gen employees are a purpose-driven group who seek more engagement from their organisations and to understand their roles better. Which is why gamified trainings are the perfect tool to not just engage them with a good time but also more effectively convey exactly what their job entails and the difference they can make in their organisations and the world.
Gen Z and Millennials also report feeling without guidance and feedback in their roles. This is a problem that gamification can remedy by setting them on “training paths” in their gamified training that also offers instant feedback. This experience can help employees feel supported and more confident and clear-eyed about their future opportunities in the organisation.
What’s more, gamified trainings are great for covering important issues like diversity and sustainability—topics that resonate deeply with next-gen employees. In fact, 25% of Gen Z and 29% of Millennials want more training to help them live sustainably. Designing your ESG and DEI trainings on a gamified platform is a great way to inspire change and mobilise next-gen employees at your organisation.
You can check out Seppo’s sustainability training game here.
Meeting the Expectations of New-Age Employees
Gamification in training is also a cutting-edge solution to age-old training woes.
For digital native Gen Z and Millennials, this means that they can access their trainings remotely, online, and on devices—like smartphones and laptops—that they are already extremely comfortable with.
Gamification is also a human-centric, two-way medium of training that encourages involvement from the participant, which is especially important when you’re communicating to younger workers who prefer their communication to be interactive.
For a workforce likely to be put off by top-down flow of information like presentations and manuals, this is a game-changer. It’s also quick and engaging, offering them instant feedback in the form of rewards and leaderboards, and helps them learn and get set up in their new roles quickly.
Most importantly, gamified trainings go a long way in showing your next-gen workforce that your company is eager to innovate and invest in their skill development by using modern, tech-friendly solutions in the market. Which, in turn, is great for your employer brand.
Helping Your Company Thrive in Changing Times
Gamification isn’t just a flashy trend; it’s versatile, highly effective and here to stay. It is also surprisingly easy to implement, requires no coding experience, and allows you to easily track and report training progress and success.
You can also tweak and adapt your gamified training with changing circumstances. If there’s a shift in company policies or new industry trends, you can simply adjust the training content to make sure everything is up-to-date.
Surveys and research also show that gamification and gamified training at work boosts employee productivity and motivation. People are trained better, and learn more swiftly and effectively, allowing you to onboard and train employees easier than ever. All of this means your Gen Z and Millennial workforce is more engaged and productive, your turnover rates are low, and your customers are satisfied.
All this by making a small change to your trainings and without taking any major hits to your budget.
Want to inspire DEI conversations in your organisation but don’t know where to start? Read this.
Conclusion: A Word from Seppo
Navigating the HR landscape with Gen Z and Millennial employees can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be a total mystery. By understanding your next-gen workforce and exploring gamification solutions to engage them, you can future-proof your trainings while boosting productivity and job satisfaction. It’s a win-win!
Can you imagine your employees showing up for trainings with the same excitement they have for their favourite video games?
If you’re ready to level up, check out some of our customer stories where training games made all the difference. Happier employees, more efficient organisations and pleasantly surprised HR teams ahead!
- Gamified Induction at Legoland Windsor Resort
- Turning Sales into a Game at Mercedes-Benz Brazil
- Engaging Teams With Staff-Oriented Gamification at Savings Bank
To learn more about how to gamify different trainings, we recommend: