The last Public Gambit Event focusing on

Talent

The challenges and solutions,

September 2006

It was a successful event, despite the end of summer holiday.

We had over 80+ people signedup,

Endemol Gaming, Inside Gaming, Ukash, Jackpot Gaming Ltd, William Hill, ADS DOT COM, Imprimatur Capital, Ovum, The Clever Group, addleshaw goddard, Jackmedia, Eidos, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, Citadel Commerce, Paymedia, Vitesse Media plc, Michael Page Executive, Cass, Imprint Search & Selection plc, Open University, Globix UK Ltd, Noktalar, Betex Group plc, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International, Wand Agency, ISIS Executive Search, IGH Plc., Chameleon, Betfair, Alcatel, Propel London, Sovereign Trust (Gibraltar) Limited, United Media Entertainment Group, Expression Imaging, Dexia, Betfair Ltd, HR international, Gextech, Capital Partners Group, empire online, chartwell games international, interactive investor, World Bet Exchange, eGaming Review, Press Association, ATE, BrinkGame, Eastburn Tech Ltd, Imprint plc, AnQer Ltd., GamCare, Lucky 8 Limited, Ladbrokes & Global leisure partners.

The Gambit Talent Panel of speakers.

From left to right: Euan Kenworthy (H&S), Chris Long (H&S), Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson (Just for People), Jason Kilby (Propel, Sponsor of the evening), Romain Daste (HayGroup), and Gareth Wong (Gambit founder).

Gambit Talent report, by Lorien Pilling.

Just the job - enticing talent to eGaming

Judging by some of the suntans on show at September's Gambit event, the eGaming industry had summered well, although there were perhaps a few holiday homes in the Hamptons and Florida Keys that went unused.

The sponsor for the evening's broad topic of "Talent" was New Media recruitment agency Propel, and its Head of iGaming, Jason Kilby, was invited to give the first presentation. Jason was responsible for setting up Propel's dedicated iGaming department in February 2005 and he is now head of a team of four consultants.

In his talk Jason argued that in a rapidly expanding industry, such as online gaming, there were inevitably going to be a finite number of people with industry experience. It is, therefore, essential to attract "outsiders" to broaden the pool of talent available to operators. At the moment, candidates with new media experience hold all the aces when it comes to making a career move into online gaming.

Based upon his experience in helping PartyGaming and Mice and Dice, Jason thought it was crucial for eGaming companies and recruitment agencies to have a close relationship. For example, when working with PartyGaming, it was important that he completely understood the cultural changes the company had made in its recruitment process. It was this understanding that allowed him to be fully involved in identifying the right people for PartyGaming.

But, in closing, Jason said the recruiter's role was very much more than just finding the right candidate. Acknowledging that after recent events eGaming might have a poor image to those outside the industry, he believed that recruitment firms have an equally important part to play in creating positive PR for the sector.

Chris Long and Euan Kenworthy from executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles gave an insight into their work in assessing the track records of potential candidates for Board level and directors' positions. They outlined the experience and achievements needed for the COO of an eGaming company and described the issues faced by companies looking to fill high-level posts.

Amongst high-flying executives in blue chip companies there is currently a feeling that taking up a position in an eGaming firm represents a "brave career move". Chris and Euan highlighted executives' concerns about the legality of the industry, its youth and immaturity, and share price volatility. In attracting suitable candidates, executive search firms not only have to overcome these specific concerns but also a more general lack of knowledge about the sector.

Even if an extensive education process about the industry is undertaken for the benefit of the world's business community, the issue remains: how do you entice people into eGaming who aren't looking to move from their existing sector?

This question was addressed by reward consultant Romain Daste of the Hay Group, who spoke about talent management and reward. As the earlier speakers had indicated, the "war for talent" is being waged as fiercely in eGaming as any other business. In addition, salaries are often one of the main expenses of an organisation, so salary data is essential.

Again eGaming's immaturity is against it because, as Romain explained, there is a dearth of data available on the industry's salaries and reward packages. Instead, he used research from the wider e-commerce sector and the South African land-based gaming industry to compare salary increases in sectors at different stages of their growth cycle.

For the ensuing panel discussion, the speakers were joined by HR professional Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson. Jeanette is MD of Just For People and has provided HR services for both 888.com and PartyGaming. Her industry experience enabled her to provide some valuable advice in answering the audience's questions.

Three areas dominated the experts' discussion:

· Recruitment issues caused by eGaming companies' offshore location - it can deter some candidates from applying for positions. Will it become less of a problem when the UK becomes a viable jurisdiction?

· Candidates' responsibility to research the industry - is the company a reputable one? Does the company's culture appeal to you? If the job is based offshore, will the lifestyle really suit you for more than six months?

· Making the switch from entrepreneurial to corporate - how can companies ensure a smooth transition from entrepreneurial start-up to publicly listed company? It is essential to define what the founders' and the newly recruited board members' roles and responsibilities will be. A company's founders can be reluctant to relinquish control to outsiders!

The online gaming industry must face up to the recruitment challenges posed by being a young, fast-growing sector and accept that finding the perfect candidate is difficult. As a result, companies must be open-minded and creative with their recruitment process. All those involved in eGaming recruitment still have much to learn.

In November, Gambit's final meeting of the year will be used to review an eventful 12 months for eGaming companies as well as looking forward to what 2007 might have in store. Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the Remote Gambling Association, is already a confirmed speaker for the Gambit panel.

Speakers on the night:

1.) Chris Long, Partner, Heidrick & Struggle - Case study on the challenges of hiring CEO & Board directors for the gaming gambling sector. They just placed Mitch Garber at PartyGaming Plc.

download Chris's presentation here.

2.) Jason Kilby, Head of eGaming at Propel London (also exclusive category sponsor of the evening) - Case studies on Talent challenge for the sector

download Jason's presentation here.

3.) Romain Daste, Reward consultant, Hay Group - Case studies on Talent pay scale, compare to media, entertainment, technology and finance sectors etc.

download Romain's presentation here.

4.) Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson, Founder and Managing Director of Just For People Limited- Interim HR director for likes of 888.com Holdings, Party Gaming Plc. etc.

Many thanks for the evening's exclusive category sponsor:

Hosted:

Gambit on Talent Event media partners:

Speaker Profiles:

Chris Long, Partner, Heidrick & Struggles:

Chris Long's search experience covers a range of senior-level appointments in the UK and internationally, including chief executive and multi-country general management positions, as well as board-level functional appointments. Internationally, Chris is experienced in the Asia Pacific region, the Americas and developing markets, where he has built senior leadership teams for acquisitions, mergers and newly established international alliances.

Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Chris had been a Partner at Whitehead Mann since 1999. He began his career in human resources with a number of organizations in industry and commerce, and was ultimately appointed HR Director of Europe for Diageo.

Education
Chris holds a degree in business administration.

Jason Kilby, Head of iGaming, Propel London:

Jason set up the iGaming Department at Propel in February 2005, which has now grown to a team of 3. Propel itself has grown from 4 to 16 in that time.

As with many at Propel, his work experience is not recruitment-based. After graduating in Political and Legislative Studies, he worked as a research assistant for an MP for 3 years, then as a journalist and commissioning editor for The Mail on Sunday’s Night & Day magazine for a further 5 years. He was then employed as Editor of UpMyStreet.com for 3 years, before starting his own Political Consultancy for the 18 months before joining Propel.

Romain Daste, Reward consultant, Hay Group:

Romain works with clients to help them achieve a fair and motivating approach to reward. Romain helps clients to accurately size their jobs through the use of the Hay Group evaluation methodologies, and provides reward benchmarking information to enable salary and bonuses to be set appropriately to motivate employees and maintain competitiveness with other organisations.

Romain began his career in HR within the finance sector, focusing on employee relations and performance management. Following on from this, he then moved into various consulting roles providing advice on international executive assignments. In addition to this, he gained expertise on HR and reward practices in European, South American and Asian countries prior to joining Hay Group.

Romain has a BA in Business Administration from L'Institut de Preparation a l'Administration et a la Gestion - Business School Paris and a Master's Degree in International HRM from the London Metropolitan University. Romain also writes professional and academic articles on reward related topics. He is multi-lingual, speaking French, Spanish and Japanese and studied and worked in the UK, Spain, France and in the United States.

Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson, Founder and Managing Director of Just For People Limited:

Jeanette is a senior,commercial HR professional, with extensive post-graduate international experience across multiple business sectors. These include Financial Services, Automotive, FMCG, Pharmaceuticals, Leisure & Entertainment, Professional Services and Recruitment. She has particular expertise at driving business turnarounds, M&A integration and start-ups, via objective-driven, change-management assignments. Jeanette has a track record of successfully delivering on ‘mission impossible’ projects, with specific skills in: working with Boards to create & execute winning business strategies, providing organizational efficiency through effective recruitment, creative restructuring, devising strategic compensation & benefits and management development systems, delivering attendance & productivity improvement programs, building Global cultural appreciation, and developing irresistible employer branding via powerful Corporate Social Responsibility agendas.

She has worked on or advised likes of Ford, Cargill, Priceline.com, Novartis, and likes of 888.com Holding Plc and Party Gaming Plc.

This site is organised by Gareth Wong, you can email him to propose topics, discuss any aspects relating to Gambit or this site.