Star Pubs has launched a new gamified training portal backed by a £135,000 investment. The new platform, developed in partnership with gamification specialists Attensi, aims to streamline staff onboarding and development while significantly reducing training time and expense.
Courses range from Continuing Professional Development compliance training as well as covering topics ranging from social media to interview skills, with gamified courses on how to deliver customer service and improve the customer journey.
According to Tracy Bickerdike, Head of Training at Star Pubs, early results have been “spectacular”. She explained, “Gamification modules take a fraction of the time of traditional training and maximise ongoing staff performance and productivity.
“That’s a real help when employment costs are resulting in many licensees having to operate with smaller teams. For example, they cut six hours off completion of induction and compliance training for new starters. And comprehensive age verification for gaming machines training can now be done in five minutes, rather than the 30 minutes required with e-learning, whilst increasing pass rates in unannounced age testing visits by 36%.”
Bickerdike continues, “Operators who trialled the games-based training love its popularity with their teams and its effectiveness. Though it appeals to all, it’s right up Gen Z’s street, which is ideal for an industry that employs so many young people.
“Staff turnover is running at more than 50% in the hospitality trade, meaning the average pub needs to train four new staff a year. That’s a big commitment in terms of staff time and pay, especially when pubs are dealing with so many other cost pressures. We want to keep staff learning & development affordable for our licensees so that they aren’t priced out and can continue to train their teams to deliver the outstanding service that customers are seeking. Gamified training has a big role to play, and we’ve used our buying power to deliver the courses at a preferential rate.”