DESIGN
ENGAGING DESIGNS Words by Rachel Zammit Cutajar Photography by Yolo Group / Kristian Kruuser
Established in 2010, Yolo Group, formerly known as Coingaming, has experienced such rapid growth over the last 11 years that they have had to move offices no less than four times, having just moved into their own building which serves as their Headquarters in Tallinn. The office design was a tight collaboration between designer Niko Miettinen and Yolo CEO Maarja Pärt, and heavily focuses on the wellbeing of the people that work there.
It’s no secret that hiring new staff is an expensive endeavour, with hidden costs in the depletion of employee morale, diminished employer brand and encouragement of further turnover as well as the lost productivity of the person leaving the company. This makes talent retention an important aspect of running a company, as the wellbeing of employees often affects the bottom line. Salary and perks only do part of the job in attracting the right talent and doesn’t do much for retaining those hard-earned employees. Research and practice both show that one of the key factors linked to employee retention is engagement, better described as the emotional bond an employee feels with the organisation for which they work. Engaged employees are five times more committed to helping their company succeed, four times more likely to recommend their organisation as an employer, and three times more likely to recommend improvements within the company. Office design is one of the subtle factors that influences productivity in the workplace, thus keeping staff engaged was the central focus of the new design.“Whilst we were aware of the research in favour of human-centred design, I didn’t really understand how much everyone would appreciate it until we moved in,” CEO, Maarja Pärt said. “Though the research focuses on employee productivity, what
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we've found to be more beneficial is the sense of ownership employees now feel towards the offices, and this increases engagement.” With 87% of CEOs recognising employee disengagement as the single largest threat to their business (according to a survey conducted by KPMG’s People and Change Advisory Team at the 2017 Malta iGaming Summit), this gives Yolo Group a competitive advantage through talent retention. Throughout the recruitment process, whether employing permanent staff or partners for specific projects, engagement come as a high priority at Yolo Group, and candidates are selected by how likely they are to be engaged. The relationship between company and designer was one that started years before this grand project, in the refurbishment of their first office. “There was never any doubt of who was going to do this project. We first engaged Niko for a small refurbishment of our first office, and it was he who first suggested we start looking for a better facility. When we found one, he built the project from scratch, doing much of the work himself to stay within the budget – and even then, he was so determined to do a good job, he went under in this one. This is when I realised how engaged he was a worker, and since then, he’s become and integral part of every move we’ve made since,” Maarja said.
