The results of the year are summed up by Tanya Loktionova, founder of the recruiting company VALUES VALUE. She also shared how 2018 went for the Russian-speaking HR segment of the gaming industry.
Tanya LoktionovaHow was 2018 for you personally?
If chronologically, then: a wedding trip, the appearance of a cat’s house, moving to the Netherlands and the appearance of a second cat, a trip to Disneyland and other bright trips.
I began to write more and speak at conferences with joint reports.
How was the year for your company?
This year for VALUES VALUE has become a period of formation and awareness of who we are, how we have changed and where we will develop further. There are already 16 of us. They left the company or we ourselves said goodbye to several employees. And this is my signal to other business owners and managers: we are not perfect, no one is perfect, no matter what correct reports anyone reads and articles they write. Mistakes in hiring are proof that without understanding your company, its values and culture, business processes and structure, without having clear job profiles, each successfully completed probation period is luck, not a pattern. It’s just that some people get lucky more often. The more often they work on the “boring things” listed above.
In the summer we had our first off-site strategic session and a corporate party at sea. In the fall, the first man appeared in the company, and in December, the second, so we no longer accept accusations of sexism.
The VALUES VALUE command
We will enter the new year with an updated strategy and values.
Now I am working on formulations on how to convey in values our transformation from “we are beautiful here in a white coat” to real concern for the industry, the candidate, the employer. From individualism and “everyone here is a superman” to the search for super strength in the team. These transformations would not have been possible without the disclosure of the potential of our top management, the growth of all colleagues. Our brand has strengthened, and the financial goal for the year has been achieved.
And the news of the news for us is the first newborn in VV. Olya, congratulations on the birth of your daughter!
What event of 2018 do you consider the most important for the industry?
Traditionally, I will note those that affect the labor market. Firstly, there are about a dozen investment deals and mergers and acquisitions that have taken place in Russia and Ukraine. These are the announced attachments Mail.ru in four Russian studios, and unannounced deals in the CIS market. In Russia, one successful company buys shares in other well-known companies. In Ukraine, immigrants from Israel with experience in building large studios and a cool employer brand, combining notable studios in their holding, have conducted at least three big deals over the past six months.
Secondly, it is freezing the issuance of licenses for publishing games in China, and there is not only a negative in this. The need to find new markets leads the Chinese into our recruiting embrace. Following Skymoons (sold to the Chinese equivalent of Netflix — iQiyi — for $ 300 million this year), a studio in the CIS was founded by FunPlus. We are negotiating with another very large player in the Chinese market to open a large development studio in Kiev. This trend will continue and intensify.
And, thirdly, the arrival of very strong players from the mobile world in game dev. For example, our Easybrain customers. These are more mature companies in terms of systematic management with an investment history and a cool expertise in marketing and technology.
What trends of the outgoing year would you note?
Of course, this is hyper-casual in mobile and messengers as a niche for aspiring entrepreneurs. Again, you don’t need a staff of 30+ people and a budget of hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to launch a potentially successful mobile project. This gives a huge boost to the industry. And there is rapid growth on all fronts, for example, wages are rising. Companies also understand that they must compete not only in hiring, but also in retaining employees, strengthening the employer’s brand. If at the beginning of the year our customers mostly came with a request to search for recruiters, now we have three vacancies for HR directors in our work.
Another trend is a huge demand for tools and ways to enter the industry for beginners and “switchers”. Next year we plan to develop our initiative to support young talents of game dev, and they, in turn, support us. Look at the video that talented Minsk resident Danila Shintar helped us create. Now he is studying to be a game designer at BSUIR and simultaneously engaged in video directing and editing.
What are the third-party projects of this year that you liked the most?
At home, Red Dead Redemption II became the main game of the year, a source of joy for my husband and a previously unknown feeling of jealousy for the game for me. There was no such thing at God of War!
I didn’t have a new favorite mobile project, except for Reigns: Her Majesty. But Beat Saber came out, which was just a discovery for me in the world of entertainment and gaming experience. Emotions are almost comparable to watching Bohemian Rhapsody. I play every day and I advise everyone!