Performing thorough training tacking and getting staff to engage and participate in training can be a challenge. Over the years, learning management systems have provided many solutions to make this process easier. However, many team members find training boring and don’t retain a lot of the information they receive during sessions.

To fix this, we released a new gamification and badging feature as part of our VAIRKKO learning management system (LMS). This feature is free of charge and is now available to all existing and future clients.

We believe that gamification and badging can improve team member engagement and knowledge retention while providing LMS administrators and staff with a powerful dashboard that shows every team member’s accomplishments. Viewing badges in one intuitive screen can be a major motivational factor for everyone to work hard to meet training objectives. In this blog, we’ll cover the basics of gamification and badges and how these tools can help your company train smarter and better.

Have you ever heard the story of Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody? If you haven’t, take a look at the tale below:

“There was an important job that had to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. 

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. 

Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. 

In the end, Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.”

At VAIRKKO, we pride ourselves on providing the fastest and easiest way to manage a company’s workforce in one unified intelligent platform. Our workforce management solutions cover powerful tools such as training management and certification tracking.

Similar to many businesses, we faced many challenges in 2020 that made us adjust some of our business processes from state-wide lockdowns and more. We are, however, thankful for a great year despite the challenges. With your trust, we were able to achieve some amazing goals this year.

Whether it be an imposition of pandemic or simply a job perk, there's no denying the surge of remote work opportunities as we near the halfway point of 2020. As this trend continues, many employers are beginning to find that there is an increasing need for eLearning within their organization. The sky is the limit for what can be accomplished from anywhere and there are several benefits to making this shift.

By definition, eLearning is "learning conducted via electronic media, typically on the internet." What does this mean? This means that you are not limited to one type of course or category when it comes to educating your employees. Every organization is constructed of several moving pieces, which consist of multiple employees in a variety of roles. In just one role, there is so much to learn. Take a look at the below, using our imaginary employee Kevin:

By now, every L&D leader knows that data is crucial. But which data points are getting your attention and energy? Unfortunately, many training managers only measure learner attendance, completion, and maybe feedback scores for satisfaction if they have time. These numbers definitely tell a story, but not the whole story. This data can inform your communication and delivery of training initiatives at best, and send you on a dead-end treasure hunt that doesn't produce results at worst.

Video, gamification, good 'ol PowerPoint. Creating custom learning material is only growing more and more confusing as we acquire more tools and research. We want to take the guessing game out of content creation, and also give you the tools you need to prepare training material that abides by best practices. Here are a few commandments...er....suggestions for compiling outstanding custom content.

As Learning & Development professionals, there are phrases we hear often that spin us into a flurry of planning, executing, hoping and praying. But what's just as important as these sentences? The unspoken additional context that goes with it:

We came up with four different options to explain a learning management system in 140 characters or less:

Technology changes so rapidly these days it’s hard to predict what will be next and how it - whatever “it” is - will shape the way that we live. Social media has impacted the way that we communicate with old friends, catch up on news, and even do business, but 10 years ago, social media had a completely different landscape.

Growing up, my dad would always point out advertisements to show how they set expectations. We would drive by a tanning salon with a picture of very sculpted and tan people and he would say “Wow, if I go in there - I’ll come out looking like that!” He wasn’t just referring to the shade of the person’s skin in the advertisement. Advertisement is powerful and marketing departments work hard to showcase benefits - tangible or intangible, but sometimes that can set consumers up with high expectations that can’t be met. As much as I wish applying sunless tanner would then give me a six-pack, that’s an expectation that absolutely will not come to actualization (without a lot of other work)…. bummer.