The Company:
Epic Games, with approximately 235 employees, is a video game developer based in Cary, N.C. and creator of the "Gears of War" franchise for the Xbox 360.
The Practice:
In the highly competitive world of video game makers, CEO Mike Capps (pictured right) knows that his ideas for employee retention aren’t enough to keep rival developers from cherry picking his top talent. That's why he picks the brains of prospective and new employees: to learn about and adopt the best management practices used by other development studios. As a result, Epic's voluntary turnover has been less than 1% over the past seven years.
The Formula:
Use interviews to research the competition's latest and best perks. Capps asks job candidates what they like best about their current job. It’s not a trick question; it’s a fishing expedition. “I like to steal good ideas as soon as possible,” he says half-jokingly. If a prospective hire describes a particularly appealing benefit — especially one that might prove tempting to his employees — Capps will offer it too. Similarly, he co-opts rival management methods that would improve his staff's productivity.
Do a pre-Kool Aid interview. A couple of weeks after a new employee starts working, Capps pulls them aside to get their impressions of how the company operates — and how it compares to their last job. It’s critical, he says, to do this before that person gets too used to Epic’s corporate culture. “It gives you a fresh set of eyes,” he says. “At that point, they are still walking around saying ‘Why do people do things this way?’ and ‘At our last company, we did this and it seemed to make more sense.’” These tete-a-tetes with prospective and new employees have resulted in everything from new ways of tracking software bugs and addressing community feedback to keeping the kitchen stocked with a wide variety of Pop-Tarts and hosting in-office whiskey tastings.
Solicit complaints from current employees. To ensure existing employees have a say in management, Capps instituted the “Keep Epic Beautiful” program. The company’s human resources director regularly asks small teams — ranging from 12 to 15 people — what they like and don’t like about Epic. Additionally, the company conducts "climate surveys" every six months, polling the workforce at large about its satisfaction level. Capps then reviews and addresses any criticisms — often discovering that what’s needed is better communication, rather than more benefits. (Some employees, for example, thought the company’s health benefits were substandard — until they learned what the competition offered.) “I think maybe the guys are spoiled a little sometimes," says Capps. "But I’d rather err on the side of caution there."
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Karen Aho is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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