In this economy the days of a five year plan are out the window. We are in an environment where we must do more-better- faster, and with less. To quote the University of Notre Dame Football Coach Brian Kelly: “We don’t get five year plans, it is more like a five minute plan and we’ll start to work on it immediately. As for timetables I don’t want to get into that, but I expect our young men to play at a high level immediately.”
Sound familiar managers? How many of you expect your new hires to perform at a high level immediately? You might want to consider going about your training like Coach Kelly. He is using video gaming to train his employees. That’s right– a group of 120+ Millennials will be using video games to learn the offensive and defensive system.
Kelly was hired to restore tradition to a once-storied program that has not won a national championship in 21 years and has not won a major bowl game since 1993. Essentially we are talking about an environment where new employees are meeting a new manager. In his industry, this new manager has the ultimate rebuilding job on his hands.
Taking advances from another industry and applying them to your business will separate you from your competitors. The military has been using video gaming for training since the early 1980’s. Companies like Coldstone Creamery and Cisco are also using the interactive nature of gaming to reel in techno-savvy Millennials. They educate them on both technical and customer service oriented skills.
While he didn’t invent the use of video gaming as a training tool, Kelly has taken it to a whole new level. Kelly’s concept is the essence of leadership: getting your people to want to do what you want them to do. The natural by-product is creating buy-in from the team while simultaneously changing the culture of Notre Dame Football. The use of video gaming additionally will become his slight edge over the competition.
Thinking slows reaction time whether you’re an athlete, on the field, or a business person in the field. Every one of us has been victim of paralysis by analysis, at one time or another in a new role. A simulation-based training game enables you to gain the mental reps. This will facilitate the correct response when it counts. Every employee learns these mental reps at their own speed. The gaming methodology also allows the employer to accurately measure and track individual participation.
How are you engaging and building your team? Do you incorporate elements of simulation or gaming in your training programs? Gaming is so engaging that Millennials are more apt to retain critical training and seek it more independently. In terms of the bottom line results it can increase efficiency and reduce costs. If you can educate your employees better, you serve your customers better– which is the real victory.