Gamification has been around for a while now, but it continues to be popular among corporate training and employee compliance programs. Gamification is about incorporating basic reward systems throughout the training, typically points, badges and leaderboards. The goal is to make training sessions more fun and to motivate people to complete training tasks. Gamification can be incorporated with almost any training approach – even grades are a form of gamification.

However, gamification can be difficult to get right. It only works to the extent that employees care about the points, badges or other rewards on offer. The focus on external rewards can also take away from the employees’ motivation to deeply learn the material. An alternative conception of gamification is to provide the “players” with storylines to follow and decisions to make. This aligns closely with the simulation approach.