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Gamification: recruiting and retaining top talents

The term “gamification”, which has recently become popular, refers to an interactive online design that taps into people’s competitive instincts and uses virtual rewards to motivate them to take action. In today’s world, game mechanics and game elements are increasingly being employed in training, marketing, wellness programs, and recruitment processes. Based on the interview with Accelium Argentina made by Pablo Weiss Auberdiac for iProUP, this article familiarises the reader with innovative candidate assessment processes based on artificial intelligence and gamification.

The CV is no longer sufficient: why will you have to play for a new job, and how will they discover your abilities?

When looking for work, each applicant prepared for the interview, fine-tuned his CV and pondered how to deliver his speech to get the desired position. Today, the picture is different, thanks to the introduction of gamification, which has become a trend in the digital media industry. Its simplest definition is the application of play elements in non-play contexts.

Gamification enables companies to obtain an accurate “picture” of a candidate’s potential performance and productivity by combining psychology, motivation, and design. Furthermore, it encourages previously employed personnel to participate more actively through online and offline strategies.

In this context, artificial intelligence applied in human resources is crucial. According to a World Economic Forum study on the future of work, 50% of employees would need reskilling by 2025, and 40% of basic skills will change in the short term. Experts estimate that 85 million jobs will be eliminated in less than five years due to automation, making way for almost 100 million new jobs, especially related to Artificial Intelligence and Big Data.

According to Claudio Guz, Accelium’s Latin America Regional Director, video games open up new opportunities for companies in the fields of recruitment and training because they enable “to discover, learn, investigate, test, and make the necessary changes to create alternatives.”

“That is why we talk about active learning: through playful activity, we become actors of our own destiny. It motivates us to take action, to movement, to be protagonists. There is no learning if we do not get involved in achieving our objectives and changing the reality that surrounds us,” the executive emphasizes.

Gamification in recruiting: Why and how it works for hiring talent

Miguel Capurro, HR Director of Randstad Argentina, says that gamification is fundamental since life can be perceived as a game, especially by the new generations. In his vision, playful activity is inherent in a human being. It is rational, basic and closely related to experimentation.

“Even if work today is not considered as a game, the way we do it is becoming more and more similar. Its naturalization allows organizations to use this biological process and adapt its management mode, seeking to transform work into something more related to our comforts, simplifying the process, making it more attractive and enhancing the enjoyment,” he claims.

While gamification focuses on non-work tasks, it also focuses on a primary business need and is not always pleasant.

“The main driver is that the simplicity and convenience of the way we do things help companies reduce the negative impacts of low commitment or involuntary rotations,” he says.

Noelia Aguirre, CEO & Founder of the gamification platform Robin (which received investments from Globant), agrees with her colleagues that using this trend has multiple benefits: “You can increase the rate of user satisfaction, engagement to generate spaces of well-being and happiness in people“.

She notes that “it also promotes the use of skills measurement tools with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion, since Robin does not ask anyone where they studied or worked, nor it does evaluate a competence with a question. Simply looking at the person running a game and evaluating their behavior in motion eliminates the possibility of a forgery: it allows to predict behaviors with higher levels of effectiveness”.

The co-founder of the Nawaiam platform, Horacio Llovet says “We started thinking about improving outdated HR processes. Starting from the interviews for personnel selection for certain positions and internal mapping: eliminating subjectivity, transforming them, and aligning ourselves with the new generations. That is why we decided to combine gamification and artificial intelligence, two keys within the project”.

Based on this certainty, Nawaiam assembled a team of human resources professionals, functional analysts, quality assurance (QA) experts, screenwriters, illustrators, and psychologists committed to disrupting the employment sector.

This tool offers a unique experience in the selection process. It provides internal diagnoses with high reliability and objectivity for organizations, driving the digital transformation of human capital.

“Using an algorithm, we managed to transform something with much value into something playful and fun. What stands out in the case of Nawaiam is that it is entirely focused on people’s behaviors. In other cases, cognitive factors, intelligence, knowledge, reasoning or other elements are assessed,” he states.

Guz adds that people’s skills are discovered through games and simulation experiences since “it invites us to leave our comfort zone and go to the learning zone. This is where we can detect new capabilities that we did not imagine. You have to be encouraged to enter so that new things are born.”

According to the executive, the tool is used for personnel selection, headhunting, development of people and teams. It allows us to evaluate cognitive skills, work under pressure, thinking speed, focus, systemic vision, planning, time and resource management, and flexible thinking.

Why is gamification used for recruitment in Argentina?

According to Capurro, local businesses in Argentina that invest in these technologies have more flexible processes and can do the same things in different ways: “If we compare a factory with a linear production system and analyze the processes of a software factory, we will understand why some companies bet on these tools and others do not,” he explains.

He adds that organizations most frequently use it among the wide range of applications for human resources selection processes, evaluation, and training activities because the game is a very effective catalyst for fixing concepts and turning content into an experience.

In the same vein, Robin’s CEO remarks that financial business firms, business services, and technology companies are betting on this model in Argentina. “They understand that it is no longer possible to recruit talent in the same way that it was done 40 years ago. Our global customer portfolio includes Siemens, Sanofi, KPMG, and others”, she says.

Llovet agrees that it is possible to measure a person through their behavior in a video game using machine learning and artificial intelligence: “We work on improving the algorithm, adding functionalities and variants to add information regarding new users of Nawaiam, with more elements of analysis, enhancing the quality of the data”.

The new features will be focused on behavioral trends to enhance talent in joint work with the organization. “Through technological incentives, such as gamification, we strive to accompany a more dynamic and reliable way of human development“, he concludes.

How can companies retain and attract talent in Hungary? 

ITL Group is proud to offer the Accelium method in Hungary, a game-based method that leverages AI technologies, particularly effective when it comes to HR practices, such as recruitment and assessing candidates.

The Accelium method offers the chance to get valuable information about applicants’ thinking and behavioral patterns, work pace, management, and problem-solving style. Gamified assessments are becoming more popular as a recruiting tool for finding the best candidates.

If you want more information on this method, you can contact the Head of our Accelium Growth Center in Hungary, Szilvia Szlavitsek.

Szilvia Szlavitsek
Head of Accelium Hungary | www.accelium.com
ITL Group Head of Corporate training and events | www.itlgroup.hu
Email: sz.szlavitsek@itlgroup.hu
Phone: +36306766337

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