Immersive experience, a lever to attract and retain talent

Immersive experiences are becoming increasingly popular in the entertainment world, whether it’s a Fortnite experience, a Harry Potter Escape Game special, or the Immersive Van Gogh National Exhibition that has taken over social media around the world.

But what does this have to do with recruitment?

Both digital recruitment and immersive experiences are about standing out and connecting with the global environment and each other.

That’s why companies are also investing in immersive experiences. Instead of a PowerPoint presentation on the latest workplace safety updates, companies are designing experiences that teach safety best practices while providing a team building experience. These corporate games are designed in an immersive environment. And it works very well, as immersive gaming can be a powerful way to bond people on the same team.

Immersive experiences in the corporate setting are an opportunity to create stronger bonds between team members and a corporate culture that acts as a recruitment driver. Here’s how to use this lever to boost your culture-based recruiting and long-term talent retention strategies.

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES NATURALLY BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

In the virtual workplace, many employees never have the opportunity to interact outside of a Slack channel or Zoom meeting. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to bond with colleagues through these channels, yet it requires extroversion and common understanding.

Office connections are usually formed at the coffee machine or during quiet moments at company functions, such as conferences or on-the-job training days. To help recreate these moments of social interaction for remote employees, companies are turning to immersive experiences, putting employees together in virtual environments that foster interaction and lead to bonding.

Emeraude Escape has helped several companies design custom immersive games for this purpose. For example, we worked with an international chemical company to create a multi-player virtual Escape Game that is, in reality, an awareness and prevention platform on the various risks in the workplace. Players are grouped into teams (the ideal size is six people maximum per team) and move from room to room to solve puzzles while learning best practices in the real workplace. Each player’s video is streamed live during the game, and players are encouraged to talk directly to each other to solve puzzles.

This type of interaction plays on the IKEA effect, in which people are more interested in objects when they are actively involved in building them. So when employees are actively involved in team building, they become more interested in their team and the individuals in it.

IMMERSIVE GAMES STRENGTHEN CORPORATE CULTURE

Creating a corporate culture from a distance is not easy, and conveying values from a distance is a real challenge for many companies with telecommuting and international teams. However, it is essential that employees feel connected to their company. The company needs to create virtual environments that match its values while showing employees that it is truly invested in them and their well-being.

Employees don’t want Zoom happy hours. In fact, when we surveyed more than 1,000 telecommuting employees during the health crisis, 54% of respondents said they had participated in a virtual happy hour with their co-workers as a team-building activity, yet only 25% of those respondents said they preferred this event format.

The same survey found that 70% of employees would be happy to play immersive virtual competitive games with their co-workers to strengthen company culture and team cohesion.

FRIENDLY BONDS FOR A BETTER TEAM BONDING RATE

The relationship between immersive experiences and employee retention is quite direct. Games provide a solid foundation for bonding. When integrated into the workplace on a regular enough basis, games can bond team members and strengthen relationships and even friendships between colleagues.

In another survey conducted by Emeraude Escape, 66% of employees said that relationships with colleagues were a major factor in their decision to stay or leave the company.

Immersive experience technology is booming across all industries, and it’s encouraging to see companies embracing it to improve working conditions for everyone. The end result being better talent retention and more fulfilled employees who feel more attached to their company.