How Gaming Companies Help Their Employees during Self-isolation

A difficult time. Today, game developers are forced not only to stay at home, but also to work in new conditions for themselves. The companies MYTONA, Belka Games, Frag Lab and Deus Craft told how they help employees in the circumstances.

The material was prepared jointly with Talents In Games, a specialist search platform and a recruitment agency.

Lena Timofeeva, HR Director of MyTona

During the remote work, MYTONA introduced several cool online chips and bonuses for her team, which improved communication and employee engagement.

1. Rental housing

The company rented apartments for Maitonians-students who had previously lived in a dormitory, so that they could work more comfortably.

2. Free internet

The company pays for the expenses of the Mytonians on the Internet. The cost of Internet access is compensated during the entire period of remote work from home.

3. Morning online charging

Maytonians start the morning with a brisk online charging. Also in the corporate chat, the guys post videos with their exercises and life hacks for home sports.

4. MYTONA TV NEWS Video Releases

Once a week we release a video digest of MYTONA TV NEWS with the latest company news. In each broadcast, the presenter talks about the development of projects, what new things have appeared in the game updates, what results the teams have achieved and other news from the life of MYTONA.

5. Events

Slack regularly hosts online events: quizzes on various topics, online coffee in the morning, calls during lunch and much more. Slask also has interest channels where employees can communicate with like-minded people on non-working topics.

Thanks to these innovations, the Mytonians easily adapted to work from home and even improved their productivity.

Olga Kondratovich, HRD at Belka Games

Before the pandemic, although we had experience working with remote employees, most of the team still worked in the office. Despite this, we very quickly switched to a new mode. It took us only three days to transfer all the teams to remote work and prepare the necessary tools for it.

As part of the transfer and subsequent adaptation of employees, we:

• helped organize jobs at home;
• taught how to work properly at home;
• set up online learning tools;
• we started holding Demo day online;
• organized the service of employees in medical centers;
• they started holding entertaining online contests;
• we have established targeted assistance to personnel;
• we took up the delivery of gifts to employees.

Now I will focus a little more on each point.

1. Helped organize jobs at home

We are well aware that even at home the workplace should be comfortable. Therefore, we have delivered furniture (tables, chairs, etc.) for everyone to organize the workspace.

In addition, in order to avoid problems with communication and video calls, we tried to provide everyone with all the necessary equipment. Also, our system administrators constantly monitor and help solve any issues that employees have with equipment and services.

2. Taught how to work properly at home

For many members of our team, working from home was a novelty.

In the first weeks, we held a series of training lectures, where we talked about how to better build a work schedule, organize a home office and be effective while working at home.

If employees had technical or organizational difficulties, the administrative team always came to the rescue until they went to the employee’s house, taking into account all necessary precautions.

3. Set up online learning tools

We have used online learning tools before. But at the moment, all our courses and training programs have already been translated online, including, for example, foreign language classes that were previously held in the office.

By the way, our colleagues continue to participate in conferences, share their experience with industry colleagues, only now it all happens remotely.

4. We started holding Demo day online

Demo day is a corporate event that is held in our company once a month. On it, we share the news for the past period, tell about the plans, welcome all new employees who joined us this month and make sure to leave time for informal communication.

In the current realities, we held our first Demo day online. The guys gave a lot of comments about how they would like to improve the informal part. Employee feedback is extremely important to us, so we are preparing a separate entertainment part for the next Demo day. And there is even an idea to hold an online concert of our guys.

5. Organized the service of employees in medical centers

Now all our employees can visit any specialist in the medical center or call a doctor at home without unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles. We have carried out professional disinfection in all office spaces, which we will now implement on an ongoing basis.

6. Started holding entertaining online contests

We have organized contests before, but now we have to adapt them for a remote format. For example, we held a contest “Home Squirrel”, in which the guys shared how they designed the workspace at home and how the Squirrel, our mascot, brightens up their remote work. There were a lot of participants. The most original received prizes.

7. We have established targeted assistance

Trusting relationships with employees is one of the principles of our culture. We, as a company, try to participate in the lives of our guys. Now it is especially important to help employees and their families in difficult life situations. We are always ready to help and support them in various life situations.

8. Took up the delivery of gifts to employees

We celebrate memorable dates for the company’s employees. For example, passing a trial period, 1 year of work, 3 and 5 years of work. We wanted to continue to please our guys even in such a difficult time. Therefore, we decided to organize the delivery of branded products to all regions where our employees work.

Svetlana Zvyagintseva, HRD at Frag Lab

We try to diversify the monotonous remote everyday life of our employees so that work in quarantine is remembered not only by being imprisoned within four walls, but also by the manifestations of the family spirit of our company, where everyone cares about each other.

1. All rallies have been transferred to Zoom (we bought a premium account so that the rallies are not interrupted every 40 minutes, we also ask you to use the cameras as much as possible so that there is the effect of maximum presence). Some cameras were bought at the expense of the company.

2. Once a week we hold a town hall for the entire studio, be sure to provide information about the progress made on the project, birthdays, holidays and plans for the near future.

3. We make targeted deliveries to all employees:

– for the studio’s birthday, everyone was sent a bottle of prosecco and chocolate truffles;
– we send out sanitary kits, which include a respirator, sanitizer and bactericidal wipes;
– we send out vitamin kits (fruits, nuts, ginger, honey).

4. We conduct a regular survey “How are you doing?” Based on its results, we contact everyone who has difficulties or problems and help solve them as far as we can.

5. We have prepared a selection of useful links for the delivery of products, protective equipment, deliveries from restaurants, gifts, as well as online excursions to museums around the world, which are now actively giving free access to their fund.

We continue to recruit people and have already been able to test the technology of bringing employees to work in “remote mode”, helping newcomers to adapt to such unusual conditions as soon as possible.

Alexey Belkin, HR Director of Deus Craft

We know that the income of some of our employees has decreased in the families due to the official permission of the authorities to reduce the salary of IT specialists by 20%. We, of course, pay full amounts without any cuts. Without exceptions, even if the person is on sick leave.

We also organized workplaces for our colleagues: we brought, connected and configured equipment. Someone was issued a workplace for a family member on request (not all companies allowed their employees to take their work machines home).

Otherwise, we continue to hire artists, game designers and programmers to the teams, as well as arrange meetings (only now exclusively in video format) and lectures.

By the way, at the initiative of one employee, a channel about the history of paintings appeared, plus we made a bot that unites those who want to pair up for drinking drinks together. In general, we are working normally.

Also on the topic:

• “Hunting is not working now”: Marina Lopatina from Talents In Games about the personnel market during the quarantine period