As the Indian gaming industry continues to boom Indian gaming studios are focusing more on Learning and Development in order to ensure their people have the tools to continue to evolve and innovate in such a fast-paced industry.
A crucial and much-needed strategy for employee attraction and retention.
Learning and Development play a crucial role in attracting, retaining, and engaging talent in organizations. This trend was highlighted by LinkedIn in its Workplace Training Report, which stated that organizations are aligning their L&D programs with their plans for employee retention.
Providing training opportunities such as mentorships can have a major benefit on employee retention, especially in the gaming sector. When a gaming firm invests in L&D, it depicts its commitment to its people’s professional development – and this also helps strengthen relationships with existing employees.
This approach also assists in attracting talent who want to grow within their role, which is an essential trait for helping a business to grow and evolve with the demands of their desired industry. Offering these career development programs help employees think about their future and their next career move – if they are confident and can see a clear path for themselves in the company, it is anticipated they are likely to stay in their role for longer.
Stewart
Sumo Digital, for instance, provides an annual training session in the form of five learning days to all its employees including its India-based studios. This helps its people choose the training that is ideal for them in order to upgrade their skills, as well as explore other interests that could help them with their professional growth or develop them holistically.
With gaming emerging as a viable career option, L&D has become akey focus for gaming studios so that they can train and retain the employees in-house and prepare them for big tasks, rather than onboarding new professionals all the time.
Indian gaming studios’ efforts to retain talent
A successful L&D program does not focus solely on the company’s needs. It should also offer opportunities for personal development as well as technical skills. These initiatives boost the personal growth of its people, as well as play a vital role in enhancing the company’s productivity.
Offering trainee programs are a prominent instance of L&D initiatives provided by the Indian gaming studios. Sumo IndiaStudios follow the same practice where they hire freshers and juniors and train them for around four to five months.
Once Sumo India has analyzed their skillsets, they allocate the projects accordingly. Other gaming companies hire interns and apprentices in their studios and even offer graduate programs in different departments so that candidates can gain valuable experience.
Some studios also offer training academies where they provide hands-on training by industry experts. This allows aspiring new talent the chance to gather knowledge and skills with the opportunity to eventually join the gaming studio as an employee.
Some of the gaming brands also associate with institutes and education-tech platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, etc. to offer requisite education to the employees so that they can hone their skillsets. Again, Sumo Digital has also adopted this approach and has partnered with Udemy. Via this association, the company offers various free courses to the employees for their upskilling that they would otherwise have to pay for.
As a part of Learning and Development initiatives, many gaming studios also have a practice of sending employees to the headquarters studios abroad so that they can network. Sumo India Studios organize frequent visits for the team to the UK-based Sumo Digital studios for networking and to ensure that its people connect with others. This gives them a chance to learn, seek necessary training, and gather a first-hand industry account straight from the experts.It is initiatives like these that foster a collaborative environment and make Sumo India’s people feel connected as well as inspired. These are just some of the ways of attracting employee interest; whether it is the existing workforce or the potential talent.
Summing up!
As gaming studios are reimagining their strategies in the post-pandemic world, they are prioritizing L&D for two major reasons –one, so that the existing workforce feels valued and optimistic, and two, to attract new resources from the wide talent pool. With Learning and Development, gaming brands are not only able to strengthen their existing workforce but also lay the foundation to attract potential candidates who value development.
