1. Queensland University of Technology CRICOS No. 000213J ITB751/ITN751 Games Production Lecture 8 Human Resource Management Ross Brown

2. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Lecture Contents Organisational Factors Marketing Factors Guest Lecture – Kirsten Boud, Pandemic Studios

3. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Readings Textbook Chapters: –Chapter 12 Websites: –http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010907/davies_03.htm - mentions some aspects of team building and human resourceshttp://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010907/davies_03.htm –http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=5739 – a games company won a HRM award, so it can be donehttp://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=5739 –http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1789/the_designers_not ebook_employees_.php?print=1 – some notes on personnel managementhttp://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1789/the_designers_not ebook_employees_.php?print=1 –http://www.igda.org/articles/erobinson_crunch.php - great article against crunch timehttp://www.igda.org/articles/erobinson_crunch.php

4. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Human Resources “The human race is faced with a cruel choice: work or daytime television” - Unknown

5. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Supporting Positions We now start looking at more supporting or surrounding positions within the games industry This is because a number of people in this unit will be from non-gaming backgrounds who may wish to enter the industry It also allows you to consider other positions that may interest you in the games industry

6. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Human Resource Management (HRM) Is the process of managing employees to help them achieve satisfaction in their job challenges, career progression, relationships with co- workers HRM is also seen as a far more effective way of managing employees full-stop Instead of controlling the employees, the intent is to win the employees commitment

7. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R How do you want your yolks? There are are two basic models of HRM –Soft –Hard

8. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Soft HRM Personnel and labour relationships can be dealt with under four human resource categories: –employee influence – responsibility delegated by management to employee –human resource flow – flow of people through and out of the organisation (recruitment, selection, promotion and termination) –reward systems – extrinsic (tangibles, pay etc.) and intrinsic rewards ( from the work itself, to employees –work systems – the way people, information, activities and technology are arranged to get work done efficiently and effectively

9. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Soft HRM Policy within the organisation must satisfy all the stakeholders: shareholders Employees Customers Suppliers Communities Trade unions Associations Government

10. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Four Cs Commitment – elicited on the part of employees Competence – obtaining good employees Congruence – between management and employees Cost-effectiveness – wage budgets, employee turnover

11. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R How soft? This approach is soft due to reliance on people outcomes Shareholders are not seen as more important than other stakeholders – criticised as unrealistic However, employee needs can contribute to bottom line factors Other soft models come from the UK by Guest [1] – with 7 components instead of four

12. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Hard Models Often presented as the “Michigan” model due to the main advocate coming from Michigan University Employees are treated as a means to the organisation achieving its ends – Strategic HRM Performed in a purely calculative and rational manner

13. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Hard Models Focussed on the competitive success of the organisation Not such a simplistic issue – a business has to survive Focuses on the organisation and its existence in an environment

14. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Hard Models Management may overestimate its influence Seeks to improve productivity thus…

15. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Four Components of Hard Model Selecting people who are best able to perform Appraising performance to distribute rewards Motivating employees by linking rewards to high levels of performance Development of employees to enhance their current performance

16. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Soft and Hard Understandably most models used by firms have both approaches included into their management of personnel HRM is about an integrated approach to personnel management that seeks to develop an effective team – see the 25 point system in [1]

17. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Vision and Mission Corporate Goals and Strategies Business Strategy Marketing, HRM, Finance strategy HRM Policy HRM Plans HRM Procedures HRM Practice A Model of Strategic Management, showing the place of HRM [2]

18. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Main Tasks [2] Recruiting Employee Development Performance Assessment Motivation Rewards and remuneration

19. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Recruiting Implementation of recruitment programmes to find staff Systems – treating recruitment as a system with inputs/processing/outputs Procedures – what are the tasks to hiring

20. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Recruiting Advertising – placing of job advertising in a correct manner Shortlisting – filtering of applications Organisation of selection – sitting down with other team members to select the person according to selection criteria Overall administration of process

21. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Employee Development Aiding employees to progress their careers Identification of developmental needs – don’t leave it to the people themselves in all cases Allowing for autonomy in training – time off for study Provision of training in–house or as part of work time Systems to keep track of all this information in a diverse workforce – part timers, outsourced work…

22. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Performance Assessment Implementation of the rules regarding employee performance Work that must be accomplished Criteria upon which it will be assessed Objectives of exercise - not to fire the employee, but to help them develop Feedback to employee

23. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Motivation Facilitating peak performance from your employees Is strongly related to rewards Includes recognition of intrinsic factors in employees - eg. the creation of “kick-ass” games

24. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Rewards and remuneration Base pay – calculated according to studio policy, awards, contracts, general strategies... Bonuses – based on extra performance of team, company or individual… Benefits – health insurance, social clubs, travel allowances, shares…

25. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Overall Work at quality of life for members – intrinsic factors such as contribution to society, creativity, sense of teamwork via creating a social and supportive culture with appropriate rewards for productivity This is required in a mature games industry – old “death march” practices have to be let go

26. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R HRM in Game Industry HRM is exceedingly important in the games industry Crunch time is often quoted as an onerous factor in the games industry Typical developer burn-out rates are quoted at 3-5 years

27. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Electronic Arts Law Suit Spouses filed a class action against EA regarding overtime spent developing games They won…http://www.gamasutra.com/php- bin/news_index.php?story=9051 To the tune of 30million dollars total – engineers and graphic artists

28. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Roles A lot of these issues revolve around the management of the project by the producer Thus the loss of people in a company, though is due to many factors The part the studio contributes is a synergy between the work of the producer, and the lack of an appropriate HRM approach

29. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R HRM Roles Thus we have game companies employing HR managers to aid the process of retaining employees and maximizing productivity The other reason for having HRM in the companies is to keep the staff even if they have reasonable working hours You may have a great company, but you still have to engender employee loyalty

30. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Poached Employees Employees may leave due to many reasons – challenge, pay, travel… Is often due to poaching by other companies BTW, the local IGDA chapter has a strict no- poaching policy at meetings…

31. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Roles You report to the general manager of the studio in order to implement the HRM policy You will deal with the leadership team, producer, lead developer, lead animator, Q/A, amongst others in order to operationalise this process You effectively communicate this policy and also implement these policies with employees

32. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R Skills Masterful people skills – hello!!!! You will have to be a people person Interviewing – able to evaluate and extract relevant skill information from prospective employees Listening skills – dealing with employee issues Planning – set up a systematic management approach to employees in your game studio

33. CRICOS No. 000213J a university for the world real R References 1.Pinnington, A. and Lafferty, G. Human Resource Management in Australia, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Australia, 2003 2.Maund, L. An Introduction to Human Resource Management: theory and practice, PALGRAVE, New York, USA, 2001