Abstract

Marriott, a hospitality giant, had introduced a game called ‘My Marriott Hotel’ as part of its recruitment gamification strategy on its Facebook jobs and careers page. It had earlier released a game named ‘Xplor’ which gave players a virtual experience of touring five gateway cities and solving challenges which led to their earning rewards that could be redeemed against their stay in Marriott hotels. The company also tried its hand at different apps like ‘Red Coat Direct’, ‘Workspace on Demand’, and ‘The Perfect Travel Companion’ in order to provide fast and convenient services at the customer’s fingertips. The ‘My Marriott Hotel’ Facebook game was targeted at the youth in developing countries like India and China where the hospitality industry was not prominent. This was part of Marriott’s recruitment strategy to bypass traditional recruitment methods and test the real talent of prospective employees by creating a virtual workplace and checking in advance the suitability of the candidates for the hospitality positions. Players were then directed to Marriott’s official recruiting page where they could submit their resumes for a suitable position. The initial reaction to the game was good but later there was negative feedback from the job seekers that the game was not exciting or interesting enough to hold their attention.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the issues and challenges involved in using social media and digital technologies for recruitment and attracting the best talent.
• Discuss and debate how youth from countries like Indian and China could be attracted to the hospitality industry, and whether gamification can be an answer.
• Understand the pros and cons of gamification of recruitment.
• Critically analyze the effectiveness of the ‘My Marriott Hotel’ game.
• Explore ways in which Marriott and other hospitality companies can effectively leverage digital technology and gamification in recruitment.

Keywords

Recruitment, Selection, Attracting talent, Attracting Millennials, Recruitment strategy, Recruitment methods, Global human resource management, Employer brand, Social media for recruitment, Social recruiting, Gamification, Social gaming, Innovation strategy, Hospitality industry