More Than 4 Walls: How These 40 Companies Are Nailing Workplace Culture & Community-Building
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The Australian work culture is setting a precedent for a laid-back, fun and vibrant work culture that’s also productive and diverse. More and more, companies are innovating within their office space to create environments that benefit their employees’ wellbeing (think employee benefits like gym memberships and even in-house chefs).
We’ve covered the coolest offices in Australia and how workplaces are doing diversity right – now let’s take a look at the top workplaces in Australia with a killer workplace culture.
Check out how these companies have transformed their workplace culture into a community:
EY
EY looks beyond its four walls, and even national borders, with a global mindset that empowers employees to seek new challenges for greater exposure to new experiences.
EY’s fast-growing professional network powers a community of global employees. As a result, EY has access to develop quickly and create accessible leaders and support its employees with coaching to empower quality work.
Programs like EY Reconnect Returner Program empower employees to lead the best professional lives by leaning on a community of professionals for mentoring and career success.
Accenture
Accenture celebrates every person’s unique perspectives, ideas and abilities. Inclusion and diversity are fundamental to Accenture’s workplace culture. Employees worldwide are joining the diversity conversation with #InclusionStartsWithI around the importance of a positive, inclusive workplace environment.
Goals for a gender-balanced workforce by 2025 is also a priority at Accenture. Their report ‘When She Rises, We All Rise” looks at research conducted internally into gender gaps in Accenture teams worldwide. Creating an empowering environment for bold leadership, Accenture takes comprehensive action to create a network of women in all levels of the company for an equal and diverse workplace culture.
Telstra
As a major telecommunications and technology company, Telstra offers all kinds of employee benefits. Within its 4-Walls, Telstra offers discounts, career mentoring and collaborative, light-filled environment.
Beyond the office, Telstra’s sustainability agenda supports local communities and organisations, disrupting traditional operating models and helping society respond to a range of issues in a sustainable and scalable way, including climate change, healthcare and education.
Telstra helps society to adapt to technological change and supports its community of customers through opportunity and innovation.
"Through our ‘All Roles Flex’ initiative, we have made flexibility a key aspect of our working lives. Being able to work from home or alter start and finish times, for example, is par for the course at Telstra."
Julian, Head of HR
OpenAgent
OpenAgent has created a community of team members that are passionate about their roles and customers. But, assembling an A-Team is not easy. OpenAgent dares to be themselves.
With no BS or egos, OpenAgent is able to attract quality people who dare to be different in the workplace. Weekly table tennis tournaments and regular Messina outings create a culture like no other.
By being engaged in the workplace, Open Agent is even more focused on being a customer hero, providing unbiased data and tailoring it to each client’s needs. This creates a dynamic workplace culture of people who enjoy what they’re doing, and are focused on providing the best experience for Australians selling their properties.
Luminary
Sick of the ‘churn and burn’ of modern workplaces? Well, look no further. Luminary celebrates its team’s talent, creating a friendly environment built on lasting relationships with co-workers and customers. Not possible? Well, each month Luminary celebrates a team event, anything from bubble soccer to VR gaming, with catered lunch and drinks every Friday afternoon. How’s that for workplace culture?
Luminary also considers its impacts on communities beyond the office space. The company’s main charitable partner in Australia, One Girl, is a not-for-profit organisation giving girls access to education across Africa. By fostering a close-knit team of “beautiful nerds”, Luminary employees support each other, and the creative and dynamic community around them.
Academy Xi
With an open space that facilitates collaboration, Academy Xi’s workplace culture is all about creating. With whiteboards around every corner, and desks facing one another, people lend a hand and aren’t afraid to be transparent about their ideas and goals.
Charbel Zeaiter, CEO and Co-Founder, aims to reduce structural hierarchy with an open plan office space: “When it’s flowing, you’ll witness what happens. Our open space creates awareness and community. There is no difference between the founder and an instructor – we work alongside each other to solve the same problem. It brings us together as a team.”
Australia Post
Australia Post’s workplace community thrives on diversity. With programs like ProjectMe, creating connections for mentoring in the workplace, Australia Post harnesses diversity to create a dynamic workplace culture.
Craig Kimball, General Manager of Product Engineering at Australia Post, highlights the importance of communities in the workplace: “Australia Post is a very people oriented organisation. Our focus on inclusivity, developing our people, safety in the workplace and ensuring individuals are supported to find the right work/life balance is the best I’ve seen in my career. It’s always a consistent point of positive feedback in our engagement surveys across all our teams.”
As a service supporting all Australians, the company engages local communities with events like Midsumma and The Big Issue to set an example for its employees to collaborate within their own workplace community.
An open-plan light-filled office makes Australia Post an inviting place to collaborate through teaching and learning new skills, as well as volunteering to give colleagues a hand.
NAB
With a passion for customers and communities, NAB creates a workplace of respect where people dare to be bold and go the extra mile for each other and their customers. NAB challenges a traditional workplace design and rigid work routines with flexible workstations that foster collaboration and spontaneity of ideas.
By winning together, no employee is left behind and receives a personalised IDP, or Individual Develop Plan, to help mentor and foster collaboration for in the workplace. By opening up, and sharing desks, the culture becomes sustainable and supportive, making it quicker to finish tasks and focus on their customers.
Insight
Insight cares about its employees, communities and clients. The team works as a family in a highly collaborative environment where everyone plays their part to collaborate in a way that suits them. Each team member follows the three values of hunger, harmony and heart – hungry to challenge the status quo, seeking harmony through positive impact in the community, and consistently celebrating the team’s unique contributions.
Marea Phillips, Director People and Culture APAC at Insight, is proud of its community: “There are more than 4 walls for the team at Insight. Team recognition is an ongoing activity at Insight with many varied activities and events – recently many of our team joined the “Higher Ground” team event which included exclusive access to a professional development workshop, climbing the harbour bridge and a fantastic dinner.”
ANZ
ANZ’s ‘New Ways of Working’ uses the agile methodology to create a thriving workplace culture. More productivity, less hierarchy and more autonomy mean less bureaucracy and an empowering small-team network.
ANZ’s coworking culture is efficient and customer focused. If something isn’t working, the teams, or squads, remain open-minded and adaptable to collaborate for change. ‘Doing the right things well’ with no hard and fast rules means it pays off to be innovative and adaptable.
Frontline teams give direct feedback to ANZ, helping coworking spaces function effectively. By living by its values – integrity, collaboration, accountability, respect and excellence – ANZ innovates for its community of customers to provide the best service possible.
WiseTech
Pizza on Fridays, video games in free time, and soccer on the weekends: what more could you want from your workplace? WiseTech is a casual, friendly workplace with the latest gadgets to play with. A flat hierarchical structure means employees are free from bureaucratic structure and are given the opportunity to team up and work toward the same goals.
Welcoming people from all walks of life, WiseTech celebrates creativity, innovation and diversity for a unique, social workplace culture. WiseTech wants each employee to achieve personal fulfilment through its workplace community, and in turn achieve unparalleled success in software development.
Samsung
Whether it be with local schools, special Olympic teams, or hosting a technology club for kids, Samsung fosters a community outside their workplace with the people around them. Biannually, Samsung Gives uses the manpower of Samsung’s workforce to support those in need.
Samsung provides a range of employee benefits, including wellness programs, a free fitness centre, jeans all week and even tuition reimbursement. By looking after its employees and learning from communities, the company sets the right foundation for developing cutting-edge technology for the future.
SiteMinder
SiteMinder wants to break out of its comfort zone by pushing the boundaries of online distribution technology and customer support. This means its employees are the same: pushing the boundaries of workplace culture and coworking spaces.
By encouraging people to perform at their best and be candid with those around them, SiteMinder has created a workplace full of activities on every day of the week. With free fruit on Monday and Wednesday, monthly learning labs, basketball, lunchtime meditation, foodies clubs and even wine appreciation nights, there’s no shortage of community-based activities on offer for the SiteMinder team.
Xero
A successful coworking space is one thing, but a small business building their own communities? That’s what Xero does. This innovative fintech application provides ease with invoicing and payments, letting small businesses get on supporting their communities and workplace culture.
As a part of Xero’s team, you support communities around you and the people within them to grow and thrive. When they’re not busy helping others, Xero employees enjoy a range of activities, like a game of footy, sharing a beloved pet on Instagram and even travelling to New Zealand for team building events at Xero’s HQ.
ca technologies
Is ca technologies the best place to work in tech? How about you find out? ca technologies celebrates its employees unique take on their speciality. Whether it be passion, innovation or diversity, ca technologies looks to foster a community that utilises employees’ individuality to create a workplace to be proud of.
The company even provides opportunities to explore disciplines of unfamiliarity, so that you can learn from your team members and work toward common goals.
IBM
IBM hires people with the experience to fill a given job regardless of race, colour or creed. The company is built on on hiring a diverse workforce that reflects the wider community.
Inclusion is important at IBM and has seen the company being award the Employer of Choice citation for people with disabilities. IBM hired its first person with a disability in 1914 and has continued that tradition to this day. It’s all about building diversity in thought, embracing people’s backgrounds and cultures.
Caltex
As well as being an ASX-listed company, Caltex wants each employee to enjoy a flexible, supportive working environment. The company supports individual expression in the workplace to create an environment of belonging.
Beyond this, Caltex makes a meaningful difference in indigenous Australians lives, by supporting them in retaining jobs and mentoring them through a flourishing career. By supporting Australia’s First Peoples, Caltex makes a genuine impact on communities throughout Australia.
Citadel Group Limited
By offering a range of flexible working opportunities, Citadel looks after its employers and families. It understands that personal and community responsibilities are interwoven into all aspects of our lives, including employment, and aims to give as much support as possible.
Flexible working locations, job sharing, part-time work and flexible hours means employees have more time for their families and communities. Citadel gives an extra helping hand with achieving career aspirations through mentorship and development. Citadel’s Future Leaders Program, developed ‘by staff, for staff’, is just one of the program Citadel offers to provide career development pathways for employees.
Nine
Nine is more than just a TV channel or an entertainment business. The ‘Nine family’ is a community of creative people who are shaping the future of media. They experiment with the latest technologies across the business, so their audiences have the best entertainment experience.
For the ‘Nine family’, the community is paramount, reflected in the motto “where Australia connects”. Their interactive workplace with open plan co-working spaces and free snacks creates a community of people passionate about storytelling through technology.
AustralianSuper
AustralianSuper’s two million members are its first priority. After all, one in 10 Australians use AustralianSuper, so it is driven to serve the Australian community. AustralianSuper is looking to support Australia’s citizens and economy through the best super investments.
With high stakes in the community, AustralianSuper reflects Australia’s diversity of the wider population in its workforce. The company promotes workplace diversity in gender, pay equity, flexible work arrangements and countless other initiatives.
ROKT
By hiring like-minded “Rokt’ Stars” with no egos and a deep obsession to strive success for customers, Rokt creates a community of leaders with fresh perspectives on everything from marketing to e-commerce. Rokt creates a community by facilitating a fresh, fun work culture, with annual end-of-quarter events throughout the year featuring its own Spotify playlists!
According to Glassdoor, the Sydney offices are open plan co-working spaces with office ping pong, free food, and work hard, play hard culture. Topped off with friendly faces and sun-soaked spaces, this is the definition of workplace culture and community.
Assembly Payments
Assembly Payments is a startup seeking to break down the complexity of payments. To do this, it creates innovative new business models, with the help of a fast-paced, dynamic team.
Assembly Payments, despite being small, offers the quintessential Australian work culture that is down-to-earth and collaborative. They even offer flexible working options, like working from home and the ability to experiment with different projects and roles within the business.
Woolies X
Woolies X, powered by Woolworths, is the new digital frontier of grocery shopping by cleverly combining digital design, e-commerce, data and customer service. The goal is to create a culture of data-driven decision making across the organisation, using artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve sales and customer service. This groundbreaking platform is powered by a team of people who are passionate about tech.
Woolies X is yet to be debuted, but the Woolworths Group is passionate about workplace diversity. It annually celebrates ‘Wear it Purple Day‘ in honour of the LGBTI+ community and offers tailored transition support to employees in relation to gender.
CoreLogic is passionate about property and a diverse workplace community. With a community of passionate, creative and innovative minds, CoreLogic steers clear of phrases like ‘it’s always been done this way’, making the workplace flexible, inclusive and collaborative.
The company celebrates employees’ achievements through the High Achievers Club (with an all expenses trip paid by CoreLogic), Spot Awards for recognising outstanding achievements, and regular social events to promote inter-team bonding and community.
Foxtel
Foxtel’s offices are filled with all kinds of collaborative nooks and crannies. Foxtel’s offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have a range of perks, including on-site cafes, swimming pool, cafeteria, tennis courts and more!
The company encourages its employees to be themselves, embracing their talents. They even encourage gossip! Well, gossiping about your favourite shows. It might just get you promoted. Best of all? All employees get free Foxtel to help them do their job better (and chat about the latest TV scandal, naturally).
Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is a unique, global company that keeps life on, even when you’re asleep. They work with people who have a story to tell and thrive on diversity and individuality within its workplace culture. Schneider Electric opens the door for new possibilities by powering the global community, even those that haven’t had power before.
The Schneider Electric community comes with a range of perks – most notably the Global Family Leave Policy, which lets employees visit their families and communities in times of need or for holidays. This provides equal opportunities to everyone, everywhere, whenever they need.
TYRO Payments
TYRO Payments is all about honesty. They don’t want to see software engineers in basements, underpaid and doing jobs they don’t want. TYRO challenges the buzzwords in job listings, like “funky work environment”, with its Honest Job Translator.
This hilarious bot embodies the workplace culture of TYRO Payments: a playful, open, transparent workplace that prioritises its community of employees. By using fairness, empowerment and respect, TYRO honours each employee in the way they deserve.
Coffey International Ltd
Coffey fosters opportunities that support growing communities with expertise in engineering, geotechnical and project management. Coffey has tackled challenges within the private and government sectors for decades, implementing partnerships with local organisations.
Coffey also cares about making a difference in the community, tackling issues like mental health and medical research, and raising money for charity with a City2Surf team. Coffey, now a Tetra Tech company, reaches more places to benefit the Australian community.
LEAP Dev
Sydney based LEAP Dev offers employees a deeply innovative, boundary-pushing workplace, that challenges software and app development. With a team of over 100 passionate developers, designers and analysts, LEAP Dev has created a workplace culture based on detailed planning, transparency and reliability.
According to Glassdoor, LEAP Dev’s Sydney offices have a laid-back start-up culture. The office space is newly refurbished with a pool table, table tennis and a games lounge, including an Xbox and Playstation, to wind down in the middle of a busy day. There are even benefits like free gym memberships, monthly massages, a fully-stocked kitchen and regular events on the company’s two boats.
Dell EMC
Innovation is Dell EMC’s top priority. EMC fosters a unique community of people passionate about IT transformation, OEM and workplace transformation. This creates industry solutions in a range of sectors, including education, healthcare and government.
Each year, EMC holds an Innovation Conference, where highly intelligent employees and managers can pitch their ideas on technical vision and innovation success. The conference unites employees globally and recognises them with awards for innovation and technical leadership.
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise prides itself on bringing together the best and brightest to improve the way people live and work. Each team member spends four company hours per month helping communities in need. These hours could be spent working on anything from sustainability to digital infrastructure. Each perspective on solutions is inspired by the creativity and innovation of each individual, no matter their background.
MedicalDirector
MedicalDirector is an information provider designed to support quality healthcare for small medical businesses. Employees work to improve the healthcare system every day within a fast-paced, enthusiastic team, driven to make people healthier nationally.
MedicalDirector supports smart and driven individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds to bring innovation to medical care in Australia. By abiding by its CODE – care, openness, delivery, empowerment – the company helps Australians tackle challenges surrounding healthcare in a modern way.
Insentra
Insentra’s genuine commitment to its employees goes hand-in-hand with a positive workplace culture. OTOD (One Team, One Dream) is a core value for Insentra and facilitates workplace community success. Collaboration and genuine partnerships fuels Insentra at an employee level.
Insentra sees its team as a steam train, with each member of the community responsible for helping the train reach its destination. This fuels a culture of collaboration, with teams working together to meet a common goal.
Freelancer.com
Did someone ask for employee perks and a great workplace community? Because Freelancer.com answered. Freelancer.com has zero bureaucracy, no forms, arguments with legal, or sitting around waiting for approvals. Freelancer.com creates life-changing products for millions of people globally and leaves a lasting impact on users. Freelancer.com is transparent from day one, looking after employees with small teams and vibrant coworking spaces.
The company’s office space features a fully-stocked bar, pool and ping pong, games consoles, fully stocked kitchen, 3D printers, robots, drones and even a TV studio for live broadcasts! The Freelancer.com team also has events throughout the year like quarterly hackathons to encourage team-building and a fun working environment.
Cisco Meraki
Cisco Meraki helps each employee to be happy and healthy. ‘Merakinas’ enjoy daily catered lunch for free, fitness classes, cycling and climbing clubs, as well as paid time off to volunteer. Fun and happiness is a priority.
Surprising employees with unconventional team outings is a Meraki tradition. It could be anything from helicopter rides to cocktail making classes! Meraki looks for social, curious people who thrive on mentorship and freethinking. This equals a Meraki community that is as vibrant as its open-plan workplace.
Readify
Readify’s workplace culture fosters brilliant minds and innovation. By embracing diversity, Readify nurtures talent and respects each individual’s abilities regardless of age, sexuality, gender, disability, nationality, religion or race.
Close-knit teams of passionate advocates, influencers and leaders thrive on collaboration and learn from each other. By working with interesting people, each day is different, and each member of the workplace community has the opportunity to challenge themselves creatively.
Modis
Modis’ dynamic culture makes its a world leader in IT and engineering services. It connects employees through a global network of training and development opportunities to grow careers, as well as provide resources for exploring new roles, markets and countries.
Modis cares about the wider community, with initiatives like Win4Youth, High Five and a paid day of service leave for employees to support a local cause.
MuleSoft
Ever wish people were more candid, forgetting about office politics? Well, Mulesoft is the place to be. Its workplace has a unique motto, ‘radical candour’, which allows each employee to give direct feedback to get things done and whip yesterday’s problems into tomorrow’s innovations. By hiring innovative thinkers, MuleSoft creates an outgoing workplace culture, with white water rafting, development events, soccer tournaments, charitable runs and even the opportunity to help out at food drives.
Ever wanted to take a tour of an office, without even stepping foot in the building? Well with Technology One (aka TechOne) you can! Each office is fully stocked with super cool spaces that are kitted out with the latest gadgets and games to help you work.
There are plenty of social events year round, from Friday drinks, to end-of-year parties and even movie nights. As well as fully-stocked kitchens and rewards for innovative solutions, TechOne never stops helping its community thrive and develop. New employees are partnered up with a buddy to help you get used to the culture and learn new skills throughout your time at TechOne.
ThoughtWorks
ThoughtWorks’ doesn’t just teach code; it helps its employees grow, develop their careers and give back to society. The company’s brightly coloured office and laid-back dress code celebrate individualism and diversity in the workplace.
By fostering an open community, ThoughtWorks creates a transparent business that is honest and straightforward with customers. At the heart of each team is a mission to be proactive and progressive, to recognise privilege and to see the world from different perspectives.
