At Massive, we work to craft the best game experiences possible, but we can’t do that without first having a solid foundation on which we all can stand. That is why our four core values mean so much to us as a game studio – but what are these values, and what do they mean in our daily work?
In this article, HR Director Magdalena Schultze talks more about our Massive values and what they stand for, as well as why values are vital for any company.
Values are about identity. Who are we as a company, what do we believe in, and what do we stand for?
Here at Massive, we have four core values which represent who we are as a game studio and define our company culture: Craftsmanship, Courage, Responsibility, and Family.
They are the guiding lights for our company, employees, and candidates. We believe it’s important to see values as a framework, which each person here should fill with meaning – something that makes sense to you.
I also believe that it’s important to have realistic values – values that are easy to remember and explain.
Our Massive values
About a decade ago, it was “trendy” for companies to work with values, and the more values, the better. Ideally, you would have a long list of them. Today, it’s more common for companies (like us) to have three or four core values. Fewer and clearer values are not only easier to remember, but also easier to implement in the daily work of our employees.
We decided on our Massive values about four years ago, when we realized that we needed more defined and clear values that our employees could remember and connect to.
We decided on our Massive values about four years ago, when we realized that we needed more defined and clear values that our employees could remember and connect to. It was a huge work which involved many different parts of our studio – a work that in the end has helped define who we are.
Values matter for us as a game studio and everyone who works here, but they matter equally as much for potential candidates.
Around this time, we also decided on creating custom icons for each value to make them more recognizable and easier to include in different type of corporate messages – a way to simplify them and create a reminder of sorts without having to spell it out every time.
Finding the right match
So, values matter for us as a game studio and everyone who works here, but they matter equally as much for potential candidates.
In our job interviews, we often ask the candidate to choose their favorite value and create a discussion around that.
If a candidate feel that the values don’t match their own world view, then it’s probably an indication that you should reconsider applying for a job at that company. Values – and how they are formulated – are a great indication of what type of company it is, what they stand for, and what kind of culture they have.
In our job interviews, for example, we often ask the candidate to choose their favorite value and create a discussion around that. It’s incredibly valuable, not just for us as an employer, but also for the candidate. It’s a way for us to gain mutual understanding of how well we could match with each other.
However, we of course also have to work with our values internally, with our current employees. And for a company growing as much as Massive, it can be a challenge to keep our values alive. So, how do we do it?
Working with values
Our internal surveys show that our employees to a large degree believe that we live up to our values. It’s in our DNA.
But we must never take them for granted.
Therefore, it’s important that everyone at the company feel that they are a part of the value work.
It’s vital to understand that value work is not something that should be enforced top-down. Instead, it’s the leaders’ job to present the values as a framework.
At Massive, we do this through, for example, linking our values with our leadership, performance reviews, and other work with the teams. However, it’s also important that the employees take responsibility to remind themselves and those around them about our values.
It’s vital to understand that value work is not something that should be enforced top-down. Instead, it’s the leaders’ job to present the values as a framework. We need to continuously remind each other of them, no matter if you’ve been here 10 years or 10 days.
Understanding a company’s values is a must no matter who you are or what you work with. However, that doesn’t mean that you must have the exact same values. What it means is that you need to be able to respect them. It means that you can question how we live up to them – discussions about this are good. It’s all about transparency and openness.
Finally, something that I want us to become better at is taking our values with us in our daily life. In the end, our Massive values encourage inclusion, and that’s something I hope everyone carries with them home – even after the work day has ended.
