Castille, a specialist recruitment and search firm in tech and financial talent, took part in Sigma 2016 by organising panels in relation to HR, regulation, engagement and retention in the gaming industry.
The opening statement to a series of panels referred to an article by the Harvard Business Review, wherein engagement with millennials was cited as one of the three top concerns for leading CEOs. Panelists Jamie Debono (iGaming Academy), Thomas Mahoney (MGA), Michael Caselli (iGaming Business) and Saviour Balzan (moderator/Malta Today) discussed Malta’s position to develop its relevancy in iGaming on a global scale through education. They also discussed why companies in Malta should support the education effort and how these courses can help professionals develop further.
The second panel discussed skills shortages, emerging employment trends and the associated legal and tax implications. With their extensive knowledge in legal, audit and recruitment, Paul Micallef Grimaud (Ganado), Matthew Brincat (Ganado), Mirko Rapa (PwC) and Matthew Camilleri (Castille) discussed the reasons and evolving trends behind skills shortages, with candidates capable of software development being a prime example of the situation faced by many firms around the world.
The demand is always exceeding the supply of available talent and Ian Busuttil Naudi as moderator questioned the panellists on ways of mitigating these shortages through different methods, mainly through targeting of more EU candidates and third party nationals, using remote working, providing Internships and partnering with outsourcing providers.
During the second part of the event, Nathan Farrugia, CEO at Ultimate Performance, took the stage and spoke about how one can future-proof their people to outperform competition. In this keynote, neuroscience met HR management, motivation theory and performance strategy, to stimulate the audience into thinking about how to prepare the workforce for massive change.
The final panel had a greater focus on employee engagement for digital workers. From the experience of specialists and industry research, it is known that digital workers request and need varying workplace elements, not necessarily requested by other industries.
The panel members, Omar Bitar (Poker stars), Katharina Mifsud (Tipico), Martin Schillig (Betsson), Marvin Cuschieri (FHRD) and Matthew Camilleri (Castille), contributed by using their experiences in using the HR Tool Kit to optimise employee engagement and retention. Such tools include training and development, rewards and compensation, technical challenges, positive working environments, diversity in the working place and the possibility for employees to think outside the proverbial box.