Gamification is an effective way to transform your training for future talent. The Fairy Job Mother, Shoshanna Davis, explains how.
If you work in early careers, emerging/future talent or L&D, you’ve likely felt it too: we’re losing them too early.
Engagement is slipping through our fingers and it’s not because early talent is lazy, disengaged or unmotivated. It’s because engagement as we know it has evolved.
The engagement equation has changed
In a fast-paced, choice-rich working world, early talent is craving more than a tick-box onboarding checklist or a one-size-fits-all learning plan. They want the 3C’s a framework developed by The Fairy Job Mother after working with thousands of graduates and apprentices and their managers.
- Clarity: What am I working towards?
- Connection: Who am I growing with?
- Challenge: Am I being stretched in meaningful ways?
If your programme doesn’t deliver on these 3Cs, the problem isn’t the talent, it’s the structure.
Why engagement really drops
We often hear or find ourselves saying things like: ‘They’re disengaged’, "they forget what they’ve learnt, ‘managers aren’t reinforcing the learning’ or ‘they drop out in 90 days’.
But here’s what’s actually happening behind the scenes:
Rethink engagement with gamification
Gamification isn’t about turning work into play it’s about transforming learning into a journey.
As Yu-Kai Chou the globally renowned gamification and experience designer put it: “Gamification is not about turning work into a game. It’s about turning learning into a journey.”
The G.A.M.E. Plan provides an approach to help achieve this.
The G.A.M.E. Plan for Training That Sticks
To truly engage future talent, your training structure needs to follow these four principles:
G: Goal-Based Progression
Break the journey into stages with visible wins. E.g. ‘Mission-based onboarding’ where Week 1 = Explorer, Week 2 = Contributor and so on.
A: Active Participation
Move from passive learning to active doing.
E.g. Post-training tasks like ‘pitch this tool in 60 seconds’ or ‘self-reflect on your biggest skill gain this week’.
M: Meaningful Context
Anchor learning in real-world relevance.
Make it obvious why this skill matters now.
E: Emotional Connection
Make it feel like more than just a job.
Incorporate storytelling, peer challenges and manager-led feedback loops.
Touchpoints that drive long-term retention
Your strategy shouldn’t end after onboarding. Use gamified touchpoints across the entire employee journey.
1. Pre-boarding
Before new talent even steps through the (virtual or real-life) door, there’s space to build anticipation and connection. Tactics like a welcome checklist with a progress bar, meet-your-cohort bingo or pre-start quizzes and unlockable tasks help create momentum and engagement from the outset before day one even arrives.
2. Onboarding
Once they’ve started, structure and pace are key. Gamified strategies such as weekly missions, milestone unlocks and buddy badges for peer support make learning feel active, not passive. Embedding reflection prompts via Teams or Slack channels ensures there’s space for personal insight alongside task completion.
3. Early role growth
This is where confidence builds or crumbles. To support real capability growth, create skill-building quests (e.g running a client meeting), introduce a personal growth tracker and close each month with a reflection challenge to celebrate wins and identify next steps.
4. Retention + recognition
Sustaining engagement beyond the first few months requires meaningful recognition and visible growth paths. Ideas include unlocking alumni status through a grad/apprentice-to-mentor pathway, running peer-voted impact awards or allowing individuals to choose their own development tracks.
Each of these touchpoints reinforces progression, participation and recognition turning early careers development into a journey, not a tick-box.
How could you tweak your programme?
To start embedding this approach right now, ask yourself which part of your programme you could tweak next week.
Could you add a small mission, a weekly learning check-in or a progress badge?
Small shifts lead to significant engagement boosts when they’re intentional, repeatable and learner-led.
The reality is, we’re not losing them because they don’t care. We’re losing them because our structures haven’t caught up.
Gamification isn’t a gimmick. It’s a strategy. It’s the bridge between expecting engagement and earning it. So, is your programme ready to level up?
Watch the ISE webinar with The Fairy Job Mother on Gaming concepts to transform training.