Online games for remote recruitment, hiring and onboarding

Remote games for recruitment

In 2021 there is a very big need for human resource and talent acquisition managers to recruit remotely, whether that be for a job that is going to take place in a physical office or one that is going to be remote.

Online recruitment and assessment of candidates can be a challenge, particularly when it comes to assessing the candidates social skills and ability to work within a team.

Previously organisations could use group-based recruitment, especially for internships and graduate programs, to help filter for the best candidates and see how they interact with others under different circumstances.

However since the pandemic induced surge in working from home, HR managers are being forced to think outside the box. New ways to measure and assess candidates online are now needed, with many organisations looking for novel ways to do so.

Why use virtual games when recruiting?

When it comes to recruiting, it is not just the candidates who are on show. Having a good employer reputation will help you attract and retain the right types of people.

The recruitment process gives organisations the chance to make a great first impression on potential candidates, and can help influence them to choose one organisation over another.

That is one reason organisations are using games as part of their virtual recruitment strategy - they are fun, engaging, and help organisations stand out when competing for talent.

Online games can also be a great way to assess the ability of candidates to work together in teams.

Social team problem solving games can be used to see how candidates reason and who in the team exhibits the types of leadership or team member qualities that the organisations needs.

For this reason, we often recommend that one full time company employee be on each team, so they can interact and also observe the various skills being put into play by the candidates throughout the virtual team game.

Going beyond individual assessment tools like psychometric testing and using real-world games can help give recruiters a better understanding of the candidate and can also be very fun to watch!

How to incorporate games into your hiring process

There are a number of ways you can incorporate team games into recruitment, hiring and onboarding using virtual meeting platforms.

Having a platform agnostic game and no downloads necessary makes facilitating the experience much more straightforward for you and the candidates.

For instance, in these remote games, you facilitate and players collaborate over your choice of virtual meeting platform – Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, WebEx, Google Meet.

As the person in charge of recruiting, you might want to facilitate each game for a small group of potential candidates or new recruits, so that you can be a fly on the wall in the virtual room as the players play the game.

Alternatively you can use multiple staff members to observe the game play and interactions, one per team.

We recommend having a standardised assessment sheet when observing the candidates to ensure that they are all assessed equally - this might include qualitative as well as quantitative metrics depending on what you consider the most important things to look for in the employees.

Games can also be used as a way to attract talent, with a famous example being Google’s mathematical riddle which was designed to capture the attention and act as a filter for smart, high quality applicants.

Virtual games for remote and online recruitment

So what types of games can you use in your remote recruiting and hiring process?

Team problem solving games

A fun and engaging way to observe candidates logical reasoning, teamwork and ability to work efficiently under pressure is by giving them team problem solving games.

Recently Texas A&M University used The Puzzle for their Resident Assistant selection and hiring process. Around 30 students participated with the facilitators moving around between teams of 5-6 students to observe how they were interacting and performing on the puzzles.

It was the perfect opportunity to put teamwork, communication and strategic thinking to the test.

These types of problem solving games serve two purposes - they can be helpful in seeing which candidates stand out intellectually, and they are also interesting to watch from a team performance and social interaction perspective.

The Trip is another game perfectly suited for virtual hiring or onboarding of new staff into teams.

Atlassian incorporated this virtual team problem solving game into their onboarding for new recruits in Australia and incentivised the game by offering a prize for the winning team.

Skill specific games and challenges

Gamification in recruiting can also be very skill specific. For example there are numerous companies offering coding challenges for developers where candidates must solve different online programming activities.

Codility is a company that integrates game play into the hiring process with their online tests helping to screen for the best candidates.

Another type of game targeting specific workplace skills are simulation games. For example HR Avatar offer immersive experiences where candidates are immersed in job-related scenarios to test their abilities.

Gamification in recruiting - time to give it a try?

Organisations are constantly looking for new ways to attract and filter talent when trying to recruit. Using games can be a great way for a company to stand-out from the crowd!

If you are interested in speaking to us about incorporating a social game into your hiring or onboarding then feel free to get in touch!