Editor’s Note
Dr. Debaprasad Chattopadhyay teaches Human Resources at Globsyn Business School – one of the top MBA in HR colleges in Kolkata. Dr. Chattopadhyay has over 52 years of academic and corporate experience with successful stints in reputed national and international organizations. Apart from being an academician, Dr. Chattopadhyay is a life member of the National HRD Network and ISTD and a member of ISABS, NIPM, BMA, and CMA. He is also a life member of his alma mater, Don Bosco School Park Circus Alumni Association. Dr. Chattopadhyay completed a program on strategic human resource leadership from the National HRD Network and attended the Human Laboratory Process Course at the Indian Society of Applied Behavioral Sciences. He has conducted Management Development Programs and Consultancy Assignments across organizations and has to his credit several publications in various journals and presented technical papers at different national and international conferences. Recently, he received the Udai Pareek Memorial Distinguished AHRD Alumni Award for the year 2022, bestowed on him by his alma mater Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD), Ahmedabad.
There has been considerable talk on how to enhance the effectiveness of academic delivery in class, particularly at the postgraduate level in management studies. We have since transitioned from teacher-centred teaching to student-centred learning.
Learning styles and learning cycle have been enunciated by David Kolb; types of learners have been postulated by Peter Honey and Allan Mumford. Ivan Pavlov is famous for classical conditioning with the dog-and-bell study, B.F.Skinner for Operant or Instrumental Conditioning, Edward Tolman for Cognitive Learning, Albert Bandura for Observational or Social Learning, Edward Thorndike for Law of Effect and many more. Still, there exists scope for maximizing learning as serious-fun in classroom settings.
It is in this context that Gamification finds its pride of place and right perspective in academic delivery, and the HR domain thereof is no exception. Gamification in HR involves the use of game-design elements in non-game HR processes to bolster employee engagement, performance and motivation.
The Role of Gamification in HR Academic Delivery
Gamification refers to the use of game elements (points, leaderboards, rewards) in non-game contexts. In the context of HR education, it boosts student motivation, engagement, and retention. Here’s how gamification has reshaped HR classes at GBS:
Recruitment
Recruitment can be elucidated by showcasing the company culture, thereby attracting top talent.
Onboarding
While teaching Onboarding in class, an HR faculty member resorts to badges, leaderboards, and points to make the class interesting.
Training
Training can be exemplified through the use of Smiley Charts and Bowl Quizzes. These tools help students grasp the concept of continuous feedback, evaluation, and upskilling in an organizational setting.
Performance Management
Performance Management can be demonstrated by utilising rewards and promoting competition amongst students-attendees in their tasks.
Wellness Programs
Wellness Programs can be enhanced through yoga sessions, meditation breaks, and light recreational exercises, allowing students to understand their real-world applications in HR.
Soft Skills & Corporate Etiquette
Soft skills and corporate etiquette can be better explained through a session exclusively designed to conceive innovative attire techniques, which my HR colleague, Prof. Megha Gangopadhyay, so brilliantly conducted in the recent past in her HR class, as also, my HR colleague, Prof. Manas Chakraborty very nicely organised workshops in his industrial relations class, besides me arranging role-plays in my organisation behaviour class.
Inside Globsyn’s Approach
It would be pertinent to mention at this stage that in Globsyn Business School, we effectively deploy the foregoing tools and practices to make the class engaging and, more so, in our HR operations from time to time as appropriate and as needed.
The above makes our classes absorbing, enthralling and has rendered our great institution, Globsyn Business School, a truly remarkable corporate business school of choice and an enjoyable workplace to be in. Stronger employer brand and better employee experience, at the same time, great learning for students in class is the natural denouement.
Dr. Debaprasad Chattopadhyay
Faculty – HR
Globsyn Business School