Walmart is allowing its workers to play a new virtual simulation video game on the clock — and helping them become better employees by doing so.
The nation’s largest employer is rolling out a new mobile training game to workers at stores across the country next month. The app, called Spark City, will be incorporated into the curriculum at Walmart’s 200 academy stores — locations where front line supervisors and managers receive two to six weeks of training before hitting the sales floor.
Daniel Shepherd, who is responsible for content creation for the Walmart Academies, says the app will educate department managers — and those who may be interested in becoming a supervisor — about daily responsibilities.
“It is a simulation-based game that puts the player in the shoes of the department manager,” he says. “We use Spark City to reinforce and connect a lot of different things together into one long routine. It’s an environment they can make mistakes in.”
Employees play Spark City on company iPads during training sessions, Shepherd says. When workers open the app, they create an avatar and start their in-game role as a manager of the Walmart dry grocery department. Players receive performance scores based on inventory, customer satisfaction and sales. Shepherd says associates also are scored based on how clean, fast and friendly they are to customers while completing tasks.
“They will have to conduct price changes — increase and decrease our price based on different factors. [And they will have to] interact with customers,” he says.
Shepherd says using the app as a training method is a natural step for the company because workers are already used to using smartphones. Spark City, though, won’t be a replacement for hands-on training, he adds.
Employers of all sizes are using digital technology to train employees and assist them with career advancement. For example, LinkedIn, Airbnb and Lyft all offer an
The release of Spark City is Walmart’s latest move in a shift toward mobile technology. In November, the retailer
Spark City is free and publicly available to download on the App Store and Google Play stores. So far, the game has been downloaded more than 104,000 times by both Walmart associates and the general public, Shepherd says. The company says it will launch department-specific, cash register and store management levels of Spark City in the future.
Shepherd says he thinks the game will make training more fun and personable for employees. The company is looking for more innovative ways to advance training, an area that was previously lagging, he adds.
“As a company, we’ve been trying to get out on the cutting edge of a lot of different things — training being one,” he says.
