Engaging Onboarding Gamification Strategies: Making First Impressions Count

Starting a new job can be overwhelming for employees, especially fresh graduates and young professionals. To ensure a smooth transition and boost employee engagement, organisations are increasingly turning to innovative methods like onboarding gamification

In this blog, we will explore the concept of gamified onboarding programmes and discuss effective employee engagement strategies to create interactive experiences.

A Brief Overview

Onboarding gamification involves using game elements and mechanics in the onboarding process to enhance employee learning, engagement and retention. 

  • It transforms traditional onboarding programmes into interactive experiences that promote active participation and knowledge retention.

  • By incorporating game elements such as quizzes, challenges, team-building activities, rewards and recognition, organisations can make the first few weeks of employment memorable for their new hires.

Creating Interactive Onboarding Modules

One of the key aspects of successful onboarding gamification is the creation of interactive modules. 

  • These modules should be designed in a way that encourages employees to actively participate in their learning journey. 

  • For example, instead of bombarding new hires with lengthy presentations or documents, organisations can leverage interactive videos or e-learning platforms that allow employees to learn at their own pace while providing instant feedback.

Incorporating Quizzes and Challenges

Quizzes and challenges are effective tools for assessing employee knowledge while making the learning process enjoyable. 

  • By incorporating quizzes throughout the onboarding process, organisations can gauge an employee’s understanding of the company’s culture, policies, products/services or industry-specific knowledge. 

  • Additionally, challenges can be introduced to encourage employees to solve real-life scenarios related to their roles or collaborate with their colleagues in problem-solving exercises.

Gamified Team-Building Activities

Team-building activities play a crucial role in fostering camaraderie among new hires and existing teams.

  • When these activities are gamified during the onboarding process, they become even more impactful. 

  • Organisations can organise virtual or physical team-building activities that require employees to work together, solve puzzles or complete challenges. This facilitates better communication and collaboration.

Rewards and Recognition in Onboarding Games

Incorporating rewards and recognition mechanisms in onboarding games is essential to keep employees motivated and engaged. 

  • Organisations can create a sense of accomplishment and provide positive reinforcement by setting milestones, unlocking achievements or offering badges for completing certain tasks.  

  • Moreover, recognising top performers publicly or providing personalised feedback can further boost employee morale during the onboarding process.

Game On: Creating Memorable Onboarding Experiences

If you’re looking to implement engaging onboarding gamification strategies in your organisation, consider exploring Imarticus Game Studio’s game-based onboarding solutions. With their expertise in designing interactive and immersive games tailored for new hires, Imarticus offers a unique approach to make the onboarding process more enjoyable and impactful. 

Engaging onboarding gamification strategies are transforming the way organisations welcome new hires into their teams. By creating interactive modules, incorporating quizzes and challenges, organising gamified team-building activities and implementing rewards and recognition systems, organisations can make first impressions count. 

Remember, if you want to enhance your onboarding experience with game-based solutions, consider exploring Imarticus Game Studio’s offerings. Start your journey towards effective onboarding today!

Best Onboarding Practices for Diversity and Inclusion

Research shows that companies with diverse management teams have higher revenue growth. Compared to companies with less diverse teams, the revenue increase is by 19%. Although diversity and inclusion evidently have many advantages, many companies fail to implement them in their culture. Most organisations believe that they are already promoting an inclusive culture. However, the reality is different. A study shows that only 40% of employees agreed to work in an inclusive environment. This is one of the major reasons why new employees leave the company within six months.

Onboarding is often one of the overlooked areas when it comes to the company’s retention strategies. Onboarding helps new hires understand the company’s culture and different aspects of their job role. A good onboarding experience assures them that their decision of choosing the organisation was right.

 

Onboarding is a great opportunity for companies to level the playing field for all employees. This will make everyone – especially the historically underrepresented populations – feel comfortable at work. Through this, companies can establish that they extend their goodwill to all their employees equally. Here are some ways companies can create effective onboarding for diversity and inclusion.

Best practices for an inclusive onboarding experience

1. Make it clear

If the organisation is dedicated to developing an inclusive culture, make sure to discuss it during onboarding. Include a session about inclusion and its importance in the onboarding process. Help new hires understand what inclusion actually means and why it matters to the organisation. Encourage people to share their experiences and make them feel comfortable. Inclusion is a continuing effort. By doing this, the company is inviting its new hires to participate in that process.

2. Let them settle in

When it comes to onboarding, many companies focus on getting new employees productive at the earliest. Generally, the focus is less on teaching them about the ways of the company. Thus, they remain outsiders not knowing how to succeed within the organisation. In order to avoid this, the company should share its history and strategy. This will help them understand how it started, where it’s going and what its goal is. In this way, they can make more effective contributions. Teach them the company’s language. Hence, they will know what everyone else is talking about.

3. Explain how the team works

Although new hires work for the company, they work within a team. Hence, it’s critical that they know the team dynamics. They should know how decisions are made and who makes the decision. They should learn how they are supposed to contribute to the decision-making process. New employees should be taught how to communicate effectively (whether communication is formal or informal). The company’s expectations while collaborating with others should also be made clear.

4. Connect to a mentor

The new hires would have mentioned what’s important to them career-wise during the recruiting process. Connect them to a mentor who can help them achieve those individual goals. Assign them to individuals who can teach them how to navigate the company culture. That doesn’t mean matching new employees with similar people. Yes, they would love to see that people like them are being valued. However, they should also be familiarised with varied perspectives and concepts. Learning is mutual. When organisations pair people effectively, learning becomes two-sided.

5. Don’t avoid the existing employees

An inclusive onboarding experience focuses on teaching the new employees about the company culture. The aim is to keep the company culture evolving by incorporating new perspectives and ideas. So, the new employees are not the only ones needing support. The existing employees require support to learn about new hires. They can guide them effectively only when they know what they bring.

To sum it up, when companies are committed to increasing diversity, an inclusive onboarding experience should be a part of their strategies. Making an effort to value diversity within the organisation is key to successful onboarding.

To learn more about onboarding best practices, visit Imarticus Learning.