2017 Best Places to Work revealed – MEC ranks #13 in over 100 employees category; Meltwater ranks #7 in under 100 employees category
Best Places to Work has released its annual benchmark Study for 2017 which showcases the 50 best organisations across three categories; including Over 1,000 Employees, Over 100 Employees and Under 100 Employees. This year marks the tenth Study of Australia’s best workplaces that Great Place to Work Australia has curated.
The top ranked company on the list for the Over 1,000 Employees category is Mars Australia. Health care company Stryker is number one in the Over 100 Employees category whilst Avenue Dental (also health care) takes the top spot in the Under 100 Employees list.
In the Over 100 employees category MEC has ranked #13 followed by OMD Australia at #15. In the Under 100 employees category Meltwater has ranked #7, Zinc in at #10, The Works has ranked #14, Maxus Communications Australia at #15 and Sitback Solutions at #20.
OMD is the only communications agency to have ranked in the prestigious listing for nine consecutive years.
Says Aimee Buchanan, CEO, OMD Australia (ranked #15): “We are delighted to be listed again as one of the 50 best places to work in Australia. We have a clear company vision around performance with integrity that has a consistent focus on our people. It is their passion and commitment that sets OMD apart from the crowd and defines our brand.”
Says Martin Cowie, people and development director at OMD: “It is gratifying that OMD’s unrelenting focus on enabling our people to be the best they can be has once again paid dividends. OMD’s culture is squarely focused on the development of each and every employee,
and our substantial investment in training means that we have the best and brightest people in the industry providing best in class service to our clients.”
David Hickey, director of Meltwater (ranked #7), attributes the high employee satisfaction rate to the company’s focus on having fun while maintaining a strong sense of purpose.
Says Hickey: “Employee happiness and job satisfaction are fundamental to our company culture. The fact that our staff feel a strong sense of belonging and purpose within their role and have fun at the same time, is what makes Meltwater such an amazing environment to work in. We strive to ensure our people enjoy the work they do by creating genuine connections between their day jobs and the company’s overall mission.”
Says Peter Cleary (right), CEO, Zinc (ranked #10): “Our vision at Zinc has always been to build the best company in Australia to work in, and that has always been our goal from day one.
“Being recognised as a great place to work isn’t just a trophy for us in the pool room, it’s something that our team gets behind, and is proud to be part of something bigger.”
Says Kevin Macmillan, co-founder and creative partner at The Works (pictured left), the highest ranking advertising agency in the study: “Is there a better accolade for your business? Your people saying, ‘Yeah I’m really happy’. That’ll do for me. Not only that, it is undoubtedly the best starting point for brilliant creativity, productivity and business performance.”
Says Jasmine Lansdell, director of people and culture, The Works: “We are incredibly honoured to be listed as one of the best place to work in Australia in our first entry into these awards. The Works are fiercely proud of the culture we have fostered over the last few years and this award is fantastic recognition for our people and leadership team. This award represents our number one business focus, our people, so to know that they’re truly happy and engaged is an achievement we couldn’t be more excited about.”
Says Karly Leach, managing director for Maxus (pictured left), which ranked #15: “We’re thrilled to have come 15th in the 2017 Best Places to Work Study. It’s a testament to the work we’ve been doing internally to continue to ensure Maxus a great place to work. We’re particularly proud of the efforts of our PACEMAKER Committee.”
Says Chris McHugh, 
CEO, Sitback: “Our team (Carl Brown, digital marketing manager, Sitback pictured left), truly is our greatest asset. Each and every member of our 40-strong family is passionate about what they do and brings their own experience and expertise to the table. It’s this combination – across our whole service offering – that puts our clients at ease; knowing that they have the best minds in the industry supporting them. It makes me incredibly proud to see this hard work and determination being recognised outside of our business. Even more so now that we’ve placed within the Top 25 for three years running.”
The 2017 Study into trends in the workplace reveals that efficiency and innovation are two of the key issues that are top of mind for today’s business leaders. Human capital is now the most employed resource in production, and innovation is its greatest output.
According to Zrinka Lovrencic, managing director of GPTW Australia: “Being a great workplace is no longer seen as ‘nice to have’; today it is imperative to business vitality and success.
Leaders at the companies involved in the study know that what is good for the workplace is also good for business, and that being a great workplace and having great employees leads to increased client retention, customer satisfaction, and in turn, a healthier bottom line”.
As the world embarks on the 4th industrial revolution, being able to optimise efficiency is crucial to success and this goes together with the promotion of innovation. In 2017, organisations are employing people to produce solutions to problems that have yet to arise, and developing products we don’t yet know we need. It takes great leadership to foster and promote this type of creativity.
Says Jim Brodie, divisional director people and organisation at Mars Australia: “It’s Mars Australia’s ambition to be a great place to work, so being recognised by the national body is news we’re delighted to share with our associates. It allows us to reflect on the steps we’ve taken to achieve it and to celebrate the impact our associates make every day in creating a working environment that we’re proud of. It also lets the outside world know what kinds of company we are, which we believe helps to increase our ability to attract the best talent into the organisation”.
Fostering a special culture is just part of the Mars DNA. Driven by a desire for long term success, Mars know that means continuous improvement. They actively seek feedback from its associates, act upon it and benchmark themselves again other best companies to provide insights that can make Mars even better. Mentoring is also a large part of their culture and is key to developing leaders and helping encourage new or young Associates.
Great leaders know they depend on their company’s human resources to achieve optimal success. They seek feedback from the frontline and enable the collaborative solution.
The 2017 Study was conducted between October 2016 and June 2017. The results represent 60,956 Australian based employees from 150 companies.
Says Lovrencic: “Congratulations to the companies on this year’s 50 Best Places to Work list. We commend the leaders, managers, and employe
es at these companies for their extraordinary efforts they take to sustain great workplace cultures. We hope that this study is an invitation to introspection – a useful tool for all business leaders to think about their company’s strengths and opportunities.”