Training and Development in the corporate sector have evolved drastically in the last decade, as business leaders have identified new ways to engage with and develop the strength of their employees. Calculating the training hours of every employee and then deciding what training needs to be delivered is time-consuming, as well as costly because effective training sessions can not be done in a big group. For years, major companies have tried to find alternatives to introduce efficient training tools and mechanisms which are cost and time effective.

Globally, we saw leading organizations introducing gamified recruitment drives where candidates have to play situation-based games that test their behavioral, cognitive, and emotional intelligence abilities. The results of those tests are then evaluated according to the organization’s best fit. It didn’t take long for the Human Resource managers to understand that the same gamified test can be used for training and development projects too.

Ever since the pandemic hit, the way of working has changed. The “New Normal” is not about working from home, but rather finding efficient ways to work with less hassle and prioritizing employees’ well-being. What the pandemic brought was the open-handed license to experiment which did not have space in a conventional setup. Over time, we saw an acceptance of virtual learning platforms and online teaching modules.

The trend was initially taken up by large organizations where employee strength is more than 10,000. They started by sending virtual animated videos for awareness and slowly converted to a more interactive medium with virtual reality. Banks introduced learning platforms and virtual reality games for providing guidelines and instructive manuals across the board. In the service sector, particularly in the customer care and dealing departments, scenario-based virtual learning provided employees better understanding and reading of the situation and better ways to deal with their customers. Similarly, many organizations have found a way to include game-based learning platforms at the core of the Learning and Development department.

The structuring of a virtual learning game or a scenario-based experience usually starts with setting the objectives. What subject of learning needs to be given and how a storyline should be made? The key to highly effective game-based learning depends on the right content. The screenplay for the games provides different scenario-based learning opportunities that test and advances knowledge of the subject through real-time interaction. The game design depends on what the desired outcome is; whether it an informative learning or testing learning. Regardless of the game design and methodology of learning, the results are significantly impressive and the rate of adopting game-based learning modules is rapidly increasing.

The process starts with the T&D Team briefing the game developing team ( outsource professionals) what is the objective and desired outcome, on the basis of the initial brief a screenplay is made with scenarios, incidents, and interactive sublines. Once the screenplay is ready, the designing team creates a virtual scenario with characters and an environment that fits the screenplay and objectives.

The world of work has changed and virtual reality-based gamified learning modules and platforms are a part of it. However, this is just the beginning, when it comes to advancements in both gamified learning and training & development in the corporate world.