Managing People (Case Study):

Orchestrating a Rewards and Recognition

Program at Fantasy Online Games
Faculty In-charge: Dr. Hema Bajaj

Company: Fantasy Online Games

Submitted by Group 10
Riddhi Jain, HRC 024
Naveenkumar KR, HRC 031
Pranjal Mishra, HRC 044
Yash Veer Nagar, HRC 049
Yashasvi Pokhriyal, HRC 054
Mili Rai, HRC 055
Pratyush Vaibhav, HRC 079
 Index

Introduction 3
Fantasy Online Games 3
The Industry of Tomorrow: Fantasy Gaming 4
The Need to Study Employee Engagement 5
The Voice of Fantasy Online Games 6
What Next for Fantasy Online Games 7
My 11 Fantasy Circle 7
Impact and Next Year’s Survey 7
Questions and Analysis 9
Theory and Literature Review 10
Exhibit 1: Glint Model of Employee Engagement 11
Exhibit 2: Survey Response rate for 2022 and 2023 and area of concern 12
Exhibit 3: Darwin Box Application Interface with Recognition Feature 13
Exhibit 4: Recognition System and the badges that can be given 14

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 Case Study
Orchestrating Rewards and Recognition Program at Fantasy Online Games

Introduction
In January 2022, Fantasy Online Games conducted an annual company-wide survey in order to gauge
the various parameters of growth and development of the business. Post-conduction of the survey the
results were very varied and Fantasy Online Games had problems in its hands. The top management
was unaware of the issues that the business was going through. Despite growing at an unprecedented
rate, there were some underlying issues that revolved around the lifeblood of the organization i.e., the
employees and the workforce.
The survey was anonymous and was conducted with the help of Glint, as the HR practices of the Fantasy
Online Games are still evolving. The survey has 20 different parameters with both a mix of subjective
and objective types of answers. The survey also allowed for comments and recommendations. Based
on this the scores are averaged and scaled from 0 to 100 after averaging all of the responses. When the
results were compiled, some of the parameters were rated very highly which solicited praise and
felicitation, while some of them were below average and required urgent action. They term these
parameters as Driver. Driver is a factor that contributes to engagement based upon the Glint Model
developed in partnership with Stanford University.
Fantasy Online Games found it out the hard way, that their employees were not happy and the business
had no clue about it. On a scale of 0 to 100, a score of 70 was deemed to be satisfactory. The three
Driver parameters which were close to or below this score were:

Challenge Status Quo 71

Recognition 65
Work-life balance 63

All the Drivers were above the benchmark score, except the Employee well-being Drivers. This called
for an intervention at the earliest. The top management was brought to light about these scores and they
reacted proactively taking cognizance of the Employee well-being Drivers.

Fantasy Online Games

Founded in 2006, by two friends Pandya Trivikraman and Thampy Bhavin inside a small computer
shop. The story is an interesting one where both friends were passionate online gamers, rummy players,
and excellent coders as well. After losing many hands of rummy over the years, they found their
inspiration from online games which were having miniscule presence in India but were gaining ground.
Pandya and Thampy took this idea of online rummy to the bankers for investment and looked like the
two jokers from the game of Rummy. The bankers were paranoid as they didn’t know if the venture
would even be legal and due to a lack of compliance and regulations there were a lot of grey areas.
Pandya and Thampy started with a free version of Online Rummy and it started getting popular. They
also launched Online Chess and other online games for free. The traction required to attract funding and
convince stakeholders was building up and in 2009 they wanted to launch a paid version of Online
Rummy. The issue was that they didn’t have a payment gateway and all their money had to be processed
through the bank which called for high handling fees. However, the struggle furnished results, and they
got CC Avenue as their payment partner along with HDFC as the qualifying bank. Pandya and Thampy

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were ecstatic and they rolled out paid Online Rummy. They were also able to convince Facebook and
Google about being a legitimate industry and therefore should be able to run ads.
One more tremendous obstacle remained to be overcome. Up until 2010, the two of them maintained a
tight ship thanks in great part to kind angel investment. Additionally, since the company was profitable,
there was no need to actively seek institutional capital. But when the pair ultimately chose to look for
funders starting in 2010, they were unsuccessful. Some venture capitalists (VC) didn't comprehend the
game; others did but dragged their feet before making the decisive move. Tiger Global, a well-known
hedge fund, sponsored the gaming project in 2011 after months of rejection and denial.
By 2012, they have gained enough players and they had expanded over several Indian states. The first
bit of drama in 2012 was when the Madras High Court gave a verdict against offline rummy. The
revenue from Tamil Nadu was as much as 25% of the total revenue. This threatened the Online rummy
business, but after a few months of clarifications, they were again in the safe harbour.
Fantasy Online Games started investing in free-to-play games over the following few years. On the
Google Play store, it introduced Ultimate Teen Patti and Ultimate Rummy. It launched U Games, the
casual gaming studio, in 2015. The outcomes started to emerge. The top-grossing Teen Patti app on the
Google Play market in December 2015 was Ultimate Teen Patti. On the Fantasy Online Games platform,
nearly 15 million players were present as of 2017. Two years later, the creators launched My11Circle,
a fantasy sports division, and selected Sourav Ganguly to serve as the brand's spokesperson. Since then,
there has been no turning back.
The business continued to grow with the rising digitization of India’s youth population and the ease of
connectivity. Fast forward to 2022, Fantasy Online Games has become a cornerstone of online gaming
in India, catering to the needs of all the players, while remaining profitable. They have raised as much
as $75mn from many angel investors.
The supporters are thrilled with the development. In India's rapidly expanding online gaming market,
Fantasy Online Games is a pioneer, according to Sumeet Nagar, managing director of Malabar
Investments. He hints that the organization has created a highly profitable enterprise with exceptional
acquisition and retention metrics. They have made significant improvements across the board, which is
quite an impressive performance.
The Raine Group's John Salter, a partner, and co-founder, is also optimistic about the online gaming
business. According to him, "We are steadfast believers in the potential of India's gaming market." He
believes that Fantasy Online Games, a pioneer in the online gaming sector, is still at the forefront of
innovation by providing rich game-playing experiences across genres and forms. We are eager to work
with them as they continue to grow.
For the friends, the beginning was fantastic.
The number of employees also started to increase during this time and they were a 1000 people strong
by 2022. When the business is small, it’s easier to manage expectations and deliver upon the same. With
the growth in business, the issues start getting complicated. Until 2021, Fantasy Online Games didn’t
feel the need for a comprehensive survey as the size was manageable but increasing. By 2022, there
was a need to feel that Fantasy Games Online requires a proper yearend survey, delegated to an external
agent. Thus, took the shape of the survey known as The Voice of Fantasy Online Games (VoFOG).

The Industry of Tomorrow: Fantasy Gaming

Online fantasy sports gaming (OFSG) is a type of skill-based online sports gaming in which sports fans
can build their team consisting of real-life players from forthcoming matches. Fantasy games are played
across multiple sports types like cricket, football, and others. These virtual teams are awarded points

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based on their actual statistical performance during the real-life match, and the winner is selected
accordingly.
Fantasy sports are an extension of real-life sporting events. More specifically, it entails picking virtual
players, forming a team, playing games, and then assessing those individuals on their performance in
both the virtual and real worlds. To understand the potential of the market, let’s discuss how online
fantasy sports businesses work.
A huge reward pool is formed when a high number of people participate in a contest. Following that,
these platforms distribute monetary awards while maintaining a 15-30% profit margin. They also make
a lot of money from sponsorship and advertising.
Millions of young sports enthusiasts around the country have been addicted to fantasy sports websites
and apps, and the number is growing. According to the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG) and
KPMG's report titled "The Evolving Landscape of Sports Gaming in India," the user base would exceed
100 million by 2021. The expanding user base and increased interest in sports have created a $1 billion
opportunity.
This segment had less than ten companies in 2016. There are now over 140 businesses. The market has
increased ninefold in the previous four years, from Rs 1,743 crore to Rs 16,467 crore.
Over the last few years, online fantasy gaming has witnessed a significant surge across the globe.
The growth is attributed to the increasing smartphone and internet connectivity rate. For instance,
according to an IDC report, 72% of users use smartphones mainly in developing nations such as;
India, China, and Indonesia. Thus, increasing smartphone adoption is anticipated to pave the way
for the online fantasy gaming market. Moreover, increasing start-ups for online gaming include;
Junglee, Rummy, bet 365, and some of the casual games on account of the surge in internet
connectivity such as; 4G LTE and the emergence of 5G connectivity also one of the factors that
bolster the market growth. For instance, according to industry experts, both the Google play store
and Apple Store has witnessed a significant surge in downloads of game apps. This depicts the
increasing demand for online fantasy gaming worldwide.
The impact of COVID-19 has a devastating effect on all industry verticals globally. However,
online fantasy gaming has witnessed twofold growth during the pandemic COVID-19 on account
of stringent government regulations such as; shut down of business operations that include;
offices, schools, colleges, and universities, cross-border activities, and social distancing norms,
among others. This enables young consumers to adopt online fantasy gaming as a free option,
thereby increasing demand amid the pandemic COVID-19. Also, the opening of real sports
events such as football and cricket led to increasing demand for the online fantasy gaming
market.

The Need to Study Employee Engagement:

The research on social recognition in employee engagement at Fantasy Online Games is critical for
establishing a pleasant and thriving work culture. Social recognition is the practice of publicly
recognizing and thanking employees' efforts and achievements, whether through verbal praise, written
commendations, or peer-to-peer recognition programs. Understanding the role of social recognition in
this gaming firm is critical for several reasons.
Second, social recognition encourages employees to feel a sense of belonging and togetherness. A strong
sense of unity is crucial in Fantasy Online Games, as teams work to develop and launch games.
Employees that publicly praise and appreciate one another's achievements foster a supportive and
cohesive work environment. This sense of belonging improves teamwork and communication, resulting
in better problem-solving and innovation.

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Finally, social acknowledgement boosts employee retention. Employees that feel valued and
appreciated are more likely to remain with the company. Retaining experienced staff is critical for
keeping a competitive edge in the competitive gaming business, where expertise is in high demand.
Social recognition programs can considerably reduce attrition rates and the costs involved with hiring
and training new staff.

The Voice of Fantasy Online Games (VoFOG)

Building on traditional practices was easy for Fantasy Online Games, as the number of employees
impacted is still at a manageable level. The inception of VoFOG (Exhibit 1) was a welcome step in the
direction of knowing more about the health of the business in the human capital sense.

VoFOG Step 1: Self-assessment and goal setting

Each year the employees set competency-based goals and self-assess themselves on the basis of what
the business was able to deliver and what they felt as gaps in the system but were uncomfortable sharing
the same with everyone. The survey was conducted by Glint in January of 2022. The rating was based
on a scale of 1 to 5 and these ratings were extrapolated to a scale of 0 to 100.

VoFOG Step 2: Compiling of results

The survey undertaken by Glint of over 763 employees was averaged out and the results were compiled
by March 2022. The survey showed that it had been participated by 88% of people and there were 745
comments from 820 employees. This was a fair number in the sense of engagement and the Drivers
were fairly close to the benchmark score.

VoFOG Step 3: Inference

VoFOG builds upon the idea of creating an Employee Engagement Score which is measured by the
Drivers from the Glint Model. The two primary questions include:
“How happy are you working at Fantasy Online Games?”
“I would recommend Fantasy Online Games as a great place to work.”
These questions were an indicator of general Drivers, and for other specific Driver quantification, there
were specialized questions on the areas such as Leadership, Risk Taking, Collaboration, etc. regarding
the Driver area. The survey had a response rate of 88% (763 of 867) respondents (Exhibit 2). The 20
Drivers were identified and sequenced in categories where top-performing Drivers were required to
maintain and keep up the exceptional score, while the bottom three required urgent action and
intervention.
This is where the new model of the Rewards and Recognition program for Fantasy Online Games was
born. The CHRO Virat Goyal immediately sprang into action and started brainstorming ideas with his
team to develop a solution to improve these, Drivers.
The HR team found out that the solution lies there within the business’s framework. They have in place
an HRMS solution known as Darwin Box. Darwin Box (Exhibit 3) is an HRMS tool that provides a
one-stop solution for employees from their attendance management, leaves, and performance
evaluations to life insurance etc. However, it had one major feature that was not being utilized as it
should have been. The Darwin Box has a menu for Recognition where employees can give one-to-one
recognition in an informal setting. This feature was existing before but the adoption rate for the feature
was very low.
The HR team now had a clear idea of how to go about solving the issue, but the process was still to be
mapped out. They first started with top management and asked them to consciously rate the employees
that have shown workplace citizenship. At first, the top management was apprehensive about the
process as this would lead to forced recognition and might tamper with data as the real contributors may

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not be recognized. However, on clarification from the HR team about how the data will be processed
they started adopting the feature. The Recognition menu had two different badges (Exhibit 4) which
said
“Thank you.. U make a difference”
“Kudos”
The two badges were defined on the basis of to whom the recognition is being given. The first one was
for the team members working under a manager, while the second badge is for when you see some
exceptional work being done by a member of someone else’s team or your peers.
Another important point of inflexion was the sub-par work-life balance identified in the Glint survey.
Fantasy Online Games has been a good place to work but the issue comes in when the Indian Premier
League starts or other similar sports competition starts. During this time the matches are held during
the evening and continue till late at night. This calls for an added responsibility on the teams that
undertake marketing, operations and logistics. They have to work during the day as well as during the
night to keep things in order. This overburdening often leads employees to slack off and decreased
productivity.
The CHRO and the HR team were very surprised to have these kinds of scores for the Driver of some
of the most important scores in case of growth and development of the employees.

What Next for Fantasy Online Games

The recognition system started gaining traction among the employees and people started getting
recognized for all the workplace motivation and doing work on their own accord. But this was just a
badge on an application. The HR team took cognizance of the fact that social recognition is a positive
driver of growth. The HR team decided to do a Pulse Check after every 6 months. Thus, the first Pulse
Check happened in September 2022. This is when Virat Goyal called for a new system of Rewards and
Recognition for Fantasy Online Games.

My 11 Fantasy Online Circle:

My 11 Fantasy Online Circle was a pilot program launched by Fantasy Online Games to recognize the
hard work of the employees who have shown extreme workplace citizenship. They were awarded
plaques and were celebrated among the top management and other similar parties. This scheme was
an instant success and people started looking up for these bi-monthly meetups. The other employees
also started taking cognizance of this recognition scheme and started showing more interest and
becoming more driven at work. This scheme, therefore, had a two-fold impact and catered to the
current need for Fantasy Online Games. This pilot program turned out to be as expected and a positive
movement in the score was expected in the next survey.

Impact and Next Year’s Survey

Glint conducted another survey in January 2023, using the same methods as we have discussed above
in the case. The results were compiled and the scores saw a rise in them although the rise in scores
was less, they were in the positive direction as expected. Fantasy Online Games now had a solution in
their hands that was going to work, provided they give it enough impetus. The next step was to make
it robust and stable in some other ways other than annual appraisals and bonuses to reward the top
performers.
Fantasy Online Games, therefore, thought of the following solutions:

• Make space for the provision of monetary rewards as well for the top performers.

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 • Every team manager was to nominate only two of their members if they have more than two
members
• No recognition should be provided based on obtaining favours or other such things.
• The recognition should only be provided on a suo moto basis and should not be forced upon.
• The badges hold value and the employees receiving them are distinguished by having their
photos on the wall of distinction for two months.
• To cater to work-life balance, CHRO and the HR team came up with the prospect of Job
Sharing and increased hiring
• They decided to include other members from other teams with lean periods of work.
• The teams were to be rotated every other day.
• There were mandatory complimentary leaves that were awarded to the employees who
worked overtime to meet goals.
• Their compensation was also adjusted accordingly.
All these practices created a situation of satisfaction and increased the work-life balance. By June
2023, the Pulse Check Scores look healthy and in an upwards direction. The next step is getting the
Drivers of employee well-being to cross the benchmark score of 70, and Fantasy Online Games is on
the right trajectory. Further plans for Fantasy Online Games include the addition of a monetary
component to the social recognition awards. However, there are many challenges for the same as they
can be plagued by money crunch if they go too heavy on the rewards program. Thus, the HR
department has a tough job on its hand by keeping the fine margins in check and taking care of the
motivation and performance of the employees during the same.

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Questions and Analysis:
1. Do you think the new scheme adequately recognizes and rewards employees for their
contributions and achievements?
2. How will the new scheme impact employee retention and work-life balance?
3. What do you think about why the business had to take such a step to sort out the employee
engagement processes? How effective it can be in the long run?
4. If you were to make some changes in the scheme, what would they be? Any other shortcomings
of the scheme?

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THEORY AND LITERATURE REVIEW:
1. Forbes: Games 24x7: How Bhavin Pandya and Trivikraman Thampy turned wild cards into a
winning hand Reference text
2. Vinfotech: State of Online Fantasy Gaming in India
3. Reinventing Performance Management at Allen and Overy
4. Our Story (Fantasy Online Games)

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Exhibit 1: Glint Model of Employee Engagement

Source: Data of Survey from Fantasy Online Games

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Exhibit 2: Survey Response rate for 2022 and 2023 and area of concern

Source: Data of Survey from Fantasy Online Games

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Exhibit 3: Darwin Box Application Interface with Recognition feature.

Source: Darwin Box application features applied as HR solutions

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Exhibit 4: Recognition System and the badges that can be given.

Source: Darwin Box application features applied as HR solutions

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