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The Limits of Traditional Hiring
Most corporate hiring processes begin with a job posting that attracts a high volume of applicants. To manage this influx, organizations often use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). However, these systems typically filter candidates based on keywords related to criteria like schools attended or previous employers—factors that are often poor predictors of future job performance.
This raises a critical question for talent acquisition leaders: How can you identify candidates with essential qualities like creative thinking and problem-solving abilities when wading through an endless stream of resumes?
A New Approach: Using Games to Identify High-Potential Talent
For over two decades, the cosmetics company L’Oréal has successfully used business games to identify and recruit high-potential candidates. This strategy allows the company to observe leadership qualities and practical skills that rarely surface in a resume. Many students hired through these games have since grown into management positions within the organization.
L’Oréal's Recruitment Games
L'Oréal has developed two major gaming platforms to attract and evaluate talent from around the world.
Brandstorm
Launched in 1993, Brandstorm is a competition where international undergraduate marketing students act as brand managers. Their task is to reimagine one of L’Oréal's well-known global brands. The game is highly popular, attracting over 7,000 participants in a single year and more than 50,000 students from 43 countries over its history.
Reveal
In 2010, L’Oréal introduced Reveal, its second recruiting game. In this simulation, players navigate a product launch from development to market. The game consists of 12 scenes, each concluding with a challenge to solve. Reveal is a multi-disciplinary platform that has drawn over 100,000 students from 165 countries in just its first two years.
The Measurable Impact of Gamified Recruiting
The use of business games has become a fast track for employment at L’Oréal, yielding significant results for the company's talent strategy.
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Hiring Success: Each year, L’Oréal recruits approximately 150 Brandstorm participants and 100 Reveal players.
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Leadership Pipeline: Employees hired through these games are on an accelerated career path. According to spokesperson Laurence Balmayer, the best players often become marketing and commercial directors within six or seven years.
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Employer Branding: Brandstorm and Reveal have successfully elevated L’Oréal's reputation among the next generation of business leaders, making it a consistently ranked desirable employer.
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Diverse Talent Pool: These initiatives have attracted a diverse pool of young talent from across the globe, opening them up to career opportunities within the L’Oréal universe.
By challenging candidates to demonstrate the exact capabilities it values, L’Oréal has created a predictive and effective recruitment method where the ultimate winner is the company itself. '''