Campus Talent Acquisition programs have been traditionally designed over the years to put a group of candidates from the same graduating
batch through a "funnel" (a set of gateways designed to successively eliminate candidates till a minimum number is reached), typically
consisting of group discussions, group tasks, presentations, aptitude tests and so on, followed by a personal interview. The major
merits of this method are quality of selection, validity and uniformity of approach. However, over the years, several inherent flaws
have come to the fore. There are possibilities of unintentional bias against a candidate based on gender, language, ethnicity,
abilities, sexual orientation, as a result of which opinions get formed during group discussions and presentations. Also, the process
is time consuming and taxing on the assessment panel, thus increasing chances of error. This does not contribute to candidate experience
as well as the employer branding. Freshers who invest a day in the campus placement process only to find themselves eliminated, end up
carrying a negative feeling about the process.
Therefore, we decided to look at alternatives to the traditional approach. Our first consideration was candidate experience, followed by
accuracy, validity of approach, time and cost of the process. We began benchmarking campus talent acquisition programs and explored vendors
to evaluate their offering. Our research showed that though cognitive based and personality-based assessments have been an integral part
of recruitment and selection process for a long time, very few organisations had actually taken the step towards gamification and
game - based assessments.
Another method or mechanism was interpretation - the tool had to be concise and quantitatively predict a candidate's likelihood of success,
while highlighting the working style and key motivational drivers of each candidate. Additionally, the tool had to be customizable, to our
unique set of leadership competencies and tailor the assessment to understand the candidate's job-fit, competency match and potential.
After a lot of trials, we finally partnered with a service provider who had a unique game-based cognitive approach. The tool was created
through the confluence of technology and psychology, providing a highly engaging experience for candidates that can assess their personality,
attitudinal and cognitive abilities. Over half an hour of game play, it uses around 45 Situational Judgment test scenarios, that capture
around 5000 data points. This information is consolidated in a customized competency-based framework and can be effectively used for
candidate profiling and mapping for specific job roles. Analyzing actions and decisions of candidates during immersive gameplay provides
for better assessment than traditional questionnaire based psychometrics.
The use of AI in construction of the tool itself ensures better
customization to the organization's requirements. Simultaneously, the system also tests the user experience and resulting data generated
that candidates found it to be more engaging, less tiresome and perceived to be less time consuming. Also, the tool also seems to correct
the issue of faking, that colors the reliability of traditional psychometric tools. Finally, and most importantly, the tool enabled us to
significantly shorten our process time, and we were free to run the tool before the team landed on campus, thus providing more time for a
meaningful personal interview with candidates shortlisted through the tool. The tool has been in place for two years now, and we find that
the quality of candidates coming to the final stage of selection has also significantly improved.
Thus, through deploying the game based assessment tool, we were able to ensure a lasting positive engagement with candidates and reinforce
our unique employer value proposition.
Mr.Vivek (AGM - HR, Ashok Leyland) has around a decade and a half of
experience in Human Resources with Ashok Leyland Limited, and has held various roles in Business, Location and Corporate HR. He is a
champion of his organisation's culture and values, and specializes in partnering with business leaders to help them build their teams
effectively and ensure all people decisions are based on data
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