Training Young Leaders in Five Stages — The PlayFlock Case

This is the first article in a series about corporate learning from the WN Academy educational service. This series will feature materials dedicated to the importance of employee training, all illustrated with real case studies.

Anna Frolova

A little about myself. I've been in game development since 2016. That's when I started working at the mobile game development company PlayFlock as an HR. Before that, since 2009, I worked in the financial sector, where I first encountered corporate learning and experienced its positive impact on business.

The Problem

In the mid-2010s, PlayFlock was in a phase of active growth and staff increase. Consequently, young managers started appearing in the organizational structure, who were, just yesterday, working as line specialists.

Their inexperience and intuitive management inevitably led to several challenges:

• errors in staff selection;
• absence of an adaptation system;
• lack of processes aimed at developing skills and competencies;
• high employee turnover during the probation period;
• loss of motivation among employees working for more than six months.

Part of this stemmed from young managers not understanding their managerial roles. Their work, at that point, was reduced mainly to task setting—often without clear deadlines or requirements.

Something needed to be done about this. We began addressing the situation by auditing the entire company—analyzing the employees' competencies and the processes established in departments.

For this kind of audit, we chose two formats:

• team meetings;
• individual meetings with managers.

Teams were asked one question: “What are you missing from your leaders and the company as a whole?”

As for the managers, it was more complex.

• First, we built a competency map: a set of knowledge and skills that a company leader should have.
• Second, during conversations with managers, we identified the qualities they had and those they lacked.
• Third, we identified their pains and challenges, understanding how they saw the company's situation, and highlighted difficulties.

This audit allowed us to better identify problem areas impacting overall efficiency, deadlines, and work quality.

For instance, we found that some managers didn't know how to allocate existing resources correctly. Some addressed deadline issues through hiring, thus expanding the team.

In some departments, adaptation was reduced to setting tasks in full from the first working day—without detailed explanations, team introductions, or feedback.

With the realization that the main problem was the lack of managerial competencies, we took on the training of managers.

The Solution

To rectify the situation, we developed a management training system consisting of five stages.

I.

There were no people in the company who professionally engaged in training. From this, it became clear that an external specialist was needed, someone with sufficient experience to train our leaders.

We researched the market and chose not just a person but an entire training company specializing in such services. Our choice was based on how long they had been in the market, reviews, and whether they customized programs for the client.

II.

We then held a strategic session in collaboration with the training company. It lasted two days. During this time, we explained the company's development direction to the managers, united the management team, outlined the metrics we were expecting, and provided clear requirements for the "Manager" position.

III.

Once resistance was overcome, and managers understood why they needed training, why we initiated this endeavor, and what results we were aiming for, the main phase—the "Effective Management Skills" program—began.

It became the first mandatory stage for all current and newly appointed managers. It included comprehensive coverage of all necessary basic practices—from delegation to motivation and time management.

The program became the foundation of the growth system. To officially obtain a managerial position (or deputy), an employee had to complete the offline training, successfully pass the test, and receive a certificate.

IV.

If new knowledge isn't put into practice, only 30% of information remains. Therefore, it's crucial to ensure new knowledge is applied.

For this reason, particular attention was paid to post-training analysis and follow-up. It was structured as follows:

• after the program's implementation, trainers regularly returned to our company;
• they conducted interviews and surveys to identify residual knowledge;
• the obtained feedback was sent to the HR department.

V.

Based on the feedback received, the HR department worked with managers individually in the form of coaching sessions. These sessions focused on the skills that needed the most improvement and enhancement for each specific manager.

The Results

Within the mandatory program for managers, we implemented a task and project priorities assessment system, increased team motivation and efficiency, established the practice of quality feedback, and strengthened corporate culture.

These changes significantly improved the atmosphere and overall effectiveness of the entire team. Managers became more adaptable and resilient to changes, gained a better understanding of business needs, and learned to make informed decisions.

Before the training, managers mostly relied on intuition; now they have real tools to work with people and projects.

Additional results of the training include:

• recruitment effectiveness doubled (managers became better at understanding whom they wanted in their team, for which roles);
• the quality of onboarding improved (previously, adaptation was limited to meeting colleagues on the first workday, now it involves a complete process);
• employee turnover reduced from 7% to 2% per year (partly because managers began redistributing workloads differently).

Conclusions

In a rapidly changing market, the importance of effective management cannot be overstated. For our company, corporate training has become not just an investment but a key condition for further growth and market stability.

With 18 years of HR experience, I am confident: having a corporate learning system provides companies with a strategic advantage. It acts not only as a non-material motivation tool that strengthens employee loyalty and retains talents, but it also creates an environment for initiative growth, experience exchange, and forming a unifying corporate culture.

Investments in training do pay off manyfold: top employees stay with the company and, continuing to learn, become even more professional. This is directly reflected in the quality of the entire team's work. Personnel becomes adaptive to changes and new technologies, mastering new tools faster, and bringing fresh solutions to business processes, contributing to the optimization and overall development of the company.

WN Academy has prepared a corporate leadership training program considering the main needs and issues commonly arising in gaming companies. You can purchase the program in a standard form or customize it to your requirements.