iGaming industry in focus: Key components for cultivating a successful company culture

Establishing a strong company culture isn’t just about fostering a positive work environment, it’s a crucial driver of sustainable success.

Today, we’re delighted to present an interview with Prof. Dr. Andreas Ditsche, a distinguished figure who brings a dual perspective as both the CEO of iGaming.com, one of the industry’s leading affiliate marketing companies, and as a professor at KIU, mainly teaching topics like entrepreneurship and innovation.

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In this in-depth conversation, Prof. Dr. Ditsche shares his perspective on the key components that transform good companies into great ones, exploring how organizational culture can drive innovation, enhance employee satisfaction, and ultimately lead to sustained business success in the competitive iGaming landscape.

How has the unique nature of the iGaming industry shaped your approach to building company culture, and what challenges have you faced that might be specific to this sector?

The iGaming industry is marked with prejudices. What comes to mind are obscure persons playing an illegal game of poker in a smoke-filled dark room, always ready to run when the police knocks on the door. The reality is different. The industry is a highly regulated multi-billion dollar business. However, leading a company in this industry means leading with little purpose compared to other companies. Furthermore, iGaming.com is a remote-first company, which includes challenges.

Can you walk us through a pivotal moment in your company’s history where culture played a crucial role in overcoming a significant obstacle or driving innovation?

At iGaming, we must balance creativity and efficiency. It is important to understand that there is no one-size-fits-all in corporate culture. People achieve the best results differently. If they prefer working physically together, we make that happen. If they prefer working in the solitude of their remote office, that is fine as well. However, we do not encourage anyone to silently sit in the office and stare at a computer screen.

In an industry that’s often associated with high turnover rates, what strategies have you implemented to retain top talent and foster long-term commitment to your organization?

People leave when they do not get along with their boss or miss bonding and cohesion within their team.  In a remote organization, socializing is a management task. Seemingly unproductive time makes remote teams productive. Transparency, open-mindedness and ownership and responsibility are key to our success. We discourage micromanagement in our management team. Last but not least, our employees participate in the success of the company also through a motivating bonus scheme.

How do you balance the need for a fun, engaging work environment with the serious responsibilities of operating in a highly regulated industry?

We trust that our team members are responsible individuals. We believe that trust is better than control. It is important that people not only know what they must do but also why. Only then can they make educated decisions. Furthermore, we try to share how the work of each individual influences the success of the company. Finally, fun time is well spent. Research shows that many office teams just achieve three hours per day that are “productive” by definition. If a remote team is fully productive for half a day, it is already outperforming many office teams. A scientific survey shows that we outperform our office peers.

What role does diversity and inclusion play in your company culture, and how have you tailored these initiatives to address the specific needs of the iGaming sector?

Diversity and inclusion seem so natural to me in our company that I do not perceive it as a challenge, even though we have employees from 30 different countries. I am proud that a survey showed that there is no significant gender difference when it comes to personal development opportunities within our company.

How do you ensure that your company culture aligns with responsible gaming practices, and can you provide an example of how this alignment has influenced business decisions?

First, we follow the rules and regulations. Regulation protects players – when they play in the regulated part of the market. We, as an affiliate, advertise licensed game providers and help players to find regulated offerings. Second, we are developing iGamingCare. Here, we offer self-tests for players that help them assess their gambling addiction risk. iGamingCare even connects players with institutions that can help them when they have a gambling problem. Responsible gambling is more important than profit for us.

In what ways do you encourage creativity and risk-taking within your organization while maintaining the necessary compliance and security measures inherent to iGaming?

Creativity and risk-taking is encouraged when it comes to our core business: SEO, great content and affiliate business. Compliance is non-negotiable, with no room for creativity and risk-taking. Of course, we have a solid risk management system in place that is also audited on a regular basis.

How has the rapid technological advancement in the iGaming industry influenced your approach to cultivating a culture of continuous learning and adaptation?

Standing still means falling behind. We are on a learning journey consistently. This includes a variety of matters from the latest SEO trends to modern management concepts and mental health. Our team members frequently attend training sessions, internally and externally.

Can you describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision that prioritized maintaining company culture over short-term financial gains? What was the outcome?

We took a clear management decision to operate in licensed and regulated markets only. Since the internet does not have national borders, this means that we leave a substantial portion of the market to players that take another decision. I strongly believe that our team supports that we decided to sacrifice profit on the altar of ethics, moral and obeying laws, even though this means not making full use of the possibilities of the market.

How do you measure the success of your company culture initiatives, and what metrics have you found to be most indicative of a healthy culture in the iGaming space?

My answer to this question is twofold. First, I believe that management must be close enough to the team to sense the culture and well-being of the team. Second, data is helpful. Therefore, we did a scientifically backed survey to measure stress and employee motivation within our remote team. The results were positive in general, with differences between departments, of course. The sick rate of our German-based employees is only half of the German national average. This is an indication of – literally – a healthy culture as well.

In an industry that operates 24/7, how do you promote work-life balance and employee well-being without compromising operational efficiency?

This is a challenge! We do not measure working time, apart from making sure that no overtime beyond legal restrictions occurs. This means freedom and autonomy for the employees.  However, boundary management is not easy, when you can always check your messages or data. For some people, like me, this flexibility enhances the quality of life. For others, this results in stress because it is hard for themselves to “switch off”. What do we do? We have times where we do not schedule meetings, we avoid short-term tasks wherever possible, and we offer free, anonymous psychological support.

What strategies have you employed to foster a culture of innovation that keeps your company competitive in the fast-paced iGaming market?

We have a wonderful HR team and great team leaders. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. We try to live in a culture that embraces innovation, admits mistakes and celebrates success. Plus, we allow fun and time together without – in a classic sense – working productively.

How do you ensure that your company culture resonates across different departments, from tech development to customer service, and across potentially diverse global offices?

Honestly, we cannot ensure that. We have more than 300 individuals in our team. People are different and we must accept that. As I said earlier, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to culture. Therefore, we communicate what we think is a good culture, we reward those who support such a culture – and we accept that different leadership styles exist, and changes sometimes only come incrementally.

Can you share an example of how your company culture has directly contributed to a significant business success or competitive advantage in the iGaming market?

I remember when a change in regulation required a massive change on thousands of pages across multiple domains. It was extremely impressive how everyone who could help was there, day and night, lending a hand to others who needed support, without asking for special acknowledgement. In such moments you can feel how a team acts as one achieves a breakthrough.

Looking ahead, what aspects of company culture do you believe will be most critical for iGaming companies to thrive in the next 5-10 years, and how are you preparing for these future needs?

Andreas: Most iGaming companies work remotely like us. We all face constant regulatory changes. We all face artificial intelligence. We all ask ourselves how people will use the internet. The most critical cultural success factors will be adaptability and the ability to embrace change while keeping a great team spirit. It is not about the challenges that will come. It is about the people that will cope with them.