Equality Media + Marketing has been chosen as AFR’s Best Place to Work in the Media and Marketing category.
Published annually by The Australian Financial Review (AFR) and BOSS Magazine, the awards are based on a rigorous assessment process managed by leading behavioural science consultancy Inventium, including a written submission and a staff survey examining policies, practices and programs that help businesses support their team. The methodology is underpinned by Inventium’s Workplaces of the Future framework, which identifies 10 key factors that are critical to employees feeling motivated and engaged at work and is supported by extensive research.
Equality Media + Marketing won for its four-day week, which led to a 68 per cent reduction in time spent in meetings and an increase of 11 per cent in active tasks.
“The 40-hour work week was made when there was only one household worker, there was someone who was unemployed or a full-time home carer,” said Marilla Akkermans, managing director, Equality Media. “People lived five kilometres from where they worked. It was clock-on, clock-off. It was often physical labour
“A 40-hour workweek was so inventive when people could work up to 120 hours a week. But looking into how we can work in this knowledge era, often people are only working four hours a day. Why are we making everybody sit at a desk for five days a week?” she said.
Half Dome, which was awarded third place, was recognised in the list’s media and marketing category for its innovative workplace practices related to happiness, flexibility, learning & wellbeing.
Half Dome has taken a proactive approach to employee wellbeing and training since its inception, establishing a strong workplace culture, based on positivity, co-creation, and personal development. The agency’s commitment to creating a happy, healthy workplace has proved successful, with 95 per cent of employees recommending Half Dome as a great place to work, naming initiatives like an unlimited annual leave trial, individual wellness budgets, extra leave for recharging, flexible hours, and mental health first aid training as first-rate.
Half Dome has also been recognised for its focus on developing agile, invested leaders, offering unique learning opportunities, as well as day-to-day feedback and growth within the team. Half Dome Managing Director, Tom Frazer, said: “Half Dome takes pride in creating a space for challengers to thrive. Those people with an ambition to up-end the status quo and get the best out of themselves. To attract and retain these high performers, a dedication to providing the best possible work environment has become our laser focus, and it is this mentality that has led to the creation of our current market-leading product.
“It is an honour to be recognised for the third year running on this prestigious list, what we consider an amazing achievement in our short history.
“Our culture, which focuses on feedback, improvement and growth, has us committed to continuing the trend of being a leader in the people space, and we look forward to evolving next year and beyond.”
See the full list:
- Equality Media + Marketing
- Kaimera
- Half Dome
- M&C Saatchi Group AUNZ
- King Kong Agency
- Nature
- Publicis Groupe
- PHD Media Australia
- Rocket Agency
- Reload Media
