What if your techs could approach learning new HVAC skills through game-play? Chances are, they would probably be a lot more engaged and motivated to improve their skills.
It should come as no surprise, that we belong to an era, undergoing major shifts in workforce demographics.
HVAC training now has to be:
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- Comprehensive enough to get greenhorns up to speed and field-ready, fast;
- Robust enough to cover all levels of ability in order to close skills gaps in critical areas
Old school training methods alone are ineffective. The “New Worker” demands something a little more modern to capture their attention .
If you haven’t heard already, the newest trends in HVAC training are all screaming and pointing at online learning as the solution to this change in demographics.
The HVAC tech’s joining your team today grew up with the internet;
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- They are motivated differently
- Prefer their content delivered through a screen
- They require more engaging methods to learn their craft
- They reject scheduled classroom learning
That’s why HVAC companies around the globe are now leveraging online, on-demand 3D sims and VR technology to train new HVAC techs faster, smarter, and cheaper.
This means not only using the latest online technologies for training, but also the newest digital training techniques that are built within them.
Fortunately, Interplay Learning’s team HVAC training can help you introduce these new techniques that are proven to up-skill techs faster and increase the impact of your online training program.
Keep reading to see how gamification can enhance training and improve tech performance:
Gamification
One of the most popular additions to online training methods is the concept of gamification. Gamification uses aspects of game-play, such as;
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- Point scoring
- Competition
- Rules
- Leader-boards
but, applies it to something not typically thought of as a game, like HVAC Training.
When used in HVAC training, gamification has several proven benefits to help techs learn faster, retain more information, and enjoy the learning process.
Engagement
People enjoy healthy competition. By integrating scores and displaying leader-boards, techs will be engaged, inspired, and motivated to improve their skills— driving them to advance beyond their team members.
With gamification, it becomes more than just learning. It becomes about the shared experience of the game…and let’t not forget, the feeling of winning!
Real-Time Feedback
The majority of HVAC techs appreciate some form of feedback, while others bristle, get defensive or feel insulted.
Having feedback and constructive criticism originate from software, rather than a peer or boss can have a more positive impact on eliciting improvements.
Gamification provides continuous feedback, motivating the HVAC trainee to stay in the game and make improvements to things like their HVAC troubleshooting techniques.
This neutral method of feedback goes a long way to avoid confrontations with service managers and minimizes discouragement.
Additionally, it prevents negative attitudes from spreading throughout the team.
Another bonus of real-time feedback is that team members can see how they are performing on the learning tracks and objectives set out for them, while also seeing how they compare to others.
Low-Pressure Accountability
One of the things that makes gamification so attractive in HVAC training is that it has built in accountability.
When learners see they are trailing on a leader-board, they will be motivated to do better. This takes the pressure off of the service manager to enforce participation.
The game itself is doing the work of encouraging team members to do the best they can and complete the challenges the game presents. This makes motivating the team fun.
Gamification highlights trouble areas for learners and holds them accountable to improve virtually, before heading out in the field. This goes a long way in preventing in-field errors that might only come to light once damage has been done.
Recognition
Gamification offers managers ample opportunities to provide their team with rewards and recognition.
Employee recognition is important for helping with motivation and feelings of employee job satisfaction.
In a growing HVAC business, it can be challenging to find ways to appropriately recognize team members for their work.
Gamification of training offers quantitative data so you can unbiasedly recognize the achievements of your employees.
Even better, since success in games can be measured in multiple ways, team members can be recognized in numerous categories.
Managers can single out individuals who have made the most progress in comparison to past performance, or top-performers in specific segments.
It All Starts with the Best Training
Gamification is an excellent addition to HVAC team training, but it has to start with the very best training provider.
Interplay Learning offers over 100 hours of video-based, on-demand learning materials from introductory courses on applied sciences all the way to advanced troubleshooting on the latest equipment.
These effective online HVAC training courses are developed by the best of the best subject matter experts in the industry.
Teams have access to the most recent in 3D and Virtual Reality (VR) HVAC training where they can enter an immersive, virtual world and use diagnostic tools to learn, practice, and master the skills needed in the field.
Interplay Learning Team™ Dashboard
Interplay Learning delivers affordable, customized 3D simulation and VR training technology as a turnkey solution to scale and modernize your training. All of this comes together on the Interplay Learning Team™ dashboard.
This is where business owners and managers can quickly assign learning tracks for team members, check progress, and gamify the experience for added engagement.
Everything can be monitored and adjusted with just a few clicks of the mouse, making Interplay Learning’s training as easy to set up as it is effective.
To sum it all up
Online learning is the new normal. But it doesn’t stop there. New, digital training capabilities can be leveraged to get even more out of your training program.
Features, like Gamification will go a long way to encourage user-ship and engage learners, all while leading to more training hours accrued and faster mastering of new skills.
For more information on how you can fully utilize gamification in your training, contact our sales team for a demo.
