TEEP: Training and engagement in the service of change

When Albert Einstein uttered these words, he perhaps did not imagine that they would influence the way we transform behaviour within work contexts. So what happens when play becomes a lever of learning and engagement?  

It is from this insight that TEEP was born, the Total Employee Engagement Platform ‘made in OpenKnowledge’, which enriches the learning experience by creating an ecosystem where learning and engagement reinforce each other.  

TEEP is based on three components, the mix of which creates tangible value in change projects: gamification, storytelling, community.

Let us get to know it better, starting with the words of the acronym TEEP. 

• Total: is the attribute that qualifies total user engagement. An integrated experience, in which training and engagement are not the sum of their parts, but intersect fluidly. Following the Total Experience concept [1], TEEP integrates it into a phygital approach, where learning becomes a fluid experience between the digital and real world, between company and employee. Users enter the platform, participate in challenges that stimulate new behaviours, then return to their work context to put into practice what they have learnt. They then return to the platform to certify their results, sharing their progress with the community through posts visible to all. This mechanism not only reinforces learned behaviours, but also encourages shared learning, where everyone can learn from the experiences of others. The synergy between training and engagement also indirectly supports the customer experience, because each internal experience is also reflected externally in customer relations and in the quality of the products or services offered.  

• Employees: they are the protagonists of the learning experience. It is in their centrality that the community component finds its pillar, because each user learns through the training content, but above all from the shared experiences of other colleagues. 

• Engagement: indicates all-round participation, which takes shape on several story-game levels, i.e. that combination of game-based learning principles with storytelling. In order to activate engagement, an emotional investment is required that drives the individual to want to act, both individually and as a group, within a narrative context that they feel is their own [2] and that finds full expression in the community. On TEEP this translates into the creation of missions to be completed and a content feed enriched by social dynamics to accompany interactions.  

• Platform: is the technological structure that supports all these interactions. It is a digital environment that, thanks to the data returned by the platform, makes it easy to identify areas of greatest resistance or difficulty to change. This enables companies to adapt their approach in a timely and targeted manner, thus facilitating a more effective training process.

Earlier we talked about story-games, referring to the mechanics that stimulate engagement and coopetition (collaboration and competition), lowering natural resistance to change. But why stories?

Stories are at the core of our human experience: as Jonathan Gottschall explains in The Storytelling Instinct, we have a ‘storytelling mind‘ that tells, imagines and shapes memories, helping us to interpret the world and make better decisions, while training our empathy [3]. Stories, therefore, can influence our behaviour and personality, they are powerful in the way they “teach us facts about the real world, influence our moral logic, and mark us with fears and hopes” [4].

Stories shape our behaviour, and TEEP builds on this natural human inclination, using storytelling as a vehicle for training, raising awareness, and educating people to new behaviours. To amplify the impact of stories, TEEP utilises the power of visual languages, making the assimilation of concepts more intuitive through the use of images. This visual enrichment is facilitated by TEEP’s ready-to-play technology, which makes it a ready-to-use platform with a range of pre-defined graphic assets that can be customised to suit the specific needs of each company.

In TEEP, engagement is elevated from a simple complement to a pedagogical driver accompanied by a narrative and gamified set.
Backed by years of research and data [5], it has been observed how increased engagement reduces absenteeism and turnover, improving the sense of belonging and addressing some of the most pressing challenges in corporate training. Those who work in this sector know how disconnected courses often are and how little they are applied in daily practice. 
That is why we went back to basics, to the 70-20-10 model, introduced by the Center for Creative Leadership in the 1980s [6], which stipulates that 70 per cent of learning takes place through direct experience, 20 per cent through coaching and feedback, and 10 per cent through formal training.  
With TEEP, we then decided to go a step further, achieving 100% integrated, where theory, practice and training are combined in one ecosystem, without the user perceiving this tripartition. This is possible thanks to the logic of gamification and the power of storytelling, which make learning fluid and natural, overcoming resistance to change. Let us see how we have applied it. 

• Direct Experience (70%): the aim is to encourage people to get involved. TEEP invites people to experience directly, through practical exercises, live moments such as mini-workshops and simulations, which account for most of the learning. It is the doing that teaches, more than passive learning.

• Simulation (20%): on TEEP, learning takes place through realistic scenarios and immersive narratives that allow you to preview the challenges you might encounter at work. A way to prepare without the risk of real mistakes, with all the benefits of practical experience.

• Microlearning (10%): in an era where time is precious, TEEP integrates microlearning as a tool to consolidate learning. Short training sessions allow crucial information to be absorbed in a short time.  

Model 70:20:10

An international logistics company with 5,000 blue collar employees was faced with the need to promote good HSE (Health, Safety, and Environment) behaviour to reduce occupational risks. With a workforce spread across several countries, the main challenge was to find a solution that could overcome cultural and language barriers and make training not only effective, but also engaging. 

TEEP proved to be the ideal solution, thanks to its distinctive features:

• Culturally adaptable narrative set – our platform is based on storytelling techniques that easily adapt to different national cultures. This makes it possible to create narratives that resonate with each employee, fostering a deep understanding and better adoption of required behaviours. 

• Native multilingual support -TEEP eliminates language barriers by offering training content in multiple languages. This ensures that every employee can learn in his or her native language, facilitating the adoption of safe and virtuous practices, regardless of the country of operation. 

• Playful and interactive approach – thanks to gamification, TEEP makes training interactive and engaging, turning learning into an enjoyable and motivating experience.  

To find out more about this case, read here [7]. Let’s now explore the process that led us to the development of TEEP, a product that was able to evolve and consolidate from an idea.   

To develop a product, an interesting idea is not enough; it is essential to start with a thorough analysis of the market and the company’s capabilities. The aim is to identify the features that make the product competitive, but that are also sustainable over time by those who make the product. 

In our case, the original idea came directly from the above-mentioned project: the first version of TEEP, which acted as an initial prototype, provided us with a solid base from which to expand and further develop the product. Prototyping played a crucial role in our process, allowing us to understand which elements could be replicated or improved, especially in a platform designed to support change, an inherently dynamic concept. The study of functionality, workflows and user experience, using Business Design tools such as the System Map and Offering Map, allowed us to identify strengths and areas for improvement. This provided us with a solid basis for the new product, transforming the prototype into a more impactful and versatile solution.

One point of attention that created a lot of ‘headaches‘ for the design team was to allow the product to be scalable and customisable based on the uniqueness of the companies: the goal is to offer training and involvement to employees, without the technical and functional choices of the platform hindering the achievement of this goal.

Consequently, intensive work was required to formalise the KPIs of successful use of TEEP, in order to select and prioritise the most relevant and impactful features, and to identify a ‘core’ of useful functionalities to achieve the objectives.  The key elements we identified for TEEP are: 

• messaging, commenting and interaction mechanisms: essential to create a real community of users; 

• quiz and game dynamics: these can be structured flexibly, such as a ‘question of the week’ to encourage light participation, or integrated into more structured learning paths that keep attention high, using storytelling that can be selected from several predefined models, making learning engaging; 

• leaderboard: a leaderboard automatically updated based on user actions and interactions; 

• mobile-first development: TEEP can be used at any time and place to enable a seamless, barrier-free learning experience. 

These elements enhance the effectiveness of TEEP, ensuring that each feature contributes to a more impactful and practical learning experience. 

In order to be recognisable in the market, a product must offer unique features that meet specific needs not yet met by others. This capacity for differentiation is what allows it to stand out in a competitive landscape and win the interest of users. In the case of TEEP, we focused on three key elements:

The combination of these elements allows TEEP to tailor learning experiences to the specific needs of each user community, making it a support for change. This is where TEEP makes a difference: with storytelling and gamification, it helps overcome these resistances, emotionally involving employees and making them active participants in the change. In this way, the adoption of new behaviours becomes easier and more lasting. 

The introduction of a new product in a company cannot assume that it will be used automatically: people will only adopt it if they perceive a real benefit in their work. This requires involvement mechanisms that demonstrate the benefits. With TEEP, we focus on dynamics that nurture active community participation, facilitating the natural use of the platform and demonstrating the value it can offer.  

The company implementing it, on the other hand, sees a response to its needs of: 

Spreading values

The organisation conveys a message: it focuses on digital, it chooses people, opening up new and fun spaces for them, it values team spirit, but also individual potential.

Communication and networking

A digital and informal space is made available, which fosters communication within the organisation and shortens the distances (including geographical) between people, promoting peer-to-peer relations.

Training and sharing

TEEP supports training processes, enhancing the exchange and sharing of experiences, stimulating the circulation of best practices.

Promoting behaviour

The entire experience, made up of storytelling, active engagement and social dynamics, is designed to facilitate the internalisation of the issues addressed, to be translated into virtuous behaviour in line with the organisational strategy.

Our TEEP platform opens up new perspectives for the professional development of employees by integrating training and engagement into a single experience. Through gamification and customised storytelling, TEEP goes beyond traditional models, offering more engaging and stimulating training paths.

Through doing, users experience hands-on exercises, interactive workshops and simulations that recreate real challenges, enriched by stories, missions and healthy competition among colleagues. The short learning sessions, accessible from any device, make it possible to acquire skills in a short time, making the training not only effective, but also more inviting and adaptable to the pace of work. 

Ivana Radenovska e Paolo Villa