Finished off: how companies use gamification in recruitment
Gamification in recruitment, or, more simply, the use of gaming technology in the process of attracting, responding and passing the selection - always sounds very cool and expensive, but we are used to be skeptical about everything.
So this time we'll figure out how gami cation can have a positive or negative effect on search and selection, well, let's put together different cases and startups (there was a reason for AI!).
Western sources claim that the first attempts, in terms of technology, to gamify the process were from the American army in 1999. Yes, almost 20 years ago it happened. A simulation game used to train and train soldiers. Here are the words of Colonel Kasey Uardinski, a professor at the United States Military Academy, about why America’s Army was created: “you need to use computer gaming technology to provide a virtual soldier experience that would help engage, inform and entertain the audience.” No one expected that the game would grow to such a scale - it is still being cut into it and even came up with a separate term - militainment. The latest version was released in 2013.
')
Since then, the gamification topic in the recruitment was suddenly banged.
But there are still questions: at what stage can the introduction of the game bring maximum benefit? How to make it worth not * arda? How to take into account the geographical factor and not to screw Let's try to look at the cases of different companies and contact with the research.
I played
The average western millennial (ok, teenager) by the year 21 has already gained 10,000 hours. It is foolish not to use it to train young specialists in anything or to promote an employer brand among them.
Maslow's pyramid is not the same
There is a Cisco System study (as early as 2011), which notes that for generation Y, the Internet equates to the presence of oxygen, water, food and a roof over your head.
Throw me a call
Gamification is good when it somehow resonates with the interests of your audience. But at the same time it allows you to interest potential candidates in the area that seems to them completely unattractive.
An excellent example of the ability to attract your target audience - try to follow General Electric's activity lately - they use different viral videos, launch podcasts and engage the audience through different channels, changing the perception of the employer and his mission.
Issue price
Gamification is not necessarily very expensive and pathetic. Such technologies (with a smaller scale than that of the US Army) may not be very expensive, besides, you can use the services of different platforms. It is also quite possible to try to introduce gamification gradually at no cost: share case studies with the audience and encourage those who successfully cope.
The difficulty is in what needs to be done so that the user is involved.
Gamification is still not a story about games. This is a story about interest and creative approach that helps you to test the skills of candidates, as well as influence the perception of the employer's brand. So we would call the first major school in a bold way - the inability to set goals and understand the tasks of gamification. As well as the desire to call gamification of any kind of testik. No, it's all wrong!
1. Gamification may be needed to test a candidate’s skills. These are complex tasks, confused assessment tests.
2. Gamification may be needed to engage in the selection process and strengthen the brand of the employer.
And if the first is already tightly connected with different technologies like artificial intelligence ( here is a study on such tools) and large expenditures, as well as the need to approach the issue scientifically, then the creative approach to selection is available to all companies and does not require huge funds.
Another point is not in favor of gamification: it’s difficult to measure ROI. Generally with games and analytics there are separate questions. The distribution of funds and efforts to create such a stage in the selection should be meaningful, laid out on the shelves and you and the team should understand very precisely: WHY YOU NEED IT.
We will give you examples that are more related to the creative approach to the use of games in recruitment. It is easier and more affordable now in terms of technology in Russia and we have found specific cases. It's hard to talk about the introduction of complex tools based on AI, but let's talk about this a little further.
Linkedin as the simplest example
Now (maybe) we will surprise you - you also participate in gamification. If you are registered on LinkedIn. And if you think that the element of the game is an attempt to bypass the lock, then no! On Linkedin, you are dialing contacts, conditionally moving through the levels. That is, the more your “network”, the steeper you are in the system.
Does it work?
Yes, because now it’s fashionable and cool to have a bunch of friends on FB and Linkedin. It is like a new way to measure human influence. However, quite strange.
Goodby Silverstein & Partners in search of a secretary
One of the most interesting cases in our memory is work4rich from Goodby Silverstein & Partners. In general, I was looking for a company to my assistant boss.
And they created a whole landing with absolutely foolish strange tasks and games for decoding, for example, the call of a person who speaks very quickly. And it was also necessary to correctly arrange meetings with different characters. No sense and logic almost.
15,000 people passed the test (!), Then they showed a resume of candidates to a psychiatrist - yes, everything in this recruiting campaign was weird - and she selected the strongest, stress-resistant and very beautiful girl Grace, who still works as an assistant manager. And if it seems to you that this is a stupid story, then think about the fact that Goodby Silverstein & Partners has suddenly passed through a noisy wave all over the world. Honor their brand of employer and praise!
Did it work?
Of course! Obviously, manpower and funds were spent on the development of the landing page, as well as on the resume analysis, but how many people learned about the company and what kind of crazy guys work there. The second job response from Goodby Silverstein & Partners is without a doubt.
Uber as Big Brother
Of course, it’s also worth mentioning how products learn to implement gamification inside their own functionality.
And then the word is given Uber. In 2016, they launched a testing service for potential candidates within the application. You sit in a taxi, and here your smartphone offers to solve three problems in three minutes. If everything works out, then a link to the vacancy immediately appears. Assignments appear only in cities where there are many it-companies. Uber uses route data and offers to play only to those who often have offices, whose employees are mainly engaged in the development. The game was available only in Seattle, Denver, Austin, Boston, Portland - these are really cities in the USA, where the concentration of it-specialists is high.
Did it work?
Not to say that the game was received with enthusiasm. First, it’s not very cool to feel that your trips are analyzed with such regularity and thoroughness. Big brother and all that. Secondly, as one of the participants in this experiment said: “I’m not sure that taking the sixty-second Uber tests with a driver who is trying to talk to you about something all the time is a good idea.” And he is right.
Pit while young
Another case that you definitely need to mention is Saatchi & Saatchi and their game for mobile devices. The company developed an application with which you can send your idea: record or take a picture. And get feedback. So they were looking for a new creative director who would offer something completely unique to potential colleagues.
Did it work?
Yes, the largest publications wrote about the campaign. Noise is already a success for the HR brand. Well, they successfully closed the position.
Spy on spy
“Okay,” you think, “these are all big companies with lots of money!”
But it is not. Here's GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) in the UK, which is the same as the NSA in the USA or the FSB with us, launched a whole campaign to search for young talents able to protect England from cyber attacks. Difficult puzzle for lovers of brains, system and code - only 1% of the candidates have solved their task. And there were 400,000 candidates. Since then, GCHQ has been looking only for those whose talents are opening up in action. Only secret.
Did it work?
Well reflected in loyalty. Here, of course, we would not speak so boldly about the brand of the employer, but really the practice of using such methods to attract specialists even within the framework of state structures is wonderful.
For puzzle lovers. Algorithmic.
Google Code Jam is a good example. Those who want to try their hand, and still get a place in Google, are offered to go through several rounds, solving algorithmic puzzles. It sounds difficult, but in fact it is even more difficult. A huge number of participants, different technologies and languages, competition in the number of points gained, in general, this gamification and Central Asia is ideal. IBM and Miscrosoft also have similar matches.
Does it work?
Yes. But, of course, this is a special niche - large and cool companies can afford to involve potential candidates in solving such problems, as well as in working on different cases. Now it is fashionable, as well as hakatons.
Gordon Ramsay is not on you
We have one more case - My Marriot Game. This is a game that could be played directly on Marriot's Facebook. Now it is already closed, so we can only share a screenshot:
It was necessary to manage the work of the kitchen, monitor the mood of the staff, arrange the items in the kitchen. In general, feel in the shoes of this employee. The game looks simple, no frills and no particularly beautiful interface. But for more than 5 years she has been cited as an example of steep gamification in recruitment. Especially in terms of the brand.
Does it work?
Works and performs its function. Surely Marriot still very well collected data about the players. We didn’t find exact figures about how many people settled down thanks to the game, but since they still talk about it so much, we’ll put five Marriot :)
Share your task
There are also case platforms like Hackertrail , a resource where employers and candidates find each other. The candidate responds to the position, solves some case, for example, by hacking the site (lol!). And now he is sitting at the interview in the company of his dreams and he is a good fellow. The platform is the simplest. And even as such, it is not needed - you can lay out the tasks you have for potential candidates anywhere. On your career page or even on social networks. You only need to come up with a case.
Does it work?
Yes. And does not require any special costs. There are various resources on which you can put some task for your potential candidates. The minimum element of gamification, and already increase the involvement of the audience. Bingo.
Knack is an application in which you (if you are a candidate) first answer the simplest questions, and then you are offered to install some kind of game. Then all your indicators of activity, dexterity, and so on are analyzed.
Employers are encouraged to use this site for any purpose at all: career counseling, recruitment, staff involvement, teamwork. Companies only need to register and select (or create games) that match their needs.
Such a platform - Arctic Shores . Game-Based Assessments - again a few games in which you can play, so that your skills can be evaluated and called for somewhere.
We also once talked about Pymetrics and Pomello , services that know exactly which position will suit the candidate and in which company. If you are a candidate, you can get access to the service for free and start playing - using simple puzzles and tasks, the service assesses motivation, ability to hold attention and suggests which position suits the candidate most.
Pomello - companies on this platform offer candidates to take tests and take part in games (for 5-10 minutes), which make it possible to understand how compatible they are with the company-employer. All the “exercises”, as in Pymetrics, are formed on the basis of research conducted specifically in each company, based on the study of the peculiarities of the team’s work.
And does it work?
Here you need to write AI / AI / Artificial Intelligence many times and in bold. And underline three times. How it is done on the landing pages of all these startups.
But so far all the tools that we tried to click and evaluate are not very similar to real AI testing platforms. In addition, it is impossible to assess whether they are working and bringing sensible results (there are rumors that for the time being this is just marketing and there is nothing direct WOW there).
Especially in Russia, where the ATS market is only upholding its position in the HR technology market, it’s too early to talk about such tools. Difficult and really expensive gamification platforms are just beginning to be introduced by fashionable western companies that are ready for experiments and shake up the budget.
Already now, simulation-based assessments are gradually appearing in the west. And here we are talking about virtual reality, wearable technologies, technologies that analyze movements and body language - this is all and much more.
Companies that come up with creative ways to attract and select candidates receive not just good specialists, they strengthen the employer's brand, increase loyalty, but simply bring pleasure to the candidates.
And in this process, in general, artificial intelligence is not always needed at all (although we are waiting for breakthrough tools, what can we do here!). You can start with a non-trivial technological approach to the selection. How did the company, which we described above.
So this time we'll figure out how gami cation can have a positive or negative effect on search and selection, well, let's put together different cases and startups (there was a reason for AI!).
Western sources claim that the first attempts, in terms of technology, to gamify the process were from the American army in 1999. Yes, almost 20 years ago it happened. A simulation game used to train and train soldiers. Here are the words of Colonel Kasey Uardinski, a professor at the United States Military Academy, about why America’s Army was created: “you need to use computer gaming technology to provide a virtual soldier experience that would help engage, inform and entertain the audience.” No one expected that the game would grow to such a scale - it is still being cut into it and even came up with a separate term - militainment. The latest version was released in 2013.
')
Since then, the gamification topic in the recruitment was suddenly banged.
But there are still questions: at what stage can the introduction of the game bring maximum benefit? How to make it worth not * arda? How to take into account the geographical factor and not to screw Let's try to look at the cases of different companies and contact with the research.
// Why is gamification good?
I played
The average western millennial (ok, teenager) by the year 21 has already gained 10,000 hours. It is foolish not to use it to train young specialists in anything or to promote an employer brand among them.
Maslow's pyramid is not the same
There is a Cisco System study (as early as 2011), which notes that for generation Y, the Internet equates to the presence of oxygen, water, food and a roof over your head.
Throw me a call
Gamification is good when it somehow resonates with the interests of your audience. But at the same time it allows you to interest potential candidates in the area that seems to them completely unattractive.
An excellent example of the ability to attract your target audience - try to follow General Electric's activity lately - they use different viral videos, launch podcasts and engage the audience through different channels, changing the perception of the employer and his mission.
Issue price
Gamification is not necessarily very expensive and pathetic. Such technologies (with a smaller scale than that of the US Army) may not be very expensive, besides, you can use the services of different platforms. It is also quite possible to try to introduce gamification gradually at no cost: share case studies with the audience and encourage those who successfully cope.
// And why this may not work in some cases?
The difficulty is in what needs to be done so that the user is involved.
Gamification is still not a story about games. This is a story about interest and creative approach that helps you to test the skills of candidates, as well as influence the perception of the employer's brand. So we would call the first major school in a bold way - the inability to set goals and understand the tasks of gamification. As well as the desire to call gamification of any kind of testik. No, it's all wrong!
1. Gamification may be needed to test a candidate’s skills. These are complex tasks, confused assessment tests.
2. Gamification may be needed to engage in the selection process and strengthen the brand of the employer.
And if the first is already tightly connected with different technologies like artificial intelligence ( here is a study on such tools) and large expenditures, as well as the need to approach the issue scientifically, then the creative approach to selection is available to all companies and does not require huge funds.
Another point is not in favor of gamification: it’s difficult to measure ROI. Generally with games and analytics there are separate questions. The distribution of funds and efforts to create such a stage in the selection should be meaningful, laid out on the shelves and you and the team should understand very precisely: WHY YOU NEED IT.
// Ok, what cases will you give as examples?
We will give you examples that are more related to the creative approach to the use of games in recruitment. It is easier and more affordable now in terms of technology in Russia and we have found specific cases. It's hard to talk about the introduction of complex tools based on AI, but let's talk about this a little further.
Linkedin as the simplest example
Now (maybe) we will surprise you - you also participate in gamification. If you are registered on LinkedIn. And if you think that the element of the game is an attempt to bypass the lock, then no! On Linkedin, you are dialing contacts, conditionally moving through the levels. That is, the more your “network”, the steeper you are in the system.
Does it work?
Yes, because now it’s fashionable and cool to have a bunch of friends on FB and Linkedin. It is like a new way to measure human influence. However, quite strange.
Goodby Silverstein & Partners in search of a secretary
One of the most interesting cases in our memory is work4rich from Goodby Silverstein & Partners. In general, I was looking for a company to my assistant boss.
And they created a whole landing with absolutely foolish strange tasks and games for decoding, for example, the call of a person who speaks very quickly. And it was also necessary to correctly arrange meetings with different characters. No sense and logic almost.
15,000 people passed the test (!), Then they showed a resume of candidates to a psychiatrist - yes, everything in this recruiting campaign was weird - and she selected the strongest, stress-resistant and very beautiful girl Grace, who still works as an assistant manager. And if it seems to you that this is a stupid story, then think about the fact that Goodby Silverstein & Partners has suddenly passed through a noisy wave all over the world. Honor their brand of employer and praise!
Did it work?
Of course! Obviously, manpower and funds were spent on the development of the landing page, as well as on the resume analysis, but how many people learned about the company and what kind of crazy guys work there. The second job response from Goodby Silverstein & Partners is without a doubt.
Uber as Big Brother
Of course, it’s also worth mentioning how products learn to implement gamification inside their own functionality.
And then the word is given Uber. In 2016, they launched a testing service for potential candidates within the application. You sit in a taxi, and here your smartphone offers to solve three problems in three minutes. If everything works out, then a link to the vacancy immediately appears. Assignments appear only in cities where there are many it-companies. Uber uses route data and offers to play only to those who often have offices, whose employees are mainly engaged in the development. The game was available only in Seattle, Denver, Austin, Boston, Portland - these are really cities in the USA, where the concentration of it-specialists is high.
Did it work?
Not to say that the game was received with enthusiasm. First, it’s not very cool to feel that your trips are analyzed with such regularity and thoroughness. Big brother and all that. Secondly, as one of the participants in this experiment said: “I’m not sure that taking the sixty-second Uber tests with a driver who is trying to talk to you about something all the time is a good idea.” And he is right.
Pit while young
Another case that you definitely need to mention is Saatchi & Saatchi and their game for mobile devices. The company developed an application with which you can send your idea: record or take a picture. And get feedback. So they were looking for a new creative director who would offer something completely unique to potential colleagues.
Did it work?
Yes, the largest publications wrote about the campaign. Noise is already a success for the HR brand. Well, they successfully closed the position.
Spy on spy
“Okay,” you think, “these are all big companies with lots of money!”
But it is not. Here's GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) in the UK, which is the same as the NSA in the USA or the FSB with us, launched a whole campaign to search for young talents able to protect England from cyber attacks. Difficult puzzle for lovers of brains, system and code - only 1% of the candidates have solved their task. And there were 400,000 candidates. Since then, GCHQ has been looking only for those whose talents are opening up in action. Only secret.
Did it work?
Well reflected in loyalty. Here, of course, we would not speak so boldly about the brand of the employer, but really the practice of using such methods to attract specialists even within the framework of state structures is wonderful.
For puzzle lovers. Algorithmic.
Google Code Jam is a good example. Those who want to try their hand, and still get a place in Google, are offered to go through several rounds, solving algorithmic puzzles. It sounds difficult, but in fact it is even more difficult. A huge number of participants, different technologies and languages, competition in the number of points gained, in general, this gamification and Central Asia is ideal. IBM and Miscrosoft also have similar matches.
Does it work?
Yes. But, of course, this is a special niche - large and cool companies can afford to involve potential candidates in solving such problems, as well as in working on different cases. Now it is fashionable, as well as hakatons.
Gordon Ramsay is not on you
We have one more case - My Marriot Game. This is a game that could be played directly on Marriot's Facebook. Now it is already closed, so we can only share a screenshot:
It was necessary to manage the work of the kitchen, monitor the mood of the staff, arrange the items in the kitchen. In general, feel in the shoes of this employee. The game looks simple, no frills and no particularly beautiful interface. But for more than 5 years she has been cited as an example of steep gamification in recruitment. Especially in terms of the brand.
Does it work?
Works and performs its function. Surely Marriot still very well collected data about the players. We didn’t find exact figures about how many people settled down thanks to the game, but since they still talk about it so much, we’ll put five Marriot :)
Share your task
There are also case platforms like Hackertrail , a resource where employers and candidates find each other. The candidate responds to the position, solves some case, for example, by hacking the site (lol!). And now he is sitting at the interview in the company of his dreams and he is a good fellow. The platform is the simplest. And even as such, it is not needed - you can lay out the tasks you have for potential candidates anywhere. On your career page or even on social networks. You only need to come up with a case.
Does it work?
Yes. And does not require any special costs. There are various resources on which you can put some task for your potential candidates. The minimum element of gamification, and already increase the involvement of the audience. Bingo.
// It is clear that everyone is so great! And now tell us about startups in the field of recruitment gamification.
Knack is an application in which you (if you are a candidate) first answer the simplest questions, and then you are offered to install some kind of game. Then all your indicators of activity, dexterity, and so on are analyzed.
Employers are encouraged to use this site for any purpose at all: career counseling, recruitment, staff involvement, teamwork. Companies only need to register and select (or create games) that match their needs.
Such a platform - Arctic Shores . Game-Based Assessments - again a few games in which you can play, so that your skills can be evaluated and called for somewhere.
We also once talked about Pymetrics and Pomello , services that know exactly which position will suit the candidate and in which company. If you are a candidate, you can get access to the service for free and start playing - using simple puzzles and tasks, the service assesses motivation, ability to hold attention and suggests which position suits the candidate most.
Pomello - companies on this platform offer candidates to take tests and take part in games (for 5-10 minutes), which make it possible to understand how compatible they are with the company-employer. All the “exercises”, as in Pymetrics, are formed on the basis of research conducted specifically in each company, based on the study of the peculiarities of the team’s work.
And does it work?
Here you need to write AI / AI / Artificial Intelligence many times and in bold. And underline three times. How it is done on the landing pages of all these startups.
But so far all the tools that we tried to click and evaluate are not very similar to real AI testing platforms. In addition, it is impossible to assess whether they are working and bringing sensible results (there are rumors that for the time being this is just marketing and there is nothing direct WOW there).
Especially in Russia, where the ATS market is only upholding its position in the HR technology market, it’s too early to talk about such tools. Difficult and really expensive gamification platforms are just beginning to be introduced by fashionable western companies that are ready for experiments and shake up the budget.
Already now, simulation-based assessments are gradually appearing in the west. And here we are talking about virtual reality, wearable technologies, technologies that analyze movements and body language - this is all and much more.
// What conclusion did we come to?
Companies that come up with creative ways to attract and select candidates receive not just good specialists, they strengthen the employer's brand, increase loyalty, but simply bring pleasure to the candidates.
And in this process, in general, artificial intelligence is not always needed at all (although we are waiting for breakthrough tools, what can we do here!). You can start with a non-trivial technological approach to the selection. How did the company, which we described above.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/330280/
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