At Arctic Shores, we aim to help companies make better people choices, and people better career choices through our innovative gamified psychometric assessments. It is understandable that our disruptive technology and this new approach to recruiting raises questions. Many hiring professionals are hesitant to give an algorithm responsibility within their company’s hiring process. To ease some of these concerns, we’ve put together a list of 5 reasons to overcome your scepticism towards gamification!

1. They are backed by science

Neuroscience is at the core of our assessments. Each level within our gamified assessment is based on extensively researched laboratory tasks that have been replicated in a game-based format. Behavioural mechanisms required to complete these tasks are known to reveal individual differences in personality and cognitive ability.

These differences allow us to build a picture of a candidate’s personality that are useful for predicting job-relevant behaviours.

2. They are data driven

Our assessments generate 5,000 data points which are passed through a transparent algorithm called a ‘fit score’. This gives hiring managers an objective and job-related measure against which to determine candidates should be progressed to the next stage and which ones shouldn’t. This removes the need for hiring managers to screen hundreds of CVs and application forms which can be a process prone to bias.

For example, one of our clients, Siemens, implemented our gamified assessment and were able to make job offers to just over 2 candidates per assessment centre as opposed to 5 before we were used.

3. They are bias-free

From the ‘halo effect’ to the ‘effective heuristic’, unconscious biases can occur throughout the recruitment process, with hiring managers unknowingly favouring candidates who are similar to them or judging them on appearance. After implementing our assessment, Siemens UK were able to double the number of females candidates progressing to the final selection stage doubled.

Whenever technology is used to screen candidates and especially when algorithms are used, there is danger that bias is hidden in the algorithm – an issue that has recently made the news in relation to Amazon. This is why our Fit Score algorithm is transparent and all the inputs to it are laid open for our clients to check and verify against the evidence that was used to create it.

4. They elevate the candidate experience and brand perception

Recent research on candidate experience shows that a negative experience can cause 80 – 90% of candidates to alter their perception of a role and company, and 72% of those who have had a negative experience took to online review sites, like Glassdoor, to share it.

Our engaging and immersive gamified assessments provide a different take on the psychometric test. Candidate feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many saying that they didn’t feel like they were being assessed, which made for a more enjoyable experience compared to traditional measures.

Additionally, each candidate, regardless of their ‘fit score’, receives a report highlighting where they fall on the spectrum for each trait. Research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation shows that 22% of candidates feel that the most important change that employers could make is to provide more feedback throughout the application process. Our reports give candidates a new type of feedback – insights about their own personality, strengths and development areas.

5. They have been extensively tested

Our gamified assessments have been used more than 300,000 times in over 35 countries and the results are consistent. 8/10 candidates say they enjoyed completing a game-based assessment and found it less stressful and more engaging than traditional assessments.