Considering how much time the average tech startup employee needs to spend at his or her office (or whatever work-place of their preference), having a positive and happy company culture is something that could go a long way towards keeping these employees fresh and productive, ready to adapt to the ever-changing tides of technology.

With an average employee age of 26-27 years old, Garena Thailand’s work-place is filled to the brim with enthusiastic-yet-restless millennials who want nothing to do with the typical grind of traditional offices. To share with you some tips on how to keep your dear employees happy, People Team Manager of Garena Thailand Veerapat “Palmmy” Keeratiwutthikul revealed the five core values that keeps Garena the youthful hub of innovation it is today.

Secret #1: Look for people with the same DNA

• Refers to the key values of the organization: Active, adaptive, collaborative, determined
  • Ideas and technology move fast; something that works today might not work tomorrow, so we must be ready to take action whenever it is necessary.
  • Garena operates in large teams, so collaboration is crucial for all our employees. Also operates many different businesses (Garena gaming platform, AirPay, Shoppee)
  • Our employees are people who are truly passionate about what they do, be it gaming, e-commerce or shopping.

• By looking and recruiting people with these qualities, we can keep the entire company on the same page as we move forward.

Secret #2: Allow people to shine

• We allow and encourage all employees, even fresh graduates, to pursue their own initiatives and projects.
• Allows everyone to contribute and feel significant.

Secret #3: Support our people to reach their goals

• Garena believes that by helping our staff achieve their goals, we will reach our own goals as a company as well.
• We provide many kinds of activities to help with various aspects of life: - Stress-management training - English communication classes - Coaching sessions - Health insurance, benefits and check-ups
• We are also open to discussing what works and what doesn’t with our employees, so that we can help them more in the future.

Secret #4: Bring people together

• Various activities like pep rallies, parties, etc. which bring various departments of the company together
• As always, listen to feedback from employees about what can be improved.
• Example: the Garenian Hug, where a Garena mascot walked around interacting with the employees. - Made them laugh and have fun, while also introducing the company mascot to everyone

Secret #5: Merge work and play together

• We want people to come to work and feel relaxed, like they’re also here to have fun and meet their friends.
• We have many facilities available for employees, like a table tennis table, a pool table, swings, free ice cream and juice, and even a reading corner with bean-bags.
• Sometimes you don’t have to have a meeting in a closed room. Many good ideas come from a more relaxed atmosphere.  

There are no set rules. There are many types of businesses and people, so there is no exact method that can be successfully applied to all businesses. You need to determine what kind of business you are and what kind of people you employ to see what is ideal.

Examples of successful businesses with interesting company cultures:

Riot Games (Developer of MOBA game League of Legends)

• Uses colorfully-lit rooms to create a productive working atmosphere
• Provides a leisure corner for employees to hang out or even play games.
• Gives staff the opportunity to lead their own projects to achieve fast updates.

Under Armour

• Provides a big basketball court for their employees.
• 70% of their employees are former athletes from school or college, which allow them to develop products based on real needs.

SouthWest Airlines

• Maintains excellent customer service through positive reinforcement
  • Sharing sessions about positive customer-service stories
  • Spirit magazine: inter-company magazine talking about inspirational stories regarding excellent customer service.