What does it take to be a Great Place to Work?
By Paul Miskimmon, Senior Communications Specialist
While planning for our technical and business goals in 2019, we also decided to add an additional target for the Wargaming Sydney team- to be established as a great employer and a great place to work. This was something equally as important as our other objectives throughout the year, and while we’ve developed a great environment for our employees, we needed tangible proof to put a spotlight on our team while also showing us ways to continually improve the Sydney office.
This forced us to ask ourselves, what makes a great employer? We were eager to know where we were at as a studio and what our teams expect from us to make our workplace totally awesome. Through inquiries and discussions, we learned that happiness and engagement at work ranked number one for our employees, and we needed to do everything we could to help create that experience. We wanted an unbiased perspective from a third-party for us to be as objective as possible in this process. The team researched and identified one of the top companies in the world that have been studying companies’ cultures for a long time- Great Place to Work.
We sought the expertise of Great Place to Work, a global research and consulting firm specialising in employee engagement, organisational alignment, and workplace culture. We needed to be able to get a benchmark of how we were doing as an office. With the help of Great Place to Work, we were able to survey our employees anonymously to determine the best aspects of our organisation and our areas of growth.
Our expectations were sort of low. We hoped we would do well, but at the same time, it was our first time surveying our employees at this scale. We had no idea what to expect. We either had an incredible work environment or were on the opposite side of the spectrum entirely. We weren’t the only company going through this process, there were other self-proclaimed companies that believed they were “great place to work”, but that didn’t make it any less scary. Up until this point, we had thought we were a great place to work, but now- now it would be a definitive yes, or a definitive no.
The result was what we had hoped, but it was still surprising; in a good way. We reached the bar to be awarded the Great Place to Work certification – woo hoo! It’s what we wanted to achieve as we heard people saying, “there’s a good vibe in your office guys”. Still, it was surprising because we honestly didn’t know what to expect. So here we are … what’s next?
This is what Wargaming Sydney HR Director, Lana Kersanava had to say:
Participating in the Great Place to Work study was one of these challenges that completely changes your mindset and was a great experience. We received a clear understanding of where we are in terms of our people & culture initiatives and what we can do better. There were very useful data points and we are taking actions based on the study result. What is more important for me is that this step was important for all of us. Being a great place to work is our commitment to the studio and it brought everyone together. It sparked more ideas, more collaboration, more alignment and enjoyment. It took the trust of all levels of the studio, top to bottom. It makes your culture this uniquely engaged and satisfying thing.
If you ask me “will you do it again” I would say – Absolutely … in a few years. It required lots of work – this year I was submitting our processes descriptions while I was on vacation overseas to meet the deadlines. Glad it wasn’t for nothing. On a serious note though, everyone in the studio was excited to receive the Great Place to Work certification, and we’re committed to continue being a great place to work and build upon what we’ve learnt!
Want to join the Wargaming Sydney Team? Check out our opportunities here.