Game Based Assessment for "PUBG Generation"

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) is an online multiplayer battle royale game developed and published by PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of South Korean video game company Bluehole. The game is based on previous mods that were created by Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene for other games using the film Battle Royale for inspiration, and expanded into a standalone game under Greene's creative direction. In the game, up to one hundred players parachute onto an island and scavenge for weapons and equipment to kill others while avoiding getting killed themselves. The available safe area of the game's map decreases in size over time, directing surviving players into tighter areas to force encounters. The last player or team standing wins the round

What are game-based assessments?

A Recruiting Car

In Belgium, Volvo is promoting its S90 model in an unusual way--it's getting the car to do its recruitment.

Creative agency FamousGrey has refitted a Volvo S90 as the "HR90," equipping it with artificial intelligence that allows it to interview prospective technicians. The car will be "recruiting" at the Brussels Motor Show this week, and will then continue with a tour of job expos, schools and Volvo dealerships in search of new hires.

Volvo-- which is seeking50 candidates for real jobs in its Ghent factory and with local dealers-- asked candidates to submit their job application on a website in order to be considered for an interview. The car then quizzes them via image recognition, mapping and analysis of preset parameters, analyzing the candidate's facial expressions and word use in order to assess their knowledge, motivation and social skills.

Based on their answers, an evaluation doc is made by the car's A.I. and sent to the human HR department of Volvo. Afterwards, they are invited via email to upload more information about themselves and if their profile meets Volvo's requirements, they will be contacted for a follow-up meeting with a "human" HR manager.

Some examples where game-based assessments have proven to be successful

While companies have continued to innovate as far as their products are concerned, they have stuck by the same tried-and-tested psychometric assessments when it comes to recruitment. More and more, recruiters are coming to the realisation that existing solutions are often underwhelming and turning to game-based assessment as a more powerful, candidate-friendly alternative to traditional assessment testing.

So, what exactly is game-based assessment? In simple words, they are pre-hire assessments disguised as games which assess the prospective candidate's skills in a quick and engaging experience. During the test, the candidate will be asked to complete the assessment via an app or an internet browser. And considering how millennials and generation Z — both of whom are techy savvy —are projected to represent 60% of the global workforce by 2020, this mode of recruitment would certainly prove easy to use for the candidate while being highly scalable for the talent acquisition team at the same time.

An example of where this was used to great effect would be internet security company, McAfee. For McAfee, we created a game where the candidates were asked to play a game where the primary objective was to hack a bank to win $1 million, operating under the notion that those who can hack it will simultaneously also be the ones who can best prevent it. To do so, they had to go through the numerous steps, including breaking into the firewall, and at the end of the game, McAfee hired them based on their performance. The feedback was excellent, and the candidates thoroughly enjoyed how the game was conceptualised as well.

Other big-name companies that have employed game-based assessments to hunt for talent include L’Oreal brand storm competition has been active for 27 years and will see over 34,000 students from 63 countries participate this year— and Heineken — whose slick and smartly-designed “The Interview” has candidates play through an interactive session where they are expected to answer seemingly easy questions in short timeframes.

Why it is the way to recruit moving forward

Given that the people we are addressing grew up with the Internet and video gaming, that’s important. But creating a really engaging and fun experience is also important because it attracts more people to take the assessment—and having a larger pool of applicants creates more opportunities on both sides.Game-based assessments are finding their way into both, employment branding and candidate attraction, but why? More than anything, employers will seek out candidates who deliver high performance and productivity by finding effective solutions, and who can deal with changing, complex and ambiguous situations while still managing to think clearly under pressure.

And research has proven that game-based assessments are powerful when it comes to measuring these critical cognitive skills because candidates often expend a high-degree of cognitive resources while playing the game. Employers can also adapt the game to suit their technical requirements and look for the job-relevant personality traits in the candidate.

Talent leaders are also finding themselves starting the conversation by requesting them because they do offer a superior, rich, and immersive candidate experience. The recruitment landscape is quite different in the second decade of the 21st century, and it is now very much the 'age of the employee' where candidates share their experiences, especially the negative ones, online with an unlimited virtual audience. As one can imagine, the repercussions can be quite catastrophic.

Employers are thus realising the importance of giving applicants a positive experience across all stages of the candidate and employee journey. When you use game-based assessments such as Theme Park Hero and Cognify as part of the recruitment process, you're not just identifying the best candidates quickly and accurately, but also telling them you're an innovative employer who cares about the experience they go through to become a member of your team.

Advantages over traditional modes of recruitment

Unlike the most traditional psychometric methods, recruitment games are face-valid; i.e., they look and feel like the actual job. This could be one of the primary reasons why polls show 80% of candidates prefer assessment games over other styles of tests.

And while psychometric assessments will give you an overview of the prospective candidate, game-based assessments combine those trusted and proven psychometric principles to accurately evaluate fluid intelligence —the ability to solve new complications and adapt to unfamiliar situations — working memory, problem-solving capabilities, and creativity. The fast-paced and immersive nature of the game-based assessments also reveal a candidate's natural behaviour the way traditional methods simply cannot,

There are also the facts it sees every prospective employee get an engaging, custom, and quick assessment which is no less relevant because of the underlying psychometric foundation. It's also undeniably fairer because the assessment data obtained is bias-free, unlike the subjective interpretations talent leaders might make from a C.V., a letter of recommendation, or an interview.

How the use of game-based assessment has impacted the companies

Games-based assessments are used by a range of employers, but are most prevalent in the finance, IT, law, retail and transport sectors. Here are a few examples of employers who have used them:

RBS used online simulations to assess ‘attention spans and brain activity’. Used ‘up front’ in the assessment process to help assessors identify traits in candidates to discuss at interview and to suggest an area of the bank’s operations that might be a good fit.  

Jaguar Land Rover teamed up with virtual band Gorillaz to recruit staff. They developed a video which takes applicants through a two part screening process which includes code breaking challenges. Selection criteria is based on skills and ability rather than qualifications.

FDM Group introduced games based tests in its UK assessment centres to makes recruitment more enjoyable. They introduced a game based verbal reasoning test for graduates to complete at assessment centre.

Other employers using gamification include – PwC, Deloitte, Lloyds, KPMG, Citi, Oracle, Barclays, Network Rail and Vodafone. Using this method, as part of a recruitment process, potentially reduces the need for campus visits, eliminates the submission of CVs, reduces the number of interviews and increases the efficiency of the search process for both the applicant and the company.

So, the answer to the question “should a company invest in game base assessment?” is “yes,” but be sure to do your homework and be realistic about what is possible. When it comes to assessment games in 2019, we are still not clear. The good news is that while the game-based assessment you are dreaming of probably doesn’t exist yet, there are still plenty of great alternatives, and things are only going to get better.