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After surveying 137 Australian workplaces nationally, and more than 28,000 staff, BRW and Great Place To Work Australia have announced software provider Atlassian as Australia’s best workplace on the 2014 BRW Best Places to Work list.
The 2014 BRW Best Places to Work list, that is researched by Great Place to Work Australia, was celebrated at an awards event held in Sydney last night where the announcement was made.
Optiver (#1 last year) and salesforce.com came in at number two and three respectively on the list.
For the first time BRW created a separate Best Places to Work list for companies with under 100 employees, reflecting the challenges larger organisations have in maintaining a happy and fulfilling workplace. The best five places with under 100 employees to work were: 1. The Physio Co (a list regular whose founder, Tristan White, offers himself as a ‘culture coach’ to other workplaces) 2. Coleman Brands 3. SiDCOR Chartered Accountants 4. Maxus and 5. ansarada.
The full lists and winner details are online at brw.com.au tonight (without a paywall) along with an in-depth analysis of the trends behind the list and profiles of the companies – big and small – that made the list. Both lists will also be published in BOSS magazine in the Australian Financial Review today.
In creating the “best” work culture in Australia, Atlassian offers employees the opportunity to spend part of their week working on their own projects and has developed a Mood-App which checks how people are going every day and quickly identifies problems; Atlassian execs have open-mic time with employees – who are all given time to help out a charity of their choice. New hires are paid to take a holiday of their choice before they start; and graduates spend a week at the beach completing challenges, getting to know the company and having fun. While some of the perks of the office include a drinks fridge, boutique beer on tap, a pick’n’mix station, table tennis, pool table, video games and board games.
Michael Bailey, BRW editor says: “BRW identified Atlassian as one of the most transparent companies we have worked with and they have approachable management. But with a recruitment drive underway to more than double their size with the addition of 600 more employees this financial year, staying at the top of a job-seeker’s wish-list will present them with a new set of challenges.”
Caitlin Fitzsimmons, BRW deputy editor says: “An interesting shift in the BRW Best Places to Work list this year has been the inclusion of more female-friendly workplaces. Australia’s best workplaces are also more likely to have a woman as CEO than the ASX100 and 13 of the 50 had women making up more than half the senior management team. Gender aside, the workplaces that staff love the most have common qualities: bosses dedicated to empowering, training and valuing employees.”
Studies have revealed that only 5 per cent of companies in the ASX 100 have a female CEO. But when it comes to orchestrating a great place to work, women are punching well above their weight. It seems it pays to have a female boss.
Seven of this year’s top 22 places to work are run by management teams dominated by women executives. That include companies with a female-dominated workforces, such as cosmetics brands Estée Lauder and MECCA, and stationery retail chain kikki.K, but also media companies OMD and Mindshare as well as charity Starlight Children’s Foundation.
BRW’s Best Places to Work list also found that gender balance affects company culture, and that gender in the staff ranks has a bigger impact than gender in the executive ranks.
The survey suggests gender balance affects company culture at a deep level, with men and women perceiving the company differently.
Female employees tended to agree more than men that management hires people who fit in well, management has a clear view of where the organisation is going and how to get there, management would lay people off only as a last resort and that people avoid politics and backstabbing as ways to get things done.
Male employees agree more than females that they receive a fair share of the profits made by the organisation and people are paid fairly for the work they do.
Gender also affects the more superficial side of being a great place to work – the perks of the job.
For example, while IT companies are known for office foosball tables and free beer, female dominated Estée Lauder offers free monthly massages.
Another interesting factor on the list is that a hotel is one of the few businesses where people still regularly work their way up from the very bottom rung to running the business.
Because hotel operators generally start at the bottom, their appreciation of different jobs creates a more egalitarian working environment, with BRW citing communication, empowerment and training as key factors in the Marriott Hotel coming in at #24 on the BRW Best Places to Work list.
The general business trend towards customisation comes out in the shift towards flexibility among the BRW Best Places to Work. One size does not fit all, and employers need to have a range of options to attract and retain staff – working from home, flexible working hours, even flexible work spaces. There is also flexibility around training and personal development.
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