e-Recruitment Practices and Emerging Trends

190 Pages·2015·3.6 MB·English

Corso di Laurea magistrale (ordinamento ex D.M. 270/2004)
In Economia e Gestione delle Aziende – International Management

Tesi di Laurea

e-Recruitment Practices and Emerging Trends:
New Opportunities for Employment Agencies?
Empirical evidences from ADECCO and BRUIN Financial

Relatore
Prof. Fabrizio Gerli
Correlatore
Prof. Sara Bonesso

Laureando
Ivana Barišić
Matricola 845453

Anno Accademico 2014/2015
Acknowledgment
This thesis becomes a reality with the kind support and help of many individuals. I
would like to extend my sincere thank you to all of them.
Foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my family, for all the encouragement
and support throughout my student years, which helped me in completion of this paper.
Mom and Dad, thank you for your amazing, inspiring parenting; for always being there,
believing in me, and supporting me in every possible way. To my sister Dijana; thank
you for always showing me the bright side of things and pushing me to take on the
positive path in every situation, while motivating me to do the best I can.
Next, I would like to thank BRUIN Financial for providing me with the opportunity to
get a first hand insight into the topic covered by this thesis and my longtime friend, Ms
Ana Maria Tuliak, who was always so kind to help me, either with work or with the
information provided for the purpose of this thesis. I wish also to thank Ms. Emily
Ayre; her guidance through the three months of internship at BRUIN were inspiring
enough to make me consider human resource management as my probable career of
choice. I wish also to thank Ms Martina Špiljak from Adecco Croatia, for her honest and
cooperative response to all the questions solicited in this study.
A special gratitude goes to my mentor, Prof. Fabrizio Gerli, for imparting his
knowledge and expertise in this study, while being very positive, considerate and
sympathetic in guidance through all the phases of this thesis.
Thanks to my friend Tin for all the technological help regarding the thesis. My thanks
and appreciations also go to my colleagues as well as all the people who have willingly
helped me out with their abilities.
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to explain the various changes occurring in the current
recruitment environment. The new recruitment trends delivered by the constantly
developing technologies provide an opportunity for the employment agencies to deal
with the recruitment process in a more efficient and effective way, while reducing the
cost of their activities. One of the most innovative trends with a great potential for the
employment agencies' recruitment process is the implementation of gamification. The
purpose of this thesis was to identify the influence, presence and the perceived benefits
of the specific new recruitment trends in the cases of employment agencies. Two case
studies were conducted, each representing an employment agency’s recruitment process
and use of e-recruitment sources, as well as their perceived potential of the
implementation of gamification as a potential candidate sourcing strategy. Both of the
firms are successful companies, one being a world’s leading provider of HR solutions
(Adecco) and the other a leading independent recruitment consultancy in the United
Kingdom (BRUIN). The results of the case studies should demonstrate the recent
recruitment trends’ penetration in employment agencies. The particular characteristics
of each company will be analysed as well, as they may represent an innovative example
of recruitment strategy.
This thesis will explore the literature available to date on this new but growing concept
and explore what it is that is attracting HR professionals to support their strategic impact
with gamification platforms.
The methodology adopted to support this is to position the primary research data in case
study format. The case study information was gathered from two semi structured
interviews with representatives from global organisations currently using gamification
platforms to support employee engagement and customer retention as their recrutiment
strategies.
Table of Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1
1. RECRUITMENT ........................................................................................................... 3
1.1. Traditional Recruitment ......................................................................................... 3
1.1.1. The Traditional Recruitment Process ............................................................ 4
1.1.2. Traditional Recruitment vs. e-Recruitment ................................................... 6
1.2. E-RECRUITMENT ............................................................................................... 9
1.2.1. What is e-Recruitment? ................................................................................. 9
1.2.2. The e-Recruitment process .......................................................................... 12
1.2.3. The e-Recruitment sources .......................................................................... 13
1.2.4. The e-Recruitment model ............................................................................ 20
1.2.5. Major trends in the recruitment practice...................................................... 25
1.2.6. Legal and Ethical Issues arising from e-Recruitment .................................. 37
2. GAMIFICATION ........................................................................................................ 49
2.1. What is Gamification? ......................................................................................... 49
2.2. What is a Game? .................................................................................................. 58
2.2.1. Video Games ............................................................................................... 62
2.2.2. Serious Games ............................................................................................. 65
2.3. Game Elements .................................................................................................... 67
2.3.1. The PBL Triad ............................................................................................. 71
2.4. Gamification as Motivational Design .................................................................. 78
2.4.1. The Theories of Motivation ......................................................................... 78
2.5. Game Design Techniques .................................................................................... 85
2.5.1. Game Thinking ............................................................................................ 88
2.5.2. Activity cycles ............................................................................................. 90
2.6. Gamification in Recruitment ............................................................................... 97
2.6.1. Describing the Trend: Introduction of Gamification into Recruitment
Practices 97
2.6.2. The targeted “Players” for Gamification for Recruitment......................... 100
2.6.3. Gamification for solving Recruitment 2.0 Problems ................................. 102
2.6.4. Gamification for Employer Branding, Engagement and Crowdsourcing . 105
2.6.5. Popular cases of introduction of Gamification for Recruitment Purposes 109
2.6.6. Critical overview of the concept of Gamification ..................................... 119
3. CASE STUDIES ....................................................................................................... 123
3.1. Methodology ...................................................................................................... 123
3.1.1. Research Aims and Objectives .................................................................. 123
3.1.2. Research Methodology .............................................................................. 124
3.2. Adecco Group .................................................................................................... 129
3.2.1. Adecco Croatia .......................................................................................... 131
3.2.2. Adecco’s Recruitment Process .................................................................. 133
3.2.3. Issues related to candidate sourcing and selection .................................... 142
3.2.4. Adecco and Gamification .......................................................................... 145
3.3. BRUIN Financial ............................................................................................... 153
3.3.1. BRUIN Financial’s Recruitment Process .................................................. 155
3.3.2. Issues and solutions to the new recruitment process ................................. 161
3.3.3. Gamification in BRUIN Financial ............................................................. 163
3.4. Analysis of the Two Case Studies ..................................................................... 171
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 177
Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 180

Introduction
This thesis is a research on the change in recruitment which has been occurring in the last
decade by constantly producing new and adapted versions of techniques which contribute
to a better and more productive way of recruitment i.e. acquirement of the high quality
candidates. The research will be aimed at the “sourcing” part of the recruitment process.
The focus of this study will be solely based on the process of recruiting external candidates
performed by the dedicated (external) recruiter by using Internet-related sources for
recruitment as well as the more innovative process of engaging audiences by leveraging
the best of loyalty programs, game design and behavioural economics - the process of
“gamification”.
The process of recruitment requires thorough information sharing which can be enabled by
using different sources of social networks. Some of the novel recruitment techniques are
being introduced through gamification, which is able to change the game in recruitment by
helping to surface the best candidates quickly, extending the pre/employment testing
regime to core skills and making recruitment more social (Zichermann, Linder; 2013,
p.217).
In the first part of the thesis, I wish to explain what I believe are the major concepts of this
study, i.e. the part of the recruitment process I will be mainly focusing on in the research as
well as the sourcing channels that will further on be explained through the empirical cases.
It has been noticed that various sourcing recruitment channels, such as social media
(Linkedin, Facebook), are being created and implemented in the companies, in addition to
the traditional ones (advertisements, employee referrals, recruitment agencies etc), due to
various factors such as quality, cost, availability and time. The benefits and the pitfalls of
this new system of recruitment i.e. e-recruitment (also: electronic recruitment or online
recruitment), will be presented based on the most important and recent literature on that
topic. This will be the focus of the first chapter of this thesis, which will aim to clearly
explain the today’s changing environment and the major trends taking place in the
recruitment practice.
The second chapter of the thesis focuses on the use of an e-recruitment 4.0 source;
“Gamification". The chapter explains the main concepts of gamification, what it is and
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what it is not; how games and game design can be beneficial for provoking motivation and
positive experiences to the users; and how game elements can be applied to give rise to
excellence. Motivation is also the subject of chapter 2 of this thesis. The whole concept of
gamification for business use is actually wrapped around the concept of motivation.
Motivation is what drives humans towards acting in a productive and meaningful way,
while being able to express themselves as individuals, which definitely produces greater
productivity to the firms which learn how to provoke it. Gamification draws upon areas
such as psychology, design and business, and this is why this part of the thesis aims to
explain the concept with all its counterparts. The last part of the second chapter focuses on
the use of gamification for recruitment purposes. It elaborates on theoretical part provided
previously and draws on its implications to recruitment and HR specifically, by
demonstrating some recent successful cases of gamification introduction to recruitment
practices.
The last chapter, chapter 3, elaborates on the primary research data in case study format.
Two case studies have been conducted, firstly with BRUIN Financial Ltd, a recruitment
consultancy located in London, UK; and then with Adecco Group’s subsidiary (Adecco
Croatia) in Zagreb, Croatia. The interview questions were designed in a way to reach the
details from recruitment processes of each firm, while taking particular notice of the use of
recruitment sources. Gamification was the topic of the second part of the interview - and
the various implications of this phenomenon to both firms have been found and are
explained in the chapter. The research methodology which precedes the case studies,
thoroughly explains the research procedure, aims and objectives.
The conclusion elaborates on the results of the research, while connecting the theoretical
parts to the empirical evidences. The trends are explained in a simple and holistic way, and
the conclusion serves its purpose in providing a meaningful idea of the current recruitment
industry trends and the evolution that is pioneered by the innovative companies, such as
proposed by the two case studies.
The literature gathered for the first two chapters of this thesis has been extensively
collected through the use of Business Source Complete (www.unive.it/bec) and the use of
Ca’ Foscari University’s Library of Economics (BEC) resources. Internet sources, such as
scientific articles and company related websites were used for the purpose of writing the
theoretical and practical parts of this thesis as well.

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1. RECRUITMENT
1.1. Traditional Recruitment
The traditional, i.e. paper-based, recruitment of external candidates from job advertising is
a linear process with consecutive tasks. It usually starts with the identification of required
applicants, their location and placement in the labour market, and proceeds with activities
designed to attract and persuade qualified applicants to apply. Job applications are then
received, screened, and sorted, leading to the drawing up of a shortlist. The process ends
with communicating the pre-screening results to applicants. (Anna B. Holm, 2012) Figure
1. demonstrates the traditional recruitment process tasks.
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1.1.1. The Traditional Recruitment Process

Figure 1. Traditional paper-based recruitment process using job advertisings,
Source: Anna B. Holm (2012)
The figure summarises the traditional process of recruiting external candidates without the
use of electronic methods. The process consists of a number of common tasks and subtasks
and related activities, performed sequentially to fulfil a recruitment objective (Anna B.
Holm, 2012).
The sources used by companies to attract applicants in the traditional recruitment process
include the following: newspapers, recruitment agencies, referrals from employees,
suppliers, or customers, and university invitations. Today, there is also the introduction of
online sources, such as: job boards, online recruitment sites, and SNSs that act as an
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