Enhancing workplace competence acquisition through a persuasive system

The continuous development of individual competences is a fundamental instrument for organizations aiming to achieve long-term competitive advantage. Digital technologies can play a pivotal role in competence acquisition by facilitating the learning process. This paper describes the design, development, and evaluation process of a competence acquisition mobile app incorporating persuasive systems principles. A pilot study involving managers from an IT consulting firm was used to evaluate the artifact. This was followed by a full-scale deployment of the mobile app with management and staff of a supermarket chain. The results indicate that the use of the mobile app effectively improved users’ learning process outcomes, as well as their ability to deploy the new competence. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed.