How gamification does get employees excited about compliance

For many employees, compliance sounds like something boring and frustrating. A mandatory training on laws and regulations, privacy or security that you have to 'do it on the side'. HR and L&D professionals often see it reflected in the numbers: low engagement, minimal scores and resistance in the workplace.

All the while, the importance of compliance is greater than ever. New laws and regulations (such as the AI Act and AVG) require continuous awareness and behavior. But how do you ensure that compliance does not become a burden, but rather can work in your favor. The solution? Make compliance motivating and relevantwith game-based learning.

What is game-based compliance?

Game-based compliance is a learning strategy where you use game principles to train employees in a playful, active and motivating way on rules, guidelines and desired behavior. Think of interactive simulations, quizzes, challenges or scenarios in which employees have to make choices with immediate feedback.

Unlike traditional e-learning, where knowledge is often consumed passively, game-based learning revolves around active participation. Learning thus becomes not a "must do," but a game with a goal including reward, competition and progression.

Why gamification works for compliance

The psychology behind game-based learning is well established. Play activates reward mechanisms in our brain and stimulates motivation, focus and engagement. Research shows:

• Employees who train with gamification remember an average of 14% more than with traditional methods (University of Colorado, 2017).
• Game-based learning increases engagement by more than 50%, especially in subjects perceived as "boring" (TalentLMS, 2021).
• Feedback in games leads to faster learning behavior by making mistakes approachable and teachable.

In the case of compliance, which is often about behavior and awareness, that's exactly what you need.

Compliance is about understanding actions

Game-based learning fits perfectly with the goal of compliance: not just imparting knowledge, but changing behavior. Consider:

• Raise awareness: what are the risks of not following rules?
• Practical application: what do you do in questionable situations or under time pressure?
• Encourage self-reflection: how do I act myself in practice?

By engaging employees in realistic situations, you increase the learning effect. Instead of passively "knowing," employees begin to actively understand the impact of their actions.

Game-based learning at SkillsTown

At SkillsTown, we see that compliance works better when it matches the employee's practice a learning style. That's why we are increasingly applying game elements in compliance solutions.

Also through our authoring tool SkillsTown Create, organizations create their own scenarios, based on internal guidelines or sector requirements. Think of reporting codes in healthcare, codes of conduct in government or information security in the financial sector.

How to captivate employees with mandatory compliance: when game-based learning works well

• Game-based learning is not always the holy grail. It works especially well when:
• Content requires concrete behavior (AVG, cybersecurity, reporting codes)
• The learning objectives are clear: what should the employee do differently after completing the learning objectives?
• There is room for repetition: compliance is not a one-time training course
• Learning must be low key: little time, busy workplace

Game-based compliance works less well with whole legal or abstract modules without direct applicability. In that case, blended learning works better: a combination of e-learning + classroom or coaching.

Tips for getting started with game-based compliance yourself

Want to use game-based learning for compliance in your organization? If so, keep the following tips in mind:

• Start small: start with a quiz or scenario about one guideline.
• Choose realistic situations: connect to work practices.
• Use feedback intelligently: explain not only what is wrong, but why.
• Activate competition: use department scores or badges.
• Link to impact: show what behaviors you really want to change.

And above all, test, measure and optimize. Use learning analytics to see what works and where employees drop out.

From obligation to behavioral change

Compliance is not about imposing rules. It's about behavior, responsibility and trust. By employing game-based learning, you lower the threshold, increase engagement and make compliance a shared responsibility.

SkillsTown helps organizations with blended learning solutions that not only inform, but activate. With interactive training, proprietary content, gamification and learning analytics, we make compliance more fun and effective.

Want to know how game-based compliance can help your organization? Schedule a demo with our learning consultants and find out how to bring learning and compliance together.