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5 Gamification Examples in Recruitment

Gamification

Gamification is a transformative strategy that companies worldwide are leveraging to revolutionize their workplace dynamics. By integrating game elements such as points, badges, and leaderboards, businesses can enhance productivity, foster collaboration, and even revolutionize sales teams. The potential of gamification is vast, and when implemented effectively, it can seamlessly integrate into a company’s recruitment process to attract and retain top talent.

To effectively incorporate gamification into your recruitment model, it’s beneficial to examine how other organizations have successfully utilized this strategy. Observing these examples can help you bypass the trial-and-error phase of policy-making and directly implement strategies that yield tangible results.

It’s crucial to recognize that each company has unique needs and business models, meaning a one-size-fits-all approach may not be effective. However, there are common characteristics of successful gamification in recruitment, such as leaderboards and progress bars, which can be adapted to fit different organizational contexts. By exploring diverse gamification examples, businesses can draw inspiration and tailor these strategies to meet their specific recruitment goals.

What is Gamification in Recruitment?

Gamification in recruitment refers to the application of game elements and game design elements to the hiring process. By incorporating game mechanics into non-game contexts like job applications, assessments, and interviews, companies can create a more engaging and interactive experience for candidates. This approach aims to attract high-quality candidates, enhance the candidate experience, and streamline the hiring process. By making the recruitment process more enjoyable and interactive, gamification can help companies stand out in a competitive job market and appeal to top talent.

Benefits of Gamification in Recruitment

Gamification in recruitment offers a multitude of benefits that can transform the hiring process:

Improved Candidate Engagement: By making the recruitment process more enjoyable and interactive, gamification increases candidate engagement and motivation. Candidates are more likely to stay invested in the process when it feels like play rather than a chore.
Increased Efficiency: Gamification can automate certain aspects of the recruitment process, such as screening and assessment, reducing the time and cost associated with traditional methods. This allows hiring managers to focus on the most promising candidates.
Better Candidate Evaluation: Gamification provides a more objective and unbiased way of evaluating candidates. By using game mechanics to assess skills and abilities, companies can reduce the risk of human bias and increase the accuracy of their assessments.
Enhanced Employer Branding: Gamification helps employers showcase their brand and culture in a unique and appealing way. This can attract top talent and improve the company’s reputation in the job market, making it a more desirable place to work.

Features of gamification game elements

Gamification is a widely applied strategy among businesses, offering a plethora of methods to enhance various processes, including recruitment. By integrating game mechanics and game design elements, companies can create a more engaging and interactive recruitment process that appeals to job seekers. Here are some of the key gamification elements that can be particularly effective in recruitment:

Leaderboards: Incorporating leaderboards can foster a sense of competition among applicants, encouraging them to perform better during assessments or tasks. This not only boosts user engagement but also helps hiring managers identify the best candidates from the applicant pool.
Referrals: Gamifying the referral process can incentivize existing employees to recommend potential candidates for open positions. By offering points or badges for successful referrals, companies can tap into their network to find suitable candidates more efficiently.
Progress Charts: Visual progress bars or charts can guide applicants through the recruitment process, providing clarity and motivation to complete each stage. This approach can enhance the overall user experience and keep candidates engaged throughout.
Rewards: Offering rewards such as points, badges, or even tangible incentives can make the recruitment process more appealing. These rewards can be tied to completing tasks, achieving milestones, or demonstrating specific skills, thus adding a fun way to encourage participation.
Online Recruitment Drives: Hosting online recruitment events with gamification elements can attract a larger audience and create a dynamic environment for job seekers. Activities such as virtual challenges or quizzes can be used to assess candidates’ skills and fit for the company culture. Candidates can also play games during different hiring stages to engage with interactive elements.
Puzzles: Incorporating puzzles or problem-solving tasks can provide insight into a candidate’s critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. This method allows hiring managers to evaluate applicants in a non-traditional setting, which can reveal different strengths compared to standard interviews.

Within each of these categories, some forms are more effective than others. For example, some of the best rewards are points, badges, and levels, as they not only motivate but also provide a sense of achievement. Collaborating with a professional gamification vendor can help companies determine the most suitable gamification strategy for their recruitment process, ensuring it aligns with their specific goals and enhances the overall recruitment experience.

Game Elements in Recruitment

Incorporating game elements into the recruitment process can significantly enhance candidate engagement and motivation. Here are some key game elements that can be used:

Points and Badges: Candidates can earn points and badges for completing tasks, achieving milestones, or demonstrating specific skills. This not only provides a sense of achievement but also encourages continuous participation.
Leaderboards: Ranking candidates on leaderboards based on their performance fosters a sense of competition and motivation. It also allows hiring managers to easily identify top performers.
Challenges and Puzzles: Engaging candidates in challenges and puzzles that test their skills and abilities offers a more interactive way of evaluating them. This can reveal strengths that might not be apparent in traditional interviews.
Virtual Rewards: Offering virtual rewards, such as gift cards or discounts, for completing tasks or achieving milestones adds an extra layer of motivation. These rewards can make the recruitment process more appealing and enjoyable for candidates.

Examples in Recruitment Process

Marriott

The first example of using gamification for recruitment is a game called Marriott. It is a virtual simulation of a hotel manager’s job. You play from their perspective and deal with the hotel’s day-to-day problems, such as doing inventory or training workers. A “do for real” button leads them to a job application.

Making a game can introduce a new consumer group to the idea of working for Marriot. And outside of skill set, they know that the applicants are all genuinely interested in the job. Because while skills are essential, they are useless if people aren’t pushed to use them. This platform helps them recruit enthusiastic applicants, who they can then shortlist according to merit.

Phoenix Software

Phoenix Software took a more head-on approach with their version of gamification by introducing escape rooms. New applicants were locked in rooms with current employees, given clues, and told that they had to escape.

The clues and escape depended on the application of their technical skills, so they were able to shortlist candidates while having fun. This innovative interview process used gamification techniques to assess candidates’ teamwork, problem-solving skills, and adaptability in a creative environment, thus enhancing the traditional hiring method.

Candidates could showcase their skills in a natural environment instead of sitting through interviews and just talking about them. HR can also analyze candidate compatibility more quickly than they would have been able to otherwise.

Uncle Grey

Uncle Grey is a Danish company that uses digital gaming to attract front-end developers. This form of gamification in recruitment is unique because they didn’t create a new game. Instead, they analyzed who their ideal applicant was, where they could find them and used existing platforms to reach out to them.

The company landed a sponsorship deal with Team Fortress 2 players and put up posters for available jobs in the game. A URL led players to a job application. Needless to say, the response was overwhelmingly positive – they found the front-end programmer they were looking for.

Plantsville

In the game Plantsville, players are put in the shoes of a facility manager. And over time, they learn about the role and responsibilities of the post. This helps people figure out if they are suited to the job. It also serves as a means to train prospective employees for the job.

The principle behind this form of gamification is introducing the baseline expectations of a job through a third party. Creating software like this can help a company generate interest in their business, especially from a younger demographic.

Deloitte

After recruitment, new employees have to go through an onboarding process. And Deloitte has shifted this system online. New hires can go through various company policies and procedures on this platform. Since they aren’t dealing with another person, they can repeat certain portions as much as they want without fear of being a burden or taking up someone’s time.

The platform also provides online tours of the workplace and opportunities to foster collaboration between the new hires.

Spinify for Sales Teams

If you’re interested in gamifying your business model, you will need help to be successful. That’s where Spinfiy comes in. We’ve been helping companies for quite a few years now and can quickly identify the best framework for you.

Whether you want to fill jobs or improve candidate quality, we can help. Spinify will personalize every program given to you, and setting it up will only take a few minutes. These programs will then engage, motivate, and attract your ideal applicants.

Implementing Gamification in the Recruitment Process

Implementing gamification in the recruitment process involves several key steps:

Defining the Gamification Strategy: Start by defining your gamification strategy. Determine the game elements and mechanics you will use, the goals and objectives of the game, and the target audience. This will provide a clear roadmap for the implementation process.
Designing the Game: Design the game with a focus on user experience. This includes creating an intuitive user interface, establishing clear rules and mechanics, and setting up rewards and incentives that align with your recruitment goals.
Developing the Game: Develop the technical infrastructure and content for the game. This may involve working with a professional gamification vendor to ensure the game is robust and effective.
Launching the Game: Once the game is ready, launch it to your candidates. Promote the game through various channels, such as job boards and social media, and provide support and feedback to ensure a smooth experience for participants.

Recruitment Gamified

Gamification in recruitment is a powerful tool for attracting high-quality candidates, improving the candidate experience, and increasing the efficiency of the hiring process. By applying game elements and game design elements to the recruitment process, employers can create a more engaging, interactive, and enjoyable experience for candidates. However, implementing gamification in recruitment requires careful planning, design, and development to ensure that it is effective and efficient. By following the steps outlined in this article, companies can successfully integrate gamification into their recruitment strategy and reap the benefits of this innovative approach.