Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/149047
HRO Today Forum headhunting, can be best served by different gamification systems. "The key is to apply a more relevant gaming model to [each different] type of a sourcing channel," he said. At Pontoon, Beygelman began to explore the applicability of gamification to recruiting at such an early stage that he joked, "We were solving a problem that didn't exist." That nascent exploration revealed a number of qualities that good games should have. According to Beygelman, games must be "interactive, immersive, competitive, engaging, social, and addicting." He particularly emphasized addicting and agreed with Werbach that one of the keys to successful gamification is getting people to come back and keep playing. Beygelman also focused on making gamification efforts easily accessible and convenient for their intended audience. "In the world of recruitment, the mobile device has become very important because it's no longer a cell phone, it's a lifestyle device," he asserted. He cited studies that have found that people are more likely to go back home if they forget their cell phone than if they forget their wallet. "Think about gaming [in terms of] having the right device connected to the right approach," he said. The presentation continued with a demonstration of Pontoon's own quiz-based recruitment game from his smartphone. Beygelman stressed the fact that his company does not reserve gamification efforts for clients; they actually employ the method themselves. However, he said the game is not the final objective for his company. "In the world of recruitment, the game itself is not the end-all beall," he stated. "You have to think about pushing traffic to a destination to then hopefully become a part of a community to gain interest in what you do." While discussing the different forms recruitment games can take, Beygelman said, "Candidates that are any good are tired of filling out 80,000 lines of profile and attaching their CVs, so to be more aligned with social media and how people are now engaging in the world of recruitment, you have to start offering different ways for people to log in." This ease of access and convenience was an ongoing theme of Beygelman's presentation, and he contended that companies must mobilize the resources that social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn offer to eliminate some of the redundant data entry for candidates. "What's really cool is the integration of this to social media," he said, "because at the end of the day…just because you have a Facebook page for a company or just because you have a LinkedIn account, that's not social media. That's just advertising. It's just a different kind of advertising. Social media is moving to a place where it has to be peer-to-peer. Here [in the Pontoon recruitment quiz] I can act on that and share it with all of my Twitter friends." The connection of recruitment gamification efforts to existing networks is essential for creating a real interactive community that will actually enhance recruiting endeavors. But recruitment gamification is not just a way to engage candidates; it also brings a variety of benefits for the recruiting company. "What we did as a recruitment firm… we've actually captured all of that information, one click at a time," he said. When a candidate plays a recruitment game, they have shared a wealth of data and information, including profile and contact information, résumé, game results, and how they navigated to the game. Gamification can eliminate the busy work of data entry for both candidate and company. Beygelman concluded his segment by asking the audience why companies should invest in gamification efforts for recruitment purposes. The answer is twofold. "This is an entirely different way of engaging with candidates," he claimed. "It is not a way to replace other methods of engaging with candidates. It is a new way that, for the time being, others are not exploring." That more varied and comprehensive engagement can be vital for companies as they make hiring decisions. Second, recruitment gamification can differentiate a company from its competitors, which may have an impact on candidates' decisions. "Let's say you work for a company that is not paying the highest rate in the market. You need ways to be able to still attract candidates and get them excited about your organization." Beygelman asserted that gamification is one of the ways a company can set itself apart in the minds of candidates. While these two speakers come from disparate backgrounds, both are strong proponents of the productive potential of gamification. While these efforts may still be in their infancy, especially in the recruiting world, gamification will surely be a buzzword in the near future as more and more companies search for methods to keep their workforce motivated and engaged. JULY/AUGUST 2013 | www.hrotoday.com [53]