1. VOLUME-V I ISSUE 5 I MAY 2015 www.content.timesjobs.com
Find TimesJob.com’s career articles, expert advice and tips @www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Jobs Career section
n Guest column PAGE 6
Chief talent officer and director, Deloitte
n Interview PAGE 8
Director-HR, L’Oreal India
Gamification
IS GREAT
More companies are improving engagement
and talent quality through gamification,
shows a TimesJobs.com survey

2. VOLUME-V I ISSUE 5 I MAY 2015
www.content.timesjobs.com
GAME ON!
TimesJobs.com survey
2
More than 60 per cent of
the surveyed organisations
are using gamification
practices and of these,
80 per cent acknowledge
its benefits in various
organisational aspects,
reveals a TimesJobs.com
study
Apeksha Kaushik,
TimesJobs.com
G
AMIFICATION is not a new
term anymore. What is new
is the way the tool is being
used by organisations in
India for varied purposes.
When designed correctly, gamification
has proven to be successful in engaging
people and motivating them to change
behaviours, develop skills or solve
problems. Gamification helps improve
employee engagement by nearly
10-20 per cent, says corporate India in a
TimesJobs.com survey.
Gamification is currently being applied
to engagement, employee performance,
training and development, hiring,
sourcing, screening and rewards
recognition. However, it is being most
extensively used for the purpose of
employee engagement.
According to the TimesJobs.com
survey, over 40 per cent of the surveyed
organisations are using gamification for
employee engagement and 24 per cent
use it for rewards recognition.
While the tool is not new, about 69 per
cent of the surveyed organisations have
started applying it aggressively in the last
six months and 21 per cent claim to be
using it for over a year now, reveals the
survey.
IT/telecom is among the key sectors
using gamification for more than a year.
Respondents from the automobile and

3. 3
VOLUME-V I ISSUE 5 I MAY 2015
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manufacturing sector said they have
been using it for the last six months.
Of the total number of surveyed
organisations using gamification for
engagement, nearly 28 per cent said
retention rates have improved and
productivity has gone up.
About 47 per cent claim engagement
rates have improved by 10-20 per cent
while 33 per cent said engagement rates
were up by 10 per cent, according to the
TimesJobs.com study.
Nearly 55 per cent mentioned that
attrition rates have dropped by 10 per
cent while 36 per cent reported a drop
of 10-20 per cent in attrition, shows the
study.
About 28 per cent of the surveyed
organisations that use gamificaiton for
hiring reported that hiring turnaround
has improved. Close to 50 per cent said
it has gone up by 10 per cent and 39 per
cent reported an improvement of 10-20
per cent, finds the study. Nearly 32 per
cent surveyed organisations stated that
the quality of talent has improved too
Games they play
Of the surveyed organisations applying
gamification for engagement, nearly 18
per cent said they apply it through digital
training programmes for engagement
and growth.
Code contests are used by 12 per cent
organisations to serve the dual purpose
of hiring and engagement.
Nearly 42 per cent use online games for
sourcing/screening/hiring and
30 per cent go for virtual work
environment for assessing domain/soft
skills/cultural fitment of an employee.
Challenges that persist
While the scope of application is
expanding, challenges still put obstacles
on easy and wider acceptance of
gamification. Some blame it on the
lack of expertise to implement and
manage gamification strategies while
others blame it on suitability. But most
believe that it fails on the global connect
that is essential for today’s open work
environment.
Nearly 33 per cent organisations cite
lack of gamification tools with universal
acceptance as the biggest challenge,
reveals the study. Nearly 32 per cent
of the surveyed organisations feel
gamification as a tool is not suitable for
every organisation.
The future
A Gartner study estimates that over
50 per cent of organisations managing
innovation processes will gamify aspects
of their business by 2015. An added
push by startups whose organisational
strategies and service have an element of
gamification is adding to the buzz around
the trend.
Besides being proclaimed as the next
big thing in the hiring and engagement,
77 per cent of the surveyed organisations
believe gamifiction has helped them
build a stronger brand, according to the
TimesJobs.com survey.
The fact that over half of India Inc has
success stories to share from gamification
practices, will this act as a motivator for
others who are still
apprehensive about
playing the game?
What purpose do you use
gamification for?
How long have you been
using gamification for the
stated purpose?
What has been the impact on
engagement rates?
What challenges you face in
implementing gamification?
Employee engagement
40%
Hiring
Screening
20%
16%
Recognition
24%
Less than 6 months
6-12 months
More than a year
21%
10%
69%
47%
Up by over
10-20%
33%
Up by over
10%
20%
Up by over
20%
32% Doesn’t suit all firms
33% Lack of gamification
tools with universal appeal
27% Doesn’t appeal to
every profile
8% Lack of
expertise

4. VOLUME-V I ISSUE 5 I MAY 2015
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4
While more companies are adopting gamification to improve engagement and
hiring and other related organisational aspects, the big question is: Are employees
embracing the trend too? TimesJobs.com took a poll of employees to find out if
gamification benefits them as much as their companies
Are employees game for
gamification?
TimesJobs.com poll
[ Playing along ]
Nearly 43 per cent respondents said they
will definitely perform a task if it has game
elements, showed the poll. About 30 per
cent said they are most likely to take up a gamified
task but the rest are a little sceptical, finds the poll.
An earlier TimesJobs.com poll found that salary was
not the biggest motivating factor for employees.
Today’s workforce looks for other softer aspects to
continue with the current employer for the long
term. They must feel engaged, be satisfied socially
and emotionally and have the freedom to think and
innovate. And gamification seems to be catering to
their requirements.
[ Creativity matters ]
For 62 per cent respondents,
gamification helps them to become
more creative, reveals the poll. For
31 per cent, gamified practices push up
motivation levels.
Gamification challenges the participant’s
thoughts and compels him or her to
think out-of-the-box to solve a problem,
enhancing their creative prowess.
Will you perform a task if it includes game elements?
How gamification practices will benefit you/your career?
43%
Definitely
30%
Most
likely
13% No14% May be
31%
Increases
motivation
5%
Increases
productivity
62%
Increases
creativity 2%
No
benefit

5. VOLUME-V I ISSUE 4 I APRIL 2015
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6. VOLUME-V I ISSUE 5 I MAY 2015
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6
G
AMIFICATION has become a hot
emerging trend in business and
technology. Using game design
and mechanics in non-game contexts
to increase user engagement and
behaviour adoption instills challenge,
payoff and perspective into routine
tasks. It taps into instincts that have led
to competition and engagement over
centuries - our desire to learn, improve
ourselves, overcome obstacles and win.
Gamification concepts such as
simulation, challenges, scoreboards
and rewards have been in play for a
long time. Games are as old as the
Mahabharata, where the outcome of a
game of dice overturned the destiny of a
subcontinent.
The emergence of millennials in the
Indian workforce is leading to changes in
education, technology and work.
They are digital natives who live and
breathe online. Games have been an
integral part of their lifestyle since
childhood and they can relate to the
language of gamification. It is imperative
for organisations to engage with this
group of young and technology-savvy
employees to maximize productivity.
Studies have shown that gamification
really works. Game mechanics and
game dynamics are able to positively
influence behaviour as they are designed
to make players take specific actions.
Successful gamification bring together
the following factors:
n Joy of self-expression: Self-
expression converts passive recipients to
active participants and games use a‘pull’
approach to create opportunities for
learning through experimentation and
practice.
n Thrill of competition and
accomplishment: The adrenaline rush
that kicks in at the starting block and the
sense of achievement felt upon crossing
the finish line are experiences that make
games vital.
n Real-time assessment: A move in
a game provides real time feedback.
Individuals get short and long-term
feedback, which is important for
reinforcing behaviour. This enables
players to learn quickly and adjust
accordingly.
n Developing insights through
behavioural business intelligence:
Understanding people and their
behaviours provides business benefits
when making strategic decisions. Data-
driven decisions help organisations make
informed choices that in turn increase
transparency of the organisational
processes.
Organisations worldwide have made
tremendous progress in gamifying HR
processes to tap into this trend. Be it
through applications they have built that
motivate users to learn features of their
product sans the routine and boredom
associated with training or encouraging
employees to use a dedicated portion of
their time to pursue ideas of interest that
could evolve into the next big product/
service and rewarding them for it.
At Deloitte, we have incorporated
gamification across a wide range of
areas - from talent acquisition strategy to
learning development to engagement
with professionals.
We build ties with students in campuses
we recruit from through gamification
programmes such as D. Games, the
Collegiate Cyber Threat Competitions
contest, and The Campus Maverick, our
flagship campus connect programme,
where over 13,500 students across India’s
top business schools participate in a
contest comprising business cases and
simulations.
Our internship programmes too include
elements that require interns to connect
with teams across the firm, source
information and receive points to remain
among the top contenders for prizes.
In our on-boarding programme, new
employees participate in games, act
in role-plays and work in groups in
simulation. The pedagogy appeals to the
audience without diluting the objective
of the induction - learning about the
company, its beliefs and familiarising
employees to different tools and
technologies.
Ongoing learning and development
programmes also incorporate elements
of gamification.
Organizations need to be innovative
in their approach to gamification - be
it talent acquisition where one can
leverage puzzles, referral programmes
and social media; or learning through
role-plays and scenarios coupled with
e-learning modules and a rewards
recognition programmes; or even the
realm of employee engagement with
programmes such as ideation contests
and common fitness goals achieved only
through collaboration.
Experiences are stepping stones to
connections. Real world errors always
come at a price.
Gamification, on the other hand, creates
a fail-safe environment. Players can afford
to fail in the process of solving simulated
real time business scenarios. Playing
games can actually be serious business
work, and as they say at the start of the
Olympics -“Let the games begin!”
The authors are SV Nathan, senior director
chief talent officer, and Vikas Gupta,
director, of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Limited member firms in India
A game-changer in recruitment
Guest column: Gamification concepts

7. VOLUME-V I ISSUE 5 I MAY 2015
www.content.timesjobs.com
7
TimesJobs.com Bureau
S
ociety for Human Resource
Management (SHRM)
organised a first-of-its-kind
‘SHRM India HR Technology
Conference Exposition’in
Mumbai on April 24.
More than 450 delegates, including
mid and senior-level HR professionals
and corporate leaders from more than
120 organisations and thought leaders
from the world, took part in the one-day
conference. The event’s agenda focused
on addressing evolving workplaces,
exponential technology advancements
and changing role of HR professionals.
The speakers included Jamie Notter,
partner, Culture That Works LLC; Abhijit
Bhaduri, chief learning officer, Wipro;
Raj Raghavan, director, Amazon India;
Virginia Sharma, director,-Marketing,
LinkedIn; Vivek Madhukar, COO,
TimesJobs.com; Unmesh Pawar, global
managing director-Talent Acquisition,
Accenture; Jeremy Ames, CEO, Hive
Tech HR; Prithvi Shergill, chief human
resource officer, HCL Technologies; Smriti
Ahuja, head-HR and learning, BPS; Alok
B. Lall, director-marketing, Microsoft
Corporation; and Ramu Govindan, CEO,
Its Your Skills.
In his keynote address, Jamie Notter of
Culture That Works LLC shared his views
about how the rise of the millennial
generation into management positions
will change the way companies operate.
He identified four key capacities
organisations need to succeed in this
new normal. The session also focused on
implications for HR leaders who would
want to lead this change.
In a session on gamed-based learning
and gamification, Vivek Madhukar
of TimesJobs.com talked about how
gamification has become the new way
to acquire talent and a game-changer in
talent management in today’s dynamic
HR world.
Sumit Gupta, CEO, Grownout, in his
session, highlighted roadblocks faced in
referral hiring. He emphasised on a three-
pronged referral hiring process involving
the recruiter, employee and candidates.
He also launched the company’s
technology-based solution that aims to
negate such roadblocks and create a new
referral hiring solution.
Arun Dhaka, country sales director,
Cornerstone On Demand, India South
Asia, talked about future-ready social
mobile technology-oriented workspaces.
He discussed how the talent technology
platform of the future must not be simply
a place where employees come to take
a course or complete a performance
review but rather a destination where
employees do their jobs more effectively.
He said it must empower them at all
levels to be successful in their role and
career with social capabilities build into
all of talent functionalities.
The session with Abhijit Bhaduri of
Wipro included a discussion around the
combined efforts of CHROs and CTOs
meeting the mobility challenge and the
growing popularity of smartphones. The
session also highlighted the benefits
of BYOD (bring your own device)
movement while emphasising on the key
challenges and the organisational risks
linked with it.
“While technology has always been
considered as one of the tools of HR
domain, it is the first time ever that
such a platform has been created to
brainstorm and assess the impact
of technology in ensuring a vibrant,
competitive and productive workplace,”
said Achal Khanna, CEO, SHRM India
Operations.
Some of the key trends and topics
discussed during the event included
‘Impact of millennial generation in top
management and changing cultures in
digital age’;‘How to make referral hiring
a primary source of recruitment’;‘How
to successfully create a social mobile
technology oriented workspaces and
how CHROs and CTOs together meeting
the mobility challenges’.
Evolving workplaces and changing
role of HR professionals
SHRM India HRTechnology Conference Exposition 2015, Mumbai

8. Disclaimer: Information provided in this newsletter shall not be reproduced, published, re-sold or otherwise distributed in
any medium without the prior written permission of TimesJobs.com and a clear acknowledgement to TimesJobs.com.
Contact: TJinsite, TimesJobs.com, Plot No 6, Sector 16A, Film City, Noida, 201301. Write in to editor@timesjobs.com
Copyright ©2015 Times Business Solutions (A division of Times Internet Ltd). All rights reserved.
F
rench cosmetics and beauty
products company L’Oreal has
been one of the early movers
in using games to attract, hire
engage and assess talent.
The company is now in its 23rd year of
gamification. It first started using games in
1993 to hire young marketing talent.
In an interview to TimesJobs.com, Mohit
James, director-HR, L’Oreal India, talks
about how gamification has changed talent
acquisition and management.
For your company, gamification has
worked best in which area: hiring or
engagement or assessment?
It has worked for us in all three areas. The
process depends upon the company’s
linkage with the game - whether it is
to attract or assess talent. Gamification
works as a great tool to engage with
external talent and share information
about the company to passive talent.
We have been using gamification for
23 years to evaluate, attract and assess
talent through our games‘REVEAL’and
‘BRANDSTORM’.
Apart from talent acquisition and
management, gamification can be used to
create competition within employees to
achieve target, to reward and recognise,
learn and development and gather new
ideas.
Has gamification (for engagement
and hiring) yielded better results than
traditional strategies?
In traditional strategies, one has to make
decision based on short interactions
with candidates. For the candidate too,
there is a tiny window to understand the
company’s culture.
However, with gamification, employers
and employees get more time to
understand each other. Employers
are able to assess who they are hiring.
The candidate too has enough time to
understand the brand, its culture and
the profile on offer. There is no element
of surprise. We have almost 90 per
cent retention rate for talent hired via
gamification.
What are the advantages of integrating
gamification in talent strategy?
The first advantage is that organisations
can showcase their unique EVP (Employee
Value Proposition) to current employees
as well as candidates they want to hire in
the future. Second, gamification promotes
a culture of entrepreneurship, nurtures
new ideas and ways to implement them
for business success. Third, gamification
brings out individuality and helps talent
showcase what they believe in.
What are the challenges you faced
while implementing gamification?
The challenges included creating a
stronger partnership with the brand and
the business. It is important to create a
game that identifies with the company’s
vision. The other challenges were creating
a dedicated team to plan, execute and
integrate gamification into talent strategy,
having a platform that brings out the
strengths of the company and getting
business committed to the process.
Gamification also consumes time, money
and requires lot of pre-detailing and
scheduling.
Gamification works best for what kind
of roles – tech or non-tech?
In my view, gamification is agnostic
to role type. It works for all types. It
will be wrong to say that it works only
for tech roles. There are two types of
gamifications: face-to-face and online. In
today’s world of technology, people find
it easier to do things online. However,
skills such as marketing a physical contact
game are more apt to judge creativity. By
our online game, we have hired talent in
sales, finance and logistics.
(As told to Neha Singh Verma)
‘GAMIFICATION
works for all types of job roles’
Interview: Mohit James
Director-HR, L’Oreal India
IN A GAMIFIED TALENT
STRATEGY, EMPLOYERS
AND EMPLOYEES
GET MORE TIME TO
UNDERSTAND EACH
OTHER”