HFM Awarded as Australia's 2019 Small Business Champion of Flexible Work
Australia’s 2019 Champions of Flexible Work were officially announced on August 28th.
We are happy to share the news, that HFM Asset Management has been recognised with Australia’s 2019 Small Business Champion of Flexible Work award!
The awards are run by Flexible Working Day, in partnership with Diversity Council Australia, FlexAgility Group, Rowdy Digital and Aginic.
Their official communication states that they “delibrately chose to announce the winners on Equal Pay Day, as work flexibility is a key component to unlock the gender pay gap”.
The awards are run by Flexible Working Day, in partnership with Diversity Council Australia, FlexAgility Group, Rowdy Digital and Aginic.
The 2019 Champion of Flexible Work Winners were:
- 2019 Champion of Flexible Work – TAL
- Large Business Champion – Perpetual
- Medium Business Champion – Richmond Football Club
- Small Business Champion – HFM Asset Management
- Government Champion – Australian Research Council
- Leader Champion – Paul Ryan, Inspiring Vacations
- Leader Champion – Sarah Riegelhuth, Grow My Team
- Individual Champion – Peter Kennedy, Ernst & Young
- Individual Champion – Lucy Hodges, Royal bank of Scotland
- Team Champion – RiseSmart, Sales Team
Congratulations to all the finalists and winners of other categories!
HFM’s top 3 ingredients for flexible working success
- Autonomy: When autonomy is created in the workplace, employees tend to become more empowered and able to focus on goals and objectives which in turn increases job satisfaction.
- Communication: It’s key to have an ongoing communication with each team member; for this is also important to discuss current work arrangements and see if employees are experiencing any issues (i.e. isolation when working away)
- Team support: Having everyone on board and understanding other team member’s arrangements.
Diversity & Work Flexibility go hand in hand
As HFM has a very diverse team, we understand that everyone has different priorities outside of work. For that reason, for over 15 years, through an open communication between Staff and Management, various flexible work arrangements have been implemented, such as: flexitime, staggered shifts, leave without pay, full time flexible, long service leave, time for volunteering, pro bono, parental leave, flexible leave balance, working remotely both occasionally and on a daily basis-including overseas.
Key Stories:
- Lia has been working remotely since she moved to Germany for personal reasons, in April 2018
- Shirley is a mother of two, since 2006 she has been working from home at least once a week
- Peter has been working remotely since he moved to Albany, WA for personal reasons
- Darren is a father of two who adjusts his work hours based on the requirements of his family.
- Beth worked remotely for over a year from England.
- Andrea (2019 Flexible work ambassador) re-arranged her working hours during the three months her family was visiting from overseas.
Key benefits of working flexibly for our team members:
- Increased job satisfaction and productivity
- Reduce stress and improve health and wellbeing
- Balance work with caring responsibilities – children
- Balance work with caring responsibilities – non-child (e.g. care of elderly parents, other)
- Save on commuting time and transport costs