Everyone has their own image and perception of their ideal company in mind. After the official launch of GamaGarden on April 3rd, 2012, Albert said to his media friends, “Gamania celebrated its 17th anniversary at 13:00, on April 1st, 2012. This company is like my child, I’ve cherished and loved everything about it. I hope it could become a company with a competitive edge in every aspect, be it innovation, development or staff welfare etc. In sum, I hope that Gamania is the most ‘kick-ass’ company… ”When the word, ‘kick-ass’ was uttered, our media partners who sat with straight faces on couldn’t help but burst out laughing. The loudest laughter came from Albert. He and his partner, Linus and Athena built GamaGarden together which was really ‘kicking ass’! They started this ‘mission impossible’ project last year after Chinese New Year, in less than 10 months’ time, they matched every requirement set by the latest kindergarten regulations in 2012, and built the very first corporate kindergarten in game industry from scratch!
▲GHQ-HR-Athena Tsai (left) and Linus completed a mission impossible. Words cannot describe how they feel when they received the certificate of permit.
Linus said as the head of HR, one of the responsibility is to seek better benefits for the employees. In fact over a year ago, Albert once mentioned unofficially, “Could Gamania build its own kindergarten?” Albert thinks that the company should reward its staff for hard work and dedication which is also why he insists that both the company and the staff should be considerate and supportive of one another. Looking back at the initial stage of Gamania, the average staff age was roughly the same as his but as the company grows and expands over the years, the average age of staff also increases and the responsibility of the company also increases. As a token of appreciation, Albert thought it’d be a great idea if the company has its own kindergarten nearby so that the employees don’t have to run around between work and family!
Therefore when Albert announced the decision of establishing GamaGaden during Gamania Townhall, Linus thought it should be his duty to carry out the task. Although he was completely unfamiliar with how to build a kindergarten from scratch, the spirit of Gamania encourages Gamanians to step outside of comfort zone. Linus invited Athena to joined the task force. Athena said that she was just as unfamiliar with the task as Linus at first. What a mission impossible! She thought that it is only right to seek professional help. There are many kindergartens around the company, perhaps they could talk about the possibility of collaboration. However, the proposal came out during the busiest time of the year, when they first put their hands onto ‘mission impossible’, it was already March in 2011. Linus and Athena visited all the kindergartens within 10 minutes drive of the company and realized there was a big problem! Some of these private institutions were somewhat suspicious about Gamania’s investment and resolution in running a kindergarten, and some of them wanted to put profit as their top priority which goes against Albert’s initial idea. After much discussion, Linus and Athena decided that if collaboration fails, let’s build one on our own!
▲Looking a venue for GamaGarden was the first obstacle faced by Linus and Athena. They eventually found a suitable two story place near the headquarter.
Athena also phoned new Taipei City government to inquire about relevant laws and regulations and visited governing official units to gain more information on relevant requirements. They were overwhelmed by the amount of task they need to complete. A few A4 papers of regulations would require tons of proofs of documents. It had been months after the announcement of this project and time’s running short. And under the circumstance that they couldn’t find a suitable space for establishing a kindergarten, negative thoughts started to kick in. However, “Do the right thing instantly and do the best you can” has always been part of Gamanian culture. It didn’t matter what difficulties or challenges met during the process, Albert has been supportive all the way. He even appointed special assist to CEO, Charles and other heads of departments to assist HR in building the kindergarten. Athena was under tremendous pressure in order to give birth to GamaGarden. Linus encouraged the much-frustrated Athena that, “Making GamaGarden come true would definitely be the milestone of your career!”
Athena went through much trouble and bought a big aquarium for GamaGarden so that kids could experience more eco education.
As the Chinese saying goes, “The almighty helps you after you stick up for yourself”, due to hard work and efforts, many professional helps appeared. Athena gained replies and feedbacks from child-education related websites and was introduced to Healthy Grow Foundation. Their ideas clicked instantly! With the help of professional organization, Gamania successfully met with the regulatory requirements and found the perfect space for location. However, to finish the actual building by December 31st 2011 was way too difficult for professionals including architect and interior designers. If so, should we still go ahead and do it? If it couldn’t be finished by deadline and be examined by the officials, all the investments the company made would go into drain. However, if we start the project after we work out all the regulatory glitches, we would definitely miss the official launch date. As head of HR, Linus made a crucial and risky decision then and there. Let’s do it! During the day time, the constant construction noise often disturbed the neighbors, the admin. had to apologize and negotiated with the contractor to see if they could do the construction at night. Things like this took place on the daily basis. When everything was finally done, and when Albert received the certificate from major Mr. Chu, it proved that everything was worth it. And it really does ‘kick-ass’!
GamaGarden’s birth was the result of many people’s assistance and collaboration. Could you imagine only a year ago this place is an complete empty space!? Willing contribution for the company and self-enhancement are two criteria for a happy company. Only when employees feel honored to be part of the company members can they feel sense of happiness when working in it. From family, company, society to the country, it is only when members have the rights to speak, respect one another, bring their skills to full play, can values be realized and possess that force of happiness. That force of happiness is the key to enhancing competitiveness in a company and making it sustainable in future development. Gamania and staff development are correlated, we aim to become the most ‘kick-ass’ happy company in staff’s mind.
▲Before the launch of GamaGarden, we held a staff visit day and parent forum to answer questions regarding GamaGarden to staff and parents.