The key to a happy workplace? Less time at work
Equality Media + Marketing
Nine’s the Australian Financial Review has released the Best Places to Work list, and all the happiest workplaces appear to allow their employees to work fewer hours.
The AFR’s annual list “recognises organisations that are pioneering new ways of working and pushing boundaries when it comes to workplace policies and practices.” The assessment process is managed by behavioural science consultancy Inventium, and includes an anonymous staff survey, as well as written submissions.
In summary: less is more. Office table-tennis is out, and extra time away from the office is in. Whether it’s flexibility in hours, Friday arvos off, more holiday time, free trips abroad, or 30-hour weeks – a cursory glance of the AFR website shows that time off is clearly the most valuable currency.
The BOSS list shows that time is the most valuable currency
In the world of media and marketing, the companies that made the list are all sub-100-employee firms, bar BMF, and offer up various incentives, mostly time-based, to keep their employees ticking along.
The winner of the category, Equality Media and Marketing, pay their staff full-time wages for doing a 32-hour, four-day workweek. “If everything goes to plan, you get an extra 48 days off a year,” managing director Marilla Akkermans told the AFR.
She said the company ran a three-month trial “where we didn’t tell our clients about it to see if anybody would actually notice a difference in our output. Nobody picked up on it.”
In addition, they give an extra week of annual leave to employees at the company for over three years.
Equality Media + Marketing
In a press release sent by The Media Store — who also won the ‘Belonging’ award, “for facilitating a sense of belonging within its culture” — the company touted its unique bonus scheme.
“Rather than gifting cash bonuses, which are diluted by tax, the agency partnered with an online booking service to offer holidays. Staff are also provided three additional paid leave days to be taken when redeeming their holiday gift.”
COO Jacquie Alley further noted its “meaningful staff benefits, individual flexibility, extensive learning and development and true collaboration.”
Jacquie Alley and Stephen Leeds – The Media Store.
Independent creative agency Akcelo hosts a monthly cook-off at its Sydney offices, which actually sounds like a nightmarish level of extra work. “Every month or so, one of the eight teams … is responsible for designing a menu and creating a meal for the 150 people working at the company.” Chief executive Aden Hepburn believes it “has been a game-changer for our culture.”
According to internal surveying, happiness rose from 6.5 to 7, and wellness from 6.3 to 6.9 out of 10.
Intrepid Travel topped both the Retail, Hospitality, Tourism and Entertainment category and the Large Organisation category.
They give employees five extra days of leave a year — with a free Intrepid trip to use the time — as well as expanded family leave, the option to work a 9-day fortnight or reconfigure working hours, and 20-hours paid volunteering leave each year.
Intrepid Travel CEO James Thornton said in a media release: “There aren’t many companies that give their staff extra leave days to explore the world.”
Turns out, those companies might be more common than he thinks.
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