TimmyH
Gen Y Training for Work on Digital Games
August 14th 2008 04:42
It wasn’t long ago that making phone calls from work was a gross violation of trust. How times change. Now, it seems everything from social networking to computer games in the workplace are not only tolerated, but encouraged.
To connect with the growing Generation Y workforce, employers are implementing digital games as training methods for newcomers. Ian Bogost, associate professor of digital media at Georgia Tech, says anyone under 35 has grown up with games. "The kinds of experiences they have grown accustomed to, in terms of the presentation of ideas, are more interactive than passive."
Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi-Sanko started the move about 12 months ago when it re-purposed its cholesterol drug Welchol which is used in Type 2 Diabetes treatment. They employed digital games designer BrandGames to create a game that would both educate and enthuse their young sales team. The result was a role-play robot that killed critters running around the screen.
When a users kills a critters that animal gives them a statement about the drug they are going to be selling. The company says that the games educates employees and makes learning fun.
"Our sales force is made up of a lot of Generation X and Yers. We wanted something that would engage our employees," says Debra Asbury, director of primary-care sales training at Daiichi.
Daiichi even turned its critter game into a competition and rewarded the high scorers with prizes. "At the launch meeting, we were able to see the knowledge level was up there," Asbury says. "[Employees] were able to understand the high-science, clinical aspects that we had asked them to learn." The game program has been so successful that Daiichi is working on a second one.
Another drug company, Johnson & Johnson, will be launching a digital game to give nursing graduates some practical experience in a clinical setting as part of their “Campaign for Nursing’s Future” which began in the US in 2002. "It's the wave of the future," says Andrea Higham, director of corporate equity for J&J. "It's the way people are being educated."
Most digital games can be run on computers that are already in the workplace. According to Jim Wexler, an executive vice president at BrandGames, most games require Windows 98 or higher, a 64-megabyte graphics card, a 16-bit color display, 256 MB of RAM, Adobe Shockwave and an open mind. All these requirements are almost standard on new computers anyway.
Wexler says the starting price for these games is about $250,000, with some companies spending millions on them. But that doesn’t mean that they’re anymore expensive than their conventional training rivals. In addition, companies are encouraging the use of programs like “Second Life” for cross-office/boarder communications.
But for those new employees who aren’t so tech savvy, the old manuals and training guides should still be around for some time. Companies who use the methods do run the risk of having employees take the training process too lightly, says Michael Cai, director of gaming research at Park Associates. Still, he says, games are hard to beat for instant feedback. "In games, you know instantly that you did badly," Cai says. "You just got shot at."
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To connect with the growing Generation Y workforce, employers are implementing digital games as training methods for newcomers. Ian Bogost, associate professor of digital media at Georgia Tech, says anyone under 35 has grown up with games. "The kinds of experiences they have grown accustomed to, in terms of the presentation of ideas, are more interactive than passive."
Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi-Sanko started the move about 12 months ago when it re-purposed its cholesterol drug Welchol which is used in Type 2 Diabetes treatment. They employed digital games designer BrandGames to create a game that would both educate and enthuse their young sales team. The result was a role-play robot that killed critters running around the screen.
When a users kills a critters that animal gives them a statement about the drug they are going to be selling. The company says that the games educates employees and makes learning fun.
"Our sales force is made up of a lot of Generation X and Yers. We wanted something that would engage our employees," says Debra Asbury, director of primary-care sales training at Daiichi.
Daiichi even turned its critter game into a competition and rewarded the high scorers with prizes. "At the launch meeting, we were able to see the knowledge level was up there," Asbury says. "[Employees] were able to understand the high-science, clinical aspects that we had asked them to learn." The game program has been so successful that Daiichi is working on a second one.
Another drug company, Johnson & Johnson, will be launching a digital game to give nursing graduates some practical experience in a clinical setting as part of their “Campaign for Nursing’s Future” which began in the US in 2002. "It's the wave of the future," says Andrea Higham, director of corporate equity for J&J. "It's the way people are being educated."
Most digital games can be run on computers that are already in the workplace. According to Jim Wexler, an executive vice president at BrandGames, most games require Windows 98 or higher, a 64-megabyte graphics card, a 16-bit color display, 256 MB of RAM, Adobe Shockwave and an open mind. All these requirements are almost standard on new computers anyway.
Wexler says the starting price for these games is about $250,000, with some companies spending millions on them. But that doesn’t mean that they’re anymore expensive than their conventional training rivals. In addition, companies are encouraging the use of programs like “Second Life” for cross-office/boarder communications.
But for those new employees who aren’t so tech savvy, the old manuals and training guides should still be around for some time. Companies who use the methods do run the risk of having employees take the training process too lightly, says Michael Cai, director of gaming research at Park Associates. Still, he says, games are hard to beat for instant feedback. "In games, you know instantly that you did badly," Cai says. "You just got shot at."
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