According to the international organization Great Place to Work® (http://www.greatplacetowork.com.au/home), the key drivers of business success are “high-quality relationships in the workplace — relationships characterised by trust, pride, and camaraderie”. They highlight trust as being the foremost defining quality of a great company.

Great Place to Work® (GPtW) compiles lists of the best places to work in countries around the globe. The hope being, that companies that strive to be better will be inspired by the creative ways these workplaces build trust. The goal of the organisation is to foster positive, trusting relationships between staff members and management. They seek to build relationships that lead to greater productivity, innovation, and cooperation.

The 2017 results were announced on the 30th August. GPtW commented that ‘this year more than ever before, the global business environment is being disrupted and every company is affected’. Some companies have worked very hard to overcome this disruption and build trust. A link to the full results is below but the following are some ideologies and strategies that provide some examples of great practices from Australia:

Mars Australia were number one in the category of businesses with over 1000 employees. A manufacturing and production company, Mars focus on ‘prioritizing transparency, flexibility and building capacity for their Associates to find their work meaningful and enjoyable’. Mentoring programs are a large part of their culture.

In the category of businesses with over 100 employees Stryker a health care company is committed to ‘caring for their team members’. Through a health and wellness campaign, they ensure ease of access to this programme. Team members are encouraged to structure their own working hours to balance their lifestyles. This flexibility includes an extra day’s leave to spend with their friends and family.

Avenue Dental was the winner in the under 100 employee’s category. The focus being their people-centric purpose and values. HR is renamed BOB or Bringing out the Best, with goals including ‘aligning with purpose and values, recognizing and developing…unique strengths’. Even better, on an employee’s first day, they are sung happy welcoming day and provided with a birthday cake!

Here is the complete list of 2017 Best Companies to Work For in Australia.