What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear compliance training? Boring! Research conducted by Elucidat shows that “70% of compliance training is over 30 minutes long, which contributes to the boredom factor.” With 34% of people just skimming through the content and 15% clicking through without listening, you must realize that the numbers (and participants) scream “Change something!”

What can you change, you may wonder? Compliance training needs to be done whether you like it or not. The good news is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Implement gamification into your compliance training and you will notice a huge difference on many levels! 

Making Compliance Training Engaging With Gamification 

Completing compliance training is like reading a two-thousand-page book—you want to finish a chapter and feel you are moving forward so it doesn’t seem impossible to complete.

Dry regulatory topics can be more fun than they sound when you add some excitement factors of gamification to the mix. Implement the risk and reward approach, set a mission to be completed or add some fiction. 

It may sound easy, but you need to properly implement the gamification approach. Here are some gaming design elements you can apply: scores, activities, badges, challenges, bonuses, competition, achievements, leaderboards. Don’t get carried away though! It is crucial to have in mind that your budget and technical abilities will define the complexity (or simplicity) of your tactics.

Engaging participants in your compliance training will improve their knowledge retention and hopefully lead to the required behavioral change. Do you want your employees to talk about your new compliance training? It may sound like a dream to you, but with gamification, it is possible to transform your compliance training from a nightmare to a dream come true.

Gamify It and Mission Complete?

Sorry to disappoint you, but the answer is: Not quite!

We’ve outlined a few factors to have in mind when creating a successful gamified experience: 

• End goal—When is your compliance training successful? Not when it is completed, but when people successfully apply it in practice. The goal is to drive behavioral change, not check off a compliance training box.
• Awareness—When done right, gamification will help make employees more aware of the importance of complying with policies in the real world. Remember this!
• Customization—Make your programs personalized to the organization and specific role or department. Help employees face real-world challenges (specific to their everyday experience) without the fear of failure.

The great thing about gamification is the opportunity to provide timely feedback in a way that is fun and effective. Keep the motivation high by encouraging your learners to improve their scores or earn badges as they keep track of progress. 

Interactive Ideas to Implement Today 

The possibilities are numerous, it depends on what your learners need and would find interesting. Here are some examples:

• A fun quest—while living the adventure, learners will earn points when they follow the rules or will lose points when they violate policies.
• Scenarios—learners will have to make decisions based on their compliance knowledge along the journey, and each choice influences the outcome.
• Solve a puzzle or complete a challenge—learners need to overcome obstacles and figure things out as they go.
• Problem-solving under pressure—initiate a breach or a discovery mission and reward them with a trophy or a certificate when they reach certain milestones.

Sounds fun, doesn’t it? Are you already thinking about how you can improve your compliance training with gamification? If you have any questions, we would be happy to hear from you. Use the comment section below to interact with us!