Serious Games in companies
From a professional point of view, most companies have switched to “remote working” mode. Each employee works from home via the Internet. Physical exchanges are therefore restricted and communication between employees reduced. Remote working has had a negative impact on group cohesion. For this reason, companies prefer to adopt new strategies to strengthen ties and optimise production and creativity. Since physical exchanges are limited, professionals decide to exploit digital and corporate games such as the Serious Game, which can now be played online.
The Serious Game is best known in the field of business studies. The Serious Game is a teaching and learning method, first and foremost. It is based on the principle of putting learners in a real situation to optimise their ability to receive and learn. The same principle applies to the Business Game in companies.
The Serious Game is a professional teaching tool that uses the world and universe of video games. It is presented in the form of computer applications with different training sequences, exchanges and simulations of all kinds.
In short, in the Serious Game, the objective is to learn, exchange, inform and communicate in a serious manner using playful and attractive methods. The approaches are similar to those of video games, but the “serious game” is not just entertainment.
Serious Games in Digital Learning
The difference between traditional learning and learning in a playful way lies in the fact that the latter is much more motivating for the learner. It naturally develops a sense of achievement, which facilitates comprehension and the acquisition of knowledge. Not only are students who learn with the Serious Game much more concentrated, but they are also more consistent and can perform several tasks at the same time.
With Serious Games, learners have more knowledge than just memorising information.
Finally, learning by trial and error is one of the main strengths of the Serious Game. Indeed, learners do not just read theories, but virtually experience real-life situations where they can make mistakes that they can rectify afterwards, without risk.
Serious Game: only benefits!
The Serious Game has several key objectives, the most important of which are to disseminate a message, acquire experience and encourage learning and exchange.
On the other hand, it offers advantages for a company at various levels, particularly in terms of recruiting the best profiles for a given position. Indeed, by using the Serious Game, the recruiter can directly assess the candidate’s skills.
At the same time, this type of learning game is a more relevant way to train employees and enrich their skills. It is also a very effective way to conduct market research in order to target marketing communication and to know the market and competition trends. The advantage of this type of learning method is that it offers its employees methods that are adapted to their profile, making learning easier.
In addition, the objective of any company is to maximise its visibility and increase its sales. There is nothing better than using “serious games” to make employees want to invest in the company’s projects. They will then be completely immersed in the project to enable them to have an understanding of what to expect when they commit themselves. Also, despite the rather high cost of the investment, companies are invited to embark on this digital transformation, given the significant gains that they can measure in the short, medium and long term, but also to adapt to a target of native users of these playful environments.
On the other hand, in the education sector, the Serious Game is also a learning method that has everything to appeal to. However, it is a rather complex task insofar as it is not only necessary to stop at the playful aspect of learning, but also to find the most effective way of integrating the “game element” into teaching. It is necessary to define the objectives of the teaching and to accompany the students in the use of the Serious Game for a real development of the skills.
In 2021, various uses
Although the Serious Game is mainly used for the acquisition of knowledge and skills, in 2020 it has become an essential part of the training offer of many companies. This trend to gamify training is already continuing in 2021. We have therefore identified for you the uses to be adopted absolutely in 2021 to go further in your innovative approach:
Designing gamified onboarding
While remote working allows a company to operate remotely, there are limitations that have been observed during 2020, such as the onboarding of new employees. Indeed, it is difficult to organise induction days when a large proportion of colleagues work from home. This is why some companies have taken the plunge by designing or having designed Serious Games whose primary function is to integrate new employees virtually. These Serious Games allow the new employee to discover the company and their new position in a playful way to develop a positive employee experience. Moreover, by complementing the fun experience with the right sharing tools, you can set up a real integration process that will develop the employee’s sense of belonging, and by extension, your employer brand.
Raising awareness through games
Since the arrival of the health crisis, life in the company has been impacted and it has been necessary to raise awareness among employees about barrier gestures in the office or good remote working practices (cyber security, etc.). However, this awareness is often limited to a few emails sent internally, PowerPoint presentations or posters on office walls. It is therefore difficult to run an effective awareness campaign.
The Serious Game is the innovative solution that makes awareness campaigns interactive and fun. Indeed, due to gamification, employees will become active in their training: the messages will be transmitted and assimilated more easily through the game (Quiz, multiple choice, clickable zones, etc.).
The Serious Game is therefore an excellent way of raising awareness among employees or learners on various themes and VTS Editor is THE authoring software for this.
If you wish to internalise the design of Serious Games for your training offer, Serious Factory offers you Virtual Training Suite: the software solution for designing, deploying and playing interactive and realistic Serious Games. Discover the trial version of the authoring software VTS Editor now:
If you wish to outsource the design of your Serious Games, our experts can assist you in this process with the realization of customized projects:
