The Real Reason OpenBet Hellas is Such a Great Place to Work!

Recently acknowledged by Great Place to Work Hellas, OpenBet’s Greek operations are a force to be reckoned with. Nikos Konstakis, Managing Director at OpenBet Hellas, discusses the secrets to the Athens development hub’s success.

OpenBet Hellas was recently nominated as one of the top 10 places to work in Greece. How has OpenBet been able to create such a healthy work environment and how has the rise of remote working impacted your ability to do that? 

We are OpenBet by name and by nature, and this philosophy is something that we bring to every aspect of the company. The OpenBet Hellas environment is a vibrant one that embraces open communication, open culture, and a freedom to be who you are – this is a key hub for OpenBet, but the company as a whole always maintains that we should all have a genuine sense of belonging. This is clear in our open workplace policy, which allows full flexibility based on one’s role and particularities. The subsequent freedom enjoyed by our team members has opened the door for continued growth, allowing us to expand our reach beyond the Athens region.

What are some of the most successful projects to come out of the Athens development hub?

Our Athens development hub is an important part of the company – there is nothing that OpenBet does globally that isn’t affected by Athens in some way, and this positive influence can be seen in everything from the way we deliver sportsbook to our US customers and provide dedicated teams to UK high street operators, to providing trading and operational services to the largest World Lottery Association customers in the world. In short, there is no OpenBet project that Athens isn’t involved in.

Greece has been an established iGaming market for many years. Does OpenBet see this as an opportunity to serve the Greek market with their products and services as well?

Not only does it have an established market, it is one of the largest in Europe – especially in terms of per capita spend. Greece is a regulated and healthy environment to operate retail and digital, and all the ingredients are present there for OpenBet to thrive. We’re the perfect one-stop-shop for operators to expand, and the positive results we’ve had are testament to the effectiveness of our approach.

Creating a fun and engaging betting journey is key for player retention. How has the work ethic of your development team contributed to ensuring a maximised customer experience can be delivered?

We have worked hard to establish an environment that prioritises an openness to new ideas and innovation, which applies to more than just developing the industry’s next revenue-generating feature. It also means revolutionising processes and company culture: we do not look at innovation strictly within the context of material advancements. This environment of trust, where anyone can share their own views, delivers a culture of creativity that enables us to be a true partner to our customers, and this is the perfect embodiment of the overall OpenBet philosophy.

The global iGaming industry, especially in recent times, has struggled greatly with attracting and retaining the best digitally skilled talent. How has OpenBet tackled this issue in Greece?

The challenges of recruitment apply to Greece in much the same way as the rest of the world. These struggles go beyond the iGaming industry. The fight for talent occurs across any technology-driven business around the world. But OpenBet’s prominence within the Greek employment environment has made OpenBet Hellas one of the most successful employers in Athens. This success is no accident. The combination of our local employer value proposition, with the OpenBet operating model, has contributed to our growth and is helping to sustain it. We are one of the major companies operating in Greece, working in a very interesting and dynamic industry, providing the opportunity and the platform to our people to share their ideas and see their innovations go live across multiple customers across the world.

Editor’s Note:

From speaking with Nikos, it’s clear that OpenBet is “open” by name and by nature.

Openness is a core foundation of their company culture: filtering through to their open style communication strategies and passion for freedom; creating spaces that allow employees to be whoever they want to be. This innate culture has clearly been a big contributor to their recent award, The Great Place To Work Hellas.

The fruits of this positive working environment can be seen clearly with the new innovative products they are delivering to the market. Their Athens based development hub is a perfect example of what can be achieved when you have a happy team, launching successful products that can be deployed to various markets across the globe. We look forward to seeing what the future has in store for this progressive tech hub that OpenBet has created.