Gamification – The Next Phase of Recruitment In India

Aruna, has an experience of 3 years in the IT industry. Recently she attended an interview with a multinational company. As a part of the interview process, she was asked to play an online game which had 6 levels. Upon completion of all the levels, Aruna was directed to the hiring manager and Voila! After a general discussion, she was offered the job of her dreams. How cool does it sound!

Recruitment, these days, has evolved tremendously. With the advent of technology in some of its activities, recruitment has never been the same before. One of the recent concepts that HR professionals discuss is – GAMIFICATION. It is in fact, now, the latest buzzword among HR professionals.

What is meant by GAMIFICATION?

A lot of companies are now resorting to gamification because of its ability to orchestrate multiple scenarios that benefit users in tremendous ways. The gamification concept makes use of game designs, theory and mechanics to engage and motivate individuals to achieve their common objectives. Companies employ gamification to intensify consumer interest and foster engagement in the product/service they buy.

Recently, the recruitment industry has begun to gamify the hiring process by introducing unique gaming concepts to engage talent and derive the best outcome. This new phenomenon in the hiring industry has given rise to a new terminology called “recrutainment” because it entails both entertainment through games and recruitment.

Thus, recruitment, now, is no longer a manual interactive process instead more of it has been transformed into a digital practice. Gamification of recruitment has offered recruiters a new avenue to evaluate, judge and analyse outcomes in a jiffy.

How does GAMIFICATION help in recruitment?

To understand the need of gamification in recruitment, Han Digital talent researchers undertook a study on attrition analysis.

In early 2016, a mid-level enterprise was anxious about the routine employee exits from the company. They approached Han Digital and requested us to analyse their recruitment model including employee hiring and attrition.

We noticed the company lacked the concept of employee engagement as a result of which at least 3 employees left the organisation every month. The employees who left were having an experience in the desired domain for 1 or 2 years and were mostly millenials.

Upon analysing the recruitment model of this company, we noticed they included 6 rounds of interviews which were not only tedious but also failed to recognise the intent of candidates.

Towards the end of this one-year study, we submitted our inferences along with recommendations:

• The internal recruitment team failed to understand the long-term commitment of candidate onboarding and engagement.
• The recruitment process was lengthy and tedious involving multiple levels of discussions and interviews with various stakeholders.
• By gamifying the recruitment process, recruiters would be able to source and hire candidates with improved matrices.

This is just one company that is dealing with issues related to employee reneging and resignations, there are numerous organisations which face similar issues. As we all know, hiring reliable talent is a complex task because it is a science as well an art. It’s not plain interaction with candidates and then giving them an offer. Furthermore, recruiters are burdened to rework on their strategies to make it more robust and laborious just like any science; artistic, innovative, candidate-driven and highly creative like any art. They are required to find the best talent as they are meant to keep pace with other competing businesses.

Gamification of the recruitment process in one such way to improve efficiency as it helps recruiters to:

Screening the best talent through job portals is like finding a needle in a haystack. Many a times, novice recruiters find it a challenge to match the role on offer and the core competencies of potential job-applicants.

Implementing gamification modules can help recruiters solve this problem in a flash. Here, the recruiters are required to take the assistance of software developers to design games in such a manner in which the required competencies are verified, tested and examined in various levels of process. As the game is designed to be a highly engaging activity, job applicants aren’t in a position to manipulate outcomes. Moreover, across various levels of the game, applicants get a fair idea about the role and its relevance. Through this method, the recruiter and candidate get to know and experience each other in contrast to the traditional recruitment methods, thus, a higher chance of finding the right talent.

Recruitment is not a one-time process but an on-going activity. The recruiters keep juggling between different tasks and candidates. Recruiters cannot move on to the next stage of hiring until they complete what is pending. At times, most assignments are at different stages where recruiters need to keep a close watch before the final execution. As a consequence, the ultimate success of hiring depends on a recruiter’s ability to multi-task, and bring out the best through their constant efforts and determination.

Gamifying the recruitment process enables a recruiter to multi-task by organising their routine tasks, eliminating manual work and engaging them to source the best candidate for the job. Besides, gamification helps in managing the recruitment team by tracking their progress and performance on regular intervals. It also builds team spirit by motivating recruiters to work in a team and source quality profiles.

Gamification has the ability to convert any tedious task into seemingly simple ones. Gaming experts have devised games and tools that alleviate common problems recruiters face. Generally, the recruitment process includes various stages in which every recruiter meticulously works to accomplish the given task. It involves enhanced communication and pre-planning at every level before execution. Through gamification, the complex recruitment activity is either omitted or clubbed into one thereby making the process time efficient and easy to execute. The automated steps are able to engage employees as well as candidates to manage their outcomes.

Similarly, a customised gamified version of recruitment activity can help recruiters to evaluate complex manual tasks such as behavioural assessment, temperament, cultural fit, motivational levels and attitude towards job.

Numerous organisations across the world have implemented these methods and have managed to find productive solutions to their current recruitment models. Gamification of recruitment activities assists hiring professionals to screen, filter and process the best applications through process. Moreover, a gamified recruitment module has the ability to manage candidates efficiently, thereby making their experience at the venue respectful and dignified.

Gamification, in India, is an unexplored territory and is still in the pipeline of being introduced to the recruitment industry. However, this concept is limited to a very small percentage of MNCs across India. It is slowly gaining popularity and no doubt in the coming years, gamification will be an essential in the Indian recruitment industry.