The award-winning The Sims celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. It marks several decades of user development, immersive life, and attempting to understand Simlish. The game has a lot to teach us, and it’s not as simple as adding gamification to our learning and development. The Sims’ main lessons are its interactive nature, the peer communities it creates and the user retention through milestones, nudges and autonomy.
The Sims, for those who are unaware, is a virtual gaming platform where players create and control Sims. The first Sims (we are now on our fourth version) was released in 2000 as a PC sandbox game. Both game developers and HR leaders find simulated environments to be an intriguing proposition. Immersive experiences are hardwired into the human brain to help us learn and engage. Think about how a toddler or surgeon learns. It’s always about trial and error.
This goes beyond the learning effectiveness. Your business could be on the line. The right hands-on learning environment can support all aspects of your business, including compliance, data protection, cybersecurity, productivity, and performance. Virtual tools are available today to help you simulate the skills and tasks that employees will be required to perform in their daily work. They include virtual labs and simulations.
Virtual labs versus simulations
You may wonder why you should choose a simulation over a lab and what their differences are. Both provide practice and hands-on experiences to develop job-ready skills. However, a simulation uses video and screenshots to replicate a technology while a laboratory offers a real-time environment.
In a simulation the learning paths are accompanied by click-through instructions that guide learners to the right answers. Instructions are delivered at the right time in a lab. The learner, instructor or lab developer can choose to provide as little guidance as they want. In terms of scoring and skill verification (more about this later), you can get the data you need from simulation click-throughs and multiple-choice questions, while in the lab the data is generated by the actions taken within the environment.
Three lessons from The Sims
Now that we’ve defined the terms, let’s focus on how The Sims engages users and challenges them. Let’s also consider what lessons this has for learning and workforce strategies.
Users can customize their Sim characters right from the beginning. Customizing onboarding for each new employee based on his or her role, departmental needs, and previous experiences will allow them to be productive faster. Customizing some parts of onboarding (such as their training) instead of using a one size fits all approach will make their career more efficient and engaging.
Employee experience is a growing concern due to the high number of employees who are disengaging with their employers. In the US, employee engagement has dropped to 31% – the lowest in the last decade. Employees are demanding more autonomy and freedom. Return-to-office requirements, career development opportunities, and skills that match their goals, have all been criticized. To retain employees, HR must understand their workforces in depth. This is especially true for younger generations. Skills data is a useful tool in this regard, as it provides insights into what skills employees have, how they use them, and what they are building. You can offer career and learning development that is highly relevant, on a large scale but still in a personalized way.
The learning experience should be personalized in the same way. The generic content is not enough. It’s important to tailor learning to the individual and their role. Learning should be tailored to the individual’s current situation, taking into account their existing skills and gaps. It should also include a hands-on, immersive component, which will translate their theoretical knowledge into real-world performance. Labs and simulations are a great way to help someone stretch their abilities and improve their understanding. They can be self-paced so that someone can learn at their own pace and repeat sections as needed. This allows for a degree of personalization, ensuring that no one is left behind in learning new concepts.
2. Peer sharing can be a huge draw
The Sims is a highly social game that, for its simplicity, has attracted attention and kept users. It is a popular game, people talk about it and share tips. They also interact with its immersive environment. People will share their opinions, suggestions, and concerns in your workplace. Your job as HR and learning leaders is to guide and facilitate this, so it becomes a strength for your company’s culture.
Peer sharing can be a great asset for your organization, as it allows you to gain new perspectives and spread knowledge. You can encourage people to share naturally by setting up ‘watercooler’ areas (which work also online for remote or hybrid businesses) or more deliberately, like peer communities or lunch and learn sessions. It is often best to use a mixed approach.
3. Milestones are celebrated
Your Sims characters will be able to achieve certain “life milestones” within the game, and your employees can also enjoy the dopamine high that comes from recognition at your company. It’s interesting to note that the biggest’reward rush’ in our brains is when we achieve challenging things. What’s difficult for one person might not be so to another. This may appear as recommendations for more difficult, higher-level courses in a learning environment. In a virtual laboratory, tasks and scenarios become more difficult to complete.
It is possible to take your reward and recognition program to the next step by personalising it for different departments, roles and skill levels. This will encourage people to grow and challenge themselves. Your HCM system or learning management system can make this process much easier by consolidating, validating and updating your skill data. Learning, skill levels, and performance in simulated labs can inform rewards, recommendations, and internal mobility opportunities.
Tip on the Iceberg
There are many ways you can incorporate game mechanics into the learning and workforce strategies. The ability to capture our attention and imagination for a long time is a valuable asset when you are trying to engage your workforce and improve their skills. Many tactics are used to keep people engaged over the long term, from nudges and ‘fear’ of missing out to nudges. If your strategy needs a boost, you might find inspiration on your console.
