An insight into why we won #1 Great Place to Work in 2020
Key Takeaways
- Interactive was named Australia’s number one Great Place to Work in 2020 for mid-sized companies, recognising its people-first culture.
- We keep technology human by fostering connection, wellbeing and resilience across the organisation.
- We invest in growth through learning academies and community impact, with a strong commitment to sustainability and Indigenous businesses.
Interactive was named the number one Great Place to Work in Australia 2020 for companies with 100-999 employees. We are so, so proud to be recognised as the number one on a list that includes some of the most innovative, interesting, and exciting companies in Australia.
We’ve been asked why we placed first and thought we’d share just a few of the things that we think make this place great.
keep technology human
These words have a deep and special meaning to us. Our purpose is to keep technology human. Those words reflect what we’re most proud of & the way we treat each other, our customers, and the communities we work in.
Technology is what we’re proud to do, but it’s not our singular reason to be here. Yes, we’re a tech company, but ‘Keep technology human’ is our secret weapon. It’s how we do what we do.
At heart, we’re largely a bunch of tech nerds that are passionate about helping people.
We care about our people
We have built strong foundations to look after our people inside and outside of work-life. We have carefully curated resources in our wellbeing@work portal which gives people access to support around physical health, mental health, and financial health.
The past 12 months have been challenging in many ways so it’s been key for us to keep our people connected and also to work on resilience. We have held a lot of sessions around how we can support our own mental wellbeing and how to notice and support others who may be having a tough time. It’s one way we create a psychologically safe culture.
When you join the Interactive family, of course, we look after you, but we also look out for your loved ones. During 2020, we were fortunate enough to be in a position where we were able to keep hiring. Where we could, we hired family members or friends of the Interactive team who had lost their jobs due to the economic situation. We also gave people’s families access to our learning and development tools so they could upskill for their next role.
We are all human and from time-to-time, we need support in different ways. We understand that, and we’re ready to help.
We help our people grow
Whether you’ve been here for six months or six years, we want you to continue to grow to be a better person and a better professional in your time at Interactive.
We have created internal learning academies (think Cloud, Networking, Professional skills – with more to come) with a structured path to develop and deepen highly valuable skills. Our people are certified in the latest technologies, and we’re big believers in learning through experience give people opportunities to join projects to accelerate their growth.
We also have a dedicated learning and development team and the best leaders in the industry that will equip you with the courses, learning labs, social networks, mentors, e-books, certifications, tutorials, advice, and pretty much anything you need to improve your skillset.
As an example, let’s look at our Automation Team Leader and sourdough baker extraordinaire, Taqi Ansary.
Meet Taqui
Taqi joined our graduate program with a Bachelor of Computer Science. As well as developing a deeper understanding of different areas of IT, Taqi learned the value of building connections. After finishing the program, he was offered a permanent role with Interactive as an automation engineer.
One of our CMS managers saw potential in Taqi – not just for his valuable skillset, but for his genuine interest in the people here and the work they do. Taqi later transitioned into a Team Lead position, and he’s loving it.
We know that ‘career growth’ looks different for everyone – which might be transitioning roles and using your skills in different contexts; or deepening your skills in your role and specialisation, or growing your leadership skills. There’s a place for all of those at Interactive.
"I was employed by Interactive as an automation engineer. It’s a highly technical role – we think in lines of code. I had the skills they needed but also knew how to have those technical conversations with customers without getting lost in all the details. To be able to zoom out and give them the bigger picture. It’s a really simple way I’ve made a difference to my team."
Taqi Ansary, Automation Team Leader
Blueprint for Better
Sustainability is something that is very close to our hearts. Our Blueprint for Better is about making a tangible and sustained impact in everything we do.
There are four parts:
1. You – We want you to have a long, successful, and happy life at work and at home. With our human-first purpose and the opportunities around learning and development, we are set up to help you do just that. As we grow our team, we’re doing it in an intentional way – looking for people from all walks of life.
It’s important to us that people feel like they belong, and that our differences are celebrated.
2. Business – We constantly strive to make our service offerings more sustainable and we’re also helping our customers become more sustainable around how they do business. We feel that together we can make a real impact.
3. Community – We are not just based in different locations around Australia, we are deeply embedded in the communities we call home. The speed of change in technology is leaving some people behind. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to use our skills and resources to help, and our people are developing a program where we can have a real and lasting impact on our communities.
We also feel strongly about strengthening our support for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and are completing a Reconciliation Action Plan. We’re a partner of Supply Nation and 100% support their mission of connecting organisations with Indigenous businesses across the country.
4. Planet – In 2020, we were the first company of our kind to join RE100 and make the firm commitment to become 100% reliant on renewable energy by 2025. It makes good business sense, and quite simply, we believe it’s the right thing to do.
Summary
These are just some of the things we do to make Interactive a truly great place to work.
There are other benefits also like our office which has a rooftop deck, in-house barista, and a slide (yes, a slide), our quarterly Everest Awards where we celebrate people kicking goals in the company, cultural celebrations, our Beyond The Beers initiative which is all about getting men to speak up about mental health, our Christmas family days, our virtual “cook-alongs” just to name a few.
Everything you’ve read in the article above leads back to our purpose which is to keep technology human. That allows us to focus on the human, the individual, and their place in our business.
Finally, thanks to Great Place To Work for recognising our hard work!
