Hiring can be fun

Organisations are taking up ‘fun’ hiring strategies to analyse prospective employees and attract right talent

Having the right person in the right job is the crux of business success. With today’s changing market dynamics many organisations are fashioning their hiring strategies to appeal to the young, creative and the whimsy. Heineken’s recent hiring campaign – The Candidate, received mixed reviews from the industry. Where some see this as just an attention seeking stint, others feel that such hiring strategies can be the game changers.
Putting on the creative caps 
According to Ashish Arora, Founder & MD, HR Anexi, “Making hiring fun is a great way to truly judge and analyse a prospective employee.” He stated that in traditional interviews, candidates are very likely to be someone you “expect” them to be. “Being creative is the alternative as the candidate does not have a set precedent to fall back on; as long as the creative method measures the outcomes expected from the candidate in the role offered,” he added.
With the rapidly changing organisation dynamics, recruiters often need to improvise hiring practices. Consequently, organisations are thinking out of the box to attract the best talent available. Udit Mittal, Founder & MD, Unison International agree that hiring in a fun way is a good practice, indeed, but “It takes experience, exposure and brainstorming to have creative thoughts while hiring,” he exclaimed.
The right approach
Before taking on the first step to have fun hiring strategies in place on should assess the practicalities of the recruitment environment. These include the profile and position you are hiring for and also the budgetary allocations, the desired final outcome and business implications.
Arora explains, “It is definitely practical to apply such an approach to recruiting. However this approach may not be applicable to all job profiles or companies. Every job requires a different skill set; for instance, a brand analyst, a banker and an HR manager have very different skills or traits a recruiter would look for.” He explained, “For jobs where being creative, open and vibrant are imperative, it would be ideal to make hiring extremely fun. However, for jobs that are more serious, strategic and research based, the right approach would be to have a blend between a serious and fun interview.”
All gain, no pain
A creative hiring technique, besides being novel, cost effective and an energetic way of hiring, also adds to the employer brand value. As Vinay Nijhawan, COO, PurpleLeap puts it, “Such hiring practices keep the stress out and culturally, it shows that the organisation encourages out of the box thinking and is a cool place to work for.”
For Mittal, hiring in a creative/fun way ensures an interesting recruitment process. “It brings out the inherent personality of the candidate and helps in breaking the ice.” Arora highlighted, “It provides the much needed competitive advantage. If you are just doing a traditional interview, the chances of you being played by the candidate is high where people might be seasoned to impress in a job interview. Introducing fun, creative techniques gives that one glimpse into the candidate’s true self and whether he will blend with the company culture.” 
Be warned
There are certain things that should be kept in mind while applying creative/fun hiring tactics. According to Nijhawan, “It requires very high levels of maturity on the part of the interviewer. Creative formats have to be thoroughly thought through before applying.”
Arora makes a point, “Being creative during the hiring process does not necessarily imply being ‘crazy’. Debrief the candidates post the interview session, just to let them know that it was all part of the interview process. They shouldn’t feel awkward and confused, resulting in them turning down the job before they are even hired.” He suggests vigilance on recruiter’s part, “Ensure the recruiter does lose focus amidst all the fun but carefully and thoroughly evaluates the candidate.”
Such practices only reinforce that “Work is not all drudgery. It follows a safe assumption that if you enjoy doing what you are doing, then you do it the best,” concludes Nijhawan.