Sareb's challenge
Sareb was created in 2012 by Royal Decree Law to help clean up Spain's financial sector, specifically banks heavily exposed to real estate. Since then it has managed assets worth over €50.78 billion. But it has an unusual feature: an expiration date. By law, all its assets must be sold by 2027, when the company and its staff will shut down.
How do you retain talent in a company that knows when it will close? On top of that, having been set up in a hurry and on a temporary basis, Sareb had no culture of its own, and it wanted to get rid of the idea that “Sareb’s culture is that there is no culture.” Its people had top-level technical expertise (lawyers, economists, real estate experts), and People Management wanted to add soft skills such as leadership, negotiation and time management that would also boost their future employability.
- Retain and motivate talent in a company set to close in 2027
- Build a unique, innovative and attractive corporate culture
- Complement employees' technical expertise with soft skills
- Offer training that adds value and increases future employability
The solution
Sareb gave its employees access to Game Strategies' platform with four serious games, each focused on one or two key skills: Merchants (negotiation and conflict resolution), Pacific (leadership and team management), Triskelion (productivity and time management) and 2100 (customer service). Together, they cover 26 soft skills, from decision-making to effective communication and problem-solving.
Each game includes a simulator where people learn by trial and error, making decisions from the very start, so what they learn quickly carries over to the job. Because the training is online, everyone played whenever and wherever they wanted: at home, on their commute or at work. And the video game format sent a clear message to the workforce: this company bets on innovation and talent, exactly the corporate culture Sareb wanted to build.
The games they played
Sareb on video
In their own words
The employee sees that the company wants to invest in their development, using the best and most innovative tools. And that helps reduce turnover.
Using video games allows employees to easily transfer what they’ve learned to their jobs. They quickly recognize it in their daily work and it helps them change how they do things.
Games leave a lasting impression—even more than classroom training. Employees themselves tell us they remember things better in this fun and unique environment.
The results
While many online courses fizzle out due to dropouts, 98% of Sareb's employees completed this training, 93% would recommend it and 98% find it applicable to their jobs.
The effect showed up across the workforce: turnover fell from 9.9% in 2015 to 8.7% in 2016 and 7.2% in 2017, and the share of engaged employees rose from 60% in 2015 to 77% in November 2017. Sareb also links it to its business results: revenue grew from €3.886 billion in 2016 to €3.923 billion in 2017, and debt cancellation volume rose by 110%, to €4.137 billion.
Every number
- 27%lower staff turnover
- 28%more employee engagement with the company
- 98%completed the training
- 98%find it applicable to their job
- 93%would recommend it
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