Financial advice firm Invest Blue has adopted a nine-day fortnight pilot, which would give full time employees an extra 26 days off a year, at a cost of roughly $1.9 million per annum, in a bid to foster employee wellbeing and drive productivity gains.
The firm, which provides financial advice, wealth management, lending and life insurance services and advice, has 25 offices including rural, coastal and city locations.
The company says the nine-day fortnight follows the group’s recent inclusion in the list of Australia’s Best Workplaces for Women, an initiative of global people and culture organisation, Great Place to Work.
Kasey Patterson, Head of People and Culture, says the group strongly backed the philosophy “…if we look after our people, they will look after our clients.”
She says the firm’s vision is to be “…Australia’s trusted home of great advice. Our mission is to have a recognisable presence across the country, which depends on our ability to attract, develop and retain advice professionals who are able to consistently deliver excellent advice and service to our clients.”
Patterson adds that a critical element of its recruitment strategy “…is to ensure we remain a great place to work and initiatives like the nine-day fortnight demonstrate our commitment to employee health and wellbeing.”
Lexi Glover, Chief Operating Officer, says with 194 employees spread around the country and a large team offshore “…Invest Blue’s size and scale puts it in a strong position to offer unique benefits while ensuring minimal impact on day-to-day operations and no disruption to clients.”
“We have the right technology and infrastructure to support our people but most importantly we have the right culture,” Glover says.
…geographically, people are spread out in many different locations so trust and transparency are critical…
She says that geographically, its people are spread out in many different locations “…so trust and transparency are critical. It is not uncommon to have teams that work together operating from different offices or from home. We have established operational rhythms, data analytics tools and clear communications including daily team huddles, which can be done physically or virtually.”
Glover adds that “…business growth should never come at the cost of employee wellbeing.”
“Everyone is busy here and there’s plenty of work to do so, intuitively, it doesn’t make sense to compress the week and give people every second Friday off but research shows that this approach can lift productivity while increasing employee satisfaction,” she says.
Invest Blue has achieved certification from Great Place to Work since 2017.
