Gamification Trends of 2022

Gamification has evolved from being just a buzzword to something that businesses everywhere are taking more seriously. Gamification has grown since the term was first coined in 2003, and it has continued to grow in prominence and popularity when it comes to its applications in the business world. However, not every organization is able to implement these game mechanics as successfully as others. 

In this article, we will be sharing some of the top gamification trends that are shaping the business landscape today. Understanding these trends will help you better leverage the powerful psychological drivers behind gamification so you can motivate and engage your employees to drive sales and solve business problems. 

Top Gamification Trends This Year

Wherever you decide to implement your gamification techniques, whether that be with your sales team or employee engagement, these are the biggest gamification trends you should know about.

The Use of Gamification in Various Sectors

The use of gamification has expanded into sales, education, enterprise, retail, and even health and wellness sectors. For example, in the retail space businesses use gamification to help create more positive consumer behaviours. Within organizations, it can be used to help make employees more productive, skillful, and efficient. And these applications of gamification are showing no signs of slowing down. 

Gamification is positioned to change the industries of fintech, automotive, politics, and healthcare. Even military organizations are using it to help streamline their processes. For example, the US Army designed a game for their recruitment operations that helps test the skill of their applicants and shows whether or not they have what it takes to become a soldier. Obviously, real combat is much different than playing a simulation, but nonetheless, this use of gamification tactics has increased the recruitment of the US Army. 

Employee Onboarding With Gamification

Employee onboarding is often a stressful process, both for the recruiters and onboarders. However, this is obviously an essential part of any successful business since a positive onboarding experience directly correlates to employee retention in the long run. Plus, many newly hired employees are more productive due to their onboarding experience (if it was a positive one). Studies have shown that information that is delivered using a gamified approach tends to be better absorbed and retained. 

To make the onboarding process less arduous and more enjoyable, leading companies use gamification to help increase the retention rate of their employees. Since gamification has been proven to have many benefits, more and more organizations are likely to start exploring the possibilities of adding an employee gamification platform into their onboarding process. It has also been shown to increase engagement and the learning experience as a whole. 

Gamification in Sales

Gamification is typically used for motivating your sales team to reach either individual or team sales goals. For example, by using badges, points and leaderboards to boost friendly competition. However, this gamification approach can also be applied to the learning process, either for sales representatives or even for your customers. More specifically, you can use gamification techniques to help your sales team retain knowledge about new products or services. 

Using Gamification with Mobile Applications

The entry of millennials into the global workforce has brought with it some specific challenges for businesses. In fact, over 70% of millennials feel disengaged from their work. In order to help solve this issue, many organizations are using gamification techniques with mobile applications. Mobile apps are convenient with simple access for on-the-go employees. Moving towards mobile makes sense when practically everyone carries a smart device with them at all times.

This is a trend that is predicted to continue far into the future, past 2022. You can expect businesses small and large to increasingly sync gamification elements with mobile apps. 

Virtual Reality-Based Learning with Gamification

Virtual reality-based games used in the education sector are some of the most popular types of games available today. It’s used to amplify the engagement of students to create an environment where they are able to interact with pieces of information rather than reading it or absorbing it through some other form of static delivery.

One great example of successful gamified learning is The Stanford Ocean Acidification Experience (SOAE). It was designed by Stanford University’s Human Interaction Lab to raise awareness of the acidification of the ocean. Stanford created a VR game that allows users to see how acidification happens and how it impacts the world. It is currently being used in schools, museums and other institutions around the globe. It is one of the largest VR studies in existence and it remains downloadable for the public. 

To summarize, strategies that use gamification and other immersive technologies are making big waves when it comes to mapping out a viable business strategy as well as keeping your team on top of vital information. 

The trends highlighted here are especially powerful when applied to the business and corporate learning sector. Many of these trends will go beyond 2022, and we can’t tell you exactly how each will pan out. But, the best you can do is to prepare your business to take advantage of current trends. 

The biggest takeaway is the fact that gamification will remain an incredible resource for employee and customer engagement. 

Gamify Your Workplace With 1Huddle

At 1Huddle, we offer cloud-based employee gamification software that can easily adapt to any employee training or gamification strategy you want to implement at your workplace. You can customize your content for a seamless experience and all of your employees will be able to access their training anywhere, anytime and at the push of a button. You can use our gamification platform to measure their performance and make key decisions on where you should take your gamification strategy next. 

Do you want to learn more about how 1Huddle can help you level up your own workforce? Request a demo today.