Primarily aimed at an international audience, hotel chain Marriott has just released a Facebook game designed to introduce prospective employees to the hospitality industry. MyMarriottHotel allows players to take on the role of a hospitality manager. Currently, the only “mini-game” takes place in the kitchen, where players must cook, buy supplies, and get dishes to the counter, but there are plans for more.
Notice that at the top of the game lies the “Do It For Real” button that takes you to Marriott’s career site. The business goal of the game is to fill 50,000 positions at Marriott chains around the globe, mostly outside of the United States. David Rodriguez, Marriott’s VP of global human resources told Springwise, “This game allows us to showcase the world of opportunities and the growth potential attainable in hospitality careers, especially in cultures where the service industry might be less established or prestigious.” Effectively, Marriott is utilizing the game environment to not only train employees in the needs of running a hotel, but also build support for the culture of the industry.
The game is developed by Hive, a creative agency out of South Africa that has previously worked on products for Royal Navy contractors and UK provinces. Earlier this year, German manufacturing giant, Siemens, released a similar game for training employees on the ins-and-outs of factory management called Plantville. That game is a bit more sophisticated (not to mention more engaging) than MyMarriottHotel, but the idea is the same: provide employees with a tool to understand their business outside of their individual role.
For more on MyMariottHotel, check out Springwise’s article
