7 Companies Successfully Hired The Best With Gamification in Recruitment

A wise person once said “if you have to choose between a job that offers good money and a job that gives you great flexibility, always choose the one that offers awesome gamification”. Or maybe it was me who said that, I don’t remember. Anyway… you agree, don’t you? 

There’s a wide selection of businesses out there that have used gamification in their recruitment campaigns. HR managers are increasingly discovering the wonders of gamification in saving them time and effort in hiring their new talents. 

Some big names put gamification in recruitment into practice. I selected the 7 most interesting examples to look at. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

1. Marriott Hotels 

The Marriott Hotels are a giant brand in the industry. The hospitality field’s focus is on providing the best service possible to its clients. Would you go back to a hotel where you would find hair in your pasta?

To hire those who were really interested, the hotel chain released “My Marriott Hotel”. The candidate could play the role of a manager running the hotel’s kitchen. 

If the players find themselves enjoying it, they get redirected to an application page by clicking a button that says “Do it for real”. 

Gamification in the early stages of recruitment reveals the candidates who have a keen interest in your job opening – and most importantly, those who are not. 

2. Google’s mysterious billboards

In 2004, mysterious billboards started appearing out of nowhere in the streets of the US displaying a mathematics challenge to the readers. 

No brand or company was mentioned – just plain black text on a white background. 

Ultimately, it has been discovered Google was behind this sneaky move to hire new employees. 

The link leads the brightest minds who could solve the problem to a webpage where they could send their applications to Google. And that’s how Google keeps on hiring the best of their field. 

3. Postal services: Formapost

The French mail company – Formapost – struggled with employee retention. 

25% of their new employees left the company after a while. That either means Formapost was hiring the wrong candidates. Or aliens brainwashed and kidnapped them to another planet. Occam’s razor supposes the fist explanation. 

To solve this problem, Formapost turned to gamification to improve their recruitment process. 

Launching a game – Jeu Facteur Academy – did the trick driving the drop-out rates from 25% to only 8%. 

The game’s purpose was plain and simple – have the  candidates experience what the job is really like: waking up early in the morning, learning the behind-the-scenes of the job, and even the ethics of being a mailman.

4. Domino’s Pizza Mogul

I am sure of two things. If you throw something in the air, it will fall down. The wonders of gravity… Second thing, you can’t have a conversation about gamification in recruitment without talking about Domino’s. And I’m still not fully certain of the first thing. 

This is to say Domino’s has done an extraordinary job at employing gamification to their advantage. 

Domino’s Pizza Mogul is an initiative the pizza company launched to: 

• Increase satisfaction among their customer base and attract new ones.  
• Raise brand awareness among young people looking for jobs. 
• Demonstrate it is an innovative company.
• Appear as a fun working place.

It consisted of giving the opportunity to the users to create their own pizzas in the comfort of their… screens. Like Formapost, what better way to recruit new people than directly giving them an authentic experience! 

Without any surprise, the results were there – big time.

Sidenote, Pizza Mogul was not the first gamified experience Domino’s has proposed. They created Pizza Hero a few years before and it was – you guessed it – a big hit.

5. The New James Bond: GCHQ UK

I would give anything to try those sticky gloves Tom Cruise uses to climb the outside of Burj Khalifa. Imagine all the cool gadgets you get for being a spy? Woow! 

Even “James Bonds” are hired with gamification.

“Euh, James Bond work for the MI6, not the GCHQ…”

I know. No need to point that out, thanks.  

The UK GCHQ is the agency responsible for UK’s cyber security. As a result, they need to hire talents who can think like a white hat and black hat hackers. So they need gray hat hackers, I guess.

Canyoucrackit.co.uk is a website the GCHQ designed to gamify their recruitment campaign. They had a code on it and players had to get to the bottom of it. If you click on the link now, it will take you to an explanation of the solution. 

A huge number of people visited the websites. And ultimately, the agency found the talents they were looking for, and talents they would have never suspected. 

6. Siemens Plantville

Brand awareness is crucial for every business. After all, if no one knows you, no one will buy from you… isn’t that the whole purpose of a business? 

Siemens developed Plantville to encourage young people to consider a career in the manufacturing field.  In the game, you could choose to run a plant, define its challenges, and meet the business goals to keep your plant afloat. 

The goal for Siemens was to find new managers and engineers all the while showcasing their technological developments. 

7. US Army: America’s army

America’s Army is the US Army’s gamified recruitment campaign that has been running for 20 years.

In this game, the player dives into the world of what it feels like to be an American soldier. The game is supposed to be attractive, fun, and rich in information about the world of the boots on the ground. 

Colonel Casey Wardynski conceptualized the game back in 1999. Since then, the game became a success and turned into a series of games giving the US Army the reputation of leveraging the power of gamification.

After 20 years of service, the game shut down on May 5th, 2022. The US Army’s communication team is shifting its focus to other ways to reach out to new recruits.

Your moment to shine!

There you have it. 7 examples of successful gamification in recruitment campaigns. Now that you know how effective gamification can be, it’s your time to start using it in your own recruitment campaigns.

And guess who could help you with implementing it? You got that right. Learn more about what we can provide for you.

Written by:
Majdi Hentati

About the author:
When he’s not writing, Majdi is either thinking about copywriting, reading or sleeping. He helps you to write compelling copies to reinforce your e-reputation. If you want to connect with him, he’ll be delighted to chat with you on his Linkedin.