Mom Was Wrong - Playing Video Games Does Help You Get A Real Job

Parents have been nagging their kids for years to quit playing video games to get a better job or pay more attention to their education. Turns out it was bad advice!  FastCompany recently published an article, “Why SpaceX and Other Non-Gaming Companies Scout Talent at Video Game Conventions”, delving into the value of gaming developers and their unique ability to combine both conceptual and linear thinking.x

The gaming trend is rapidly gaining traction across industries.  Gamification is becoming a key strategy in marketing programs, employee engagement, learning, training and customer loyalty. Why? Because the millennial workforce is increasing every day, and gaming and consumerization of workplace technology is a high priority to this audience. As a result, a strategy needs to be developed to find and engage the highly skilled hidden talents developed by gaming in a non-creepy or invasive way.

There are two equally important pieces to solving the talent gap puzzle – people and systems.

1)       The talent acquisition space is changing and those responsible for it require a skills blend of marketers, salespeople and HR professionals – data-driven, emotionally intelligent, “people persons”. These individuals get social, understand what drives millennials, and know how to spot and ferret out talent in non-traditional places.

2)       The technological landscape that enables this new era of talent acquisition professionals is also changing. This is the same shift in how direct mail and spreadsheets moved to marketing automation and CRM. Accessibility, analytics and personalization is driving engagement in today’s world of talent acquisition.

If your company is growing, expanding into new markets, developing new products, or trying to increase customer satisfaction, the best talent will you get there faster and more efficiently. In this context, we need to start asking and answering new questions about talent acquisition.

Do you have a way to keep your talent engaged with content that will inspire them to work for you? Do you have a way to actively promote roles that are interesting to them and their career growth? What about their network of friends? Do you know where you found these people, what channels were the sources for attracting them – on a granular level? Is the data able to tell you where to focus your efforts, time, and resources?

Need some guidance before you start down the path of revamping your own organization to meet the greater needs of the company? Here are a couple of pointers to jumpstart your voyage:

1)       Identify where you have gaps – identify with millennials, understand social, conversational skills – in your talent acquisition workforce and set a plan to fill those gaps. Looking at your succession & development program and ensure that you have appropriate workforce planning and analytics in place.

2)       Invest in a recruiting marketing solution that will give you the ability to nurture your talent and give you the ability to make insight-driven decision making capabilities about sourcing 

Adopting innovative strategies to attract and engage talent is critical to business success. Learn more about how recruiting best practices can help your company leverage your most valuable asset – people!

Where are you finding talent in hidden areas?