Marriott targets millennials through social‐media game : Potential employees experience the thrills and spills of kitchen work

Purpose – The aim is to describe an employee‐engagement social‐media game that is helping to make Marriott Group a less forbidding place for local people from developing countries to apply to work. Design/methodology/approach – The article explains the background to the development of the game, the form the game takes and the results it is designed to achieve. Findings – It is found that that players of the My Marriott Hotel game run a successful kitchen that services an invisible but implied dining room. This entails balancing such elements as hiring staff, equipment acquisition, ingredient sourcing, customer satisfaction and quality control. Practical implications – The article explains how the tool is helping Marriott to attract more millennials – those between the ages 18 and 27 – to its workforce, by showcasing the opportunities and growth potential attainable in hospitality careers, especially in cultures where the service industry might be less established or prestigious. It highlights a tool that could help to make multinational companies a less forbidding place for people from developing countries to apply to work in. Originality/value – The article describes what is believed to be the first branded game on a social medium.