The video game industry has become hyper connected and digitally focused. It can sometimes be hard to step back and get some rest.
Oftentimes considered not very serious, the subject of quality of life and happiness at work is at the core of professions that revolve around Human Resources. Indeed, according to a survey conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion, the well-being of French people at work depends mainly on a friendly working atmosphere and the recognition from their supervisors.
But then, how can we combine productivity and well-being? Even though offices suited to your employees are a good start, there are many other options available to make your business environment as welcoming and caring as possible.
An increasing number of companies are opting for the recruitment of Happiness Managers, special well-being agents who are in charge of guaranteeing positive synergies and creating activities to promote happiness at the workplace, among other responsibilities.
QLW at Old Skull Games
A few years ago, we started participating in the “Quality of Life at Work” Week.
At Old Skull Games, our happiness managers (also internally called the “happy team”) have chosen to animate those events by proposing wellness and relaxation-oriented activities: yoga workshop, digital detox conference, sport session in open air with a coach or a healthy, local and anti-waste breakfast.
Beyond this Quality of Life at Work week, Old Skull Games has developed over the years many tips to improve the quality of life of its employees: a fruit basket for healthier snacks that promote a revival long-lasting energy, some yoga balls to soothe the musculoskeletal disorders of the team while working, or hammocks in a space dedicated to well-being and rest.
Because regularly surveying your team and knowing the points of improvement you need to work on is essential, we also use Office Vibe, a tool that allows us to adapt our activities and our Office Management in a collaborative way by collecting the opinions of all.
We’ve signed the QLW charter!
Last year, to mark our commitment, we signed the Quality of Life at Work Charter set up by Game Only.
Companies that are members of Game Only, including ourselves thanks to Jennifer (HR Director), participated in the development of this charter as well as in a reflection on concrete tools to improve the quality of life at work for everyone.
Behind this approach lie different goals for video game studios. Firstly, to improve the quality of life of their employees in order to encourage them to stay in their jobs and contribute fully to their professional development. Those considerations around Quality Of Life at Work also aim to contribute to the attractiveness of the studios and enable them to attract talent in order to strengthen their teams and face up to the international competition in the market.
More broadly, this initiative seeks to improve the industry’s image among the general public, and in particular young people, in order to convey the values and moral commitments of companies to people who might join the industry one day.
In the end, whether it be the actions set up within our studio or on a regional scale with Game Only, all these thoughts about QLW and attentions put end to end generate teams that support each other, communicate more freely, are being more creative everyday and are more efficient, all in an industry that is evolving very quickly on these concerns.