Interviews and assessments are notoriously nerve-inducing processes, particularly in the ultra-competitive graduate market. Is there a way to engage grads and also reduce the intimidation factor? Gamification might be the key, as Chloe Taylor reports.
Interviews and assessments are notoriously nerve-inducing processes, particularly in the ultra-competitive graduate market. Is there a way to engage grads and also reduce the intimidation factor? Gamification might be the key, as Chloe Taylor reports.
We all remember the thrill of playing games as children. Games encouraged us to use our minds and imaginations, from climbing trees to pretending to be ‘grown-ups’. While Millennials will have grown up playing games on consoles and computers, children of every generation have shared the traditional gameplay of toys and puzzles. And now, gamification – which takes elements of those games we played as kids – has worked its way into the workplace.
Not surprisingly, given the Millennial predilection for electronic gameplay, graduate recruitment is ripe for smart use of gamification.
Revelian’s new applicant assessment tool is Australia’s first gamified recruitment assessment that combines gamification with analytics, data, predictive psychometric models and cloud technologies.
The game, ‘Theme Park Hero’, is designed to measure candidate ability and enhance brand reputation while streamlining the recruitment process and increasing efficiency for businesses.
“Theme Park Hero is revolutionizing psychometric testing,” says Salih Mujcic, project manager at Revelian. “It’s a gamebased assessment. Every aspect of it includesgame thinking and game design to help engage test-takers in a deep and immersive activity.”
The game’s features accurately measure candidate ability including agility, cognitive speed, attention span, spatial aptitude and numerical reasoning.
Gamification explained
“Gamification is a process of embedding game mechanics into non-gaming experiences to engage users,” says Mujcic. “It's been highly successful in a myriad of different industries and environments. From performance management, achievement and recognition programs to simple mundane tasks such as filling out forms. Businesses also use it to retain users and engage them at a deeper level. Think about checking into your favourite restaurant many times and then unlocking a special deal or discount. Using gamification can have real world benefits and impacts on the bottom line.”
#pb#
Candidate experience + psychometric rigour
Cherie Curtis, head of psychology at Revelian, says this is more than just harmless gameplay. “The key difference here is we’ve actually been able to maintain psychometric rigour while enhancing the candidate’s experience,” she explains. “This allows them to enjoy the experience rather than be intimidated by it, and when people are comfortable we get a better evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses.
People tend to get lost in the gameplay, so we get a pure insight into the individual.” She adds that traditional assessments tend to rely on right and wrong or clear yes or no choices, whereas Theme Park Hero is different in the way it captures data.
“The system still has yes or no answers, but the playing experience gives us tens of thousands of pieces of data,” Curtis says. “There are additional angles and evaluations which extend beyond just the right or wrong answer.
Theme Park Hero detects strategy and patterns in response, which is far more widely applicable and transferable from a cultural perspective.”
“We’re changing the way testing is done,” Mujcic adds. “Typically it’s an anxiety provoking experience. The word ‘test’ can bring up a lot of negative emotions, whereas when you say ‘game’ it usually means a fun experience. We’ve used the thinking and scientific approach behind traditional tests and blended it with game design to offer something fresh and unique.”
How it works: The process
Revelian has also created a proprietary analytics engine to be able to ingest and analyse all of this data, and in real time. “On the surface it simply looks like a game, but under the hood there’s a serious technology layer that helps provide employers with meaningful information about applicants,” says Mujcic.
“Apart from its ability to find the most suitable candidate, one of the key benefits of the game is brand alignment,” Curtis says.
“This helps companies to be perceived as an employer of choice. Companies spend a considerable amount on recruitment process as a whole, and tend to invest a lot in sophisticated technology with applicant tracking systems. However, traditional assessments are generally not aligned with company brands. This gamification system provides an assessment which is no longer disconnected from the core brand that companies are trying to present.”
But is there anything that HR managers can use alongside the game to enhance it? “Recruitment and selection is an exercise of arriving at confident decisions or outcomes,” Mujcic tells HRD.
“We would never recommend that any HR manager relies on just a single piece of data or just an assessment to make a hiring decision.
They should use their expertise, interviews, and resumés –everything they can to find out about the candidate to make a much more confident decision. It’s all about reducing error in judgment, and the more information we have the more confident we can be that we’ve made the right decision. Game-based assessments form only a part of the decision making process.”
Leading Australian people analytics company, Revelian, has launched a world-first game-based psychometric assessment. Theme Park Hero combines gamification with analytics, big data, predictive psychometric models and cloud technologies to accurately measure aspects of candidate ability including mental agility, cognitive speed, attention, spatial aptitude and numerical reasoning. Click here for more information
We all remember the thrill of playing games as children. Games encouraged us to use our minds and imaginations, from climbing trees to pretending to be ‘grown-ups’. While Millennials will have grown up playing games on consoles and computers, children of every generation have shared the traditional gameplay of toys and puzzles. And now, gamification – which takes elements of those games we played as kids – has worked its way into the workplace.
Not surprisingly, given the Millennial predilection for electronic gameplay, graduate recruitment is ripe for smart use of gamification.
Revelian’s new applicant assessment tool is Australia’s first gamified recruitment assessment that combines gamification with analytics, data, predictive psychometric models and cloud technologies.
The game, ‘Theme Park Hero’, is designed to measure candidate ability and enhance brand reputation while streamlining the recruitment process and increasing efficiency for businesses.
“Theme Park Hero is revolutionizing psychometric testing,” says Salih Mujcic, project manager at Revelian. “It’s a gamebased assessment. Every aspect of it includesgame thinking and game design to help engage test-takers in a deep and immersive activity.”
The game’s features accurately measure candidate ability including agility, cognitive speed, attention span, spatial aptitude and numerical reasoning.
Gamification explained
“Gamification is a process of embedding game mechanics into non-gaming experiences to engage users,” says Mujcic. “It's been highly successful in a myriad of different industries and environments. From performance management, achievement and recognition programs to simple mundane tasks such as filling out forms. Businesses also use it to retain users and engage them at a deeper level. Think about checking into your favourite restaurant many times and then unlocking a special deal or discount. Using gamification can have real world benefits and impacts on the bottom line.”
#pb#
Candidate experience + psychometric rigour
Cherie Curtis, head of psychology at Revelian, says this is more than just harmless gameplay. “The key difference here is we’ve actually been able to maintain psychometric rigour while enhancing the candidate’s experience,” she explains. “This allows them to enjoy the experience rather than be intimidated by it, and when people are comfortable we get a better evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses.
People tend to get lost in the gameplay, so we get a pure insight into the individual.” She adds that traditional assessments tend to rely on right and wrong or clear yes or no choices, whereas Theme Park Hero is different in the way it captures data.
“The system still has yes or no answers, but the playing experience gives us tens of thousands of pieces of data,” Curtis says. “There are additional angles and evaluations which extend beyond just the right or wrong answer.
Theme Park Hero detects strategy and patterns in response, which is far more widely applicable and transferable from a cultural perspective.”
“We’re changing the way testing is done,” Mujcic adds. “Typically it’s an anxiety provoking experience. The word ‘test’ can bring up a lot of negative emotions, whereas when you say ‘game’ it usually means a fun experience. We’ve used the thinking and scientific approach behind traditional tests and blended it with game design to offer something fresh and unique.”
How it works: The process
- Candidates have 10 minutes to complete the game, and unlike traditional assessments, Theme Park Hero analyses more than the answers given, providing a deeper insight into users’ strengths and abilities.
- Following the completion of the game – which consists of four sub-games – an overall ‘hero’ score is provided for each candidate. This is calculated by a weighted combination of metrics that encompass candidate responses and general game play across each of the four short activities.
- Employers are provided with a percentile rank for the individual in a report. It allows employers to quickly identify top talent.
Revelian has also created a proprietary analytics engine to be able to ingest and analyse all of this data, and in real time. “On the surface it simply looks like a game, but under the hood there’s a serious technology layer that helps provide employers with meaningful information about applicants,” says Mujcic.
“Apart from its ability to find the most suitable candidate, one of the key benefits of the game is brand alignment,” Curtis says.
“This helps companies to be perceived as an employer of choice. Companies spend a considerable amount on recruitment process as a whole, and tend to invest a lot in sophisticated technology with applicant tracking systems. However, traditional assessments are generally not aligned with company brands. This gamification system provides an assessment which is no longer disconnected from the core brand that companies are trying to present.”
But is there anything that HR managers can use alongside the game to enhance it? “Recruitment and selection is an exercise of arriving at confident decisions or outcomes,” Mujcic tells HRD.
“We would never recommend that any HR manager relies on just a single piece of data or just an assessment to make a hiring decision.
They should use their expertise, interviews, and resumés –everything they can to find out about the candidate to make a much more confident decision. It’s all about reducing error in judgment, and the more information we have the more confident we can be that we’ve made the right decision. Game-based assessments form only a part of the decision making process.”
Leading Australian people analytics company, Revelian, has launched a world-first game-based psychometric assessment. Theme Park Hero combines gamification with analytics, big data, predictive psychometric models and cloud technologies to accurately measure aspects of candidate ability including mental agility, cognitive speed, attention, spatial aptitude and numerical reasoning. Click here for more information
