A Novel Approach to Employee Recruitment: Gamification

Abstract

Gamification is the use of game-design in a non-game context to attract, engage and elicit desired behaviors. Recently, a number of organizations have employed the use of gamification for the purpose of employee recruitment. Results of these gamified recruitment processes are purportedly positive, although no empirical studies to date have been conducted to determine their effectiveness. This thesis was designed to provide an objective and empirical analysis of the efficacy of gamified recruitment procedures compared to traditional recruitment practices. Results indicated that traditional recruitment processes were more effective in changing participant attitudes towards organizations than the gamified processes. However, although traditional recruitment practices engendered more positive attitudes towards companies, both recruitment practices generated a similar amount of interest in terms of applying for jobs at the respective company. Implications of these findings are discussed.