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Telstra Americas recently announced we earned a Great Place to Work® certification in recognition of our ongoing efforts to create an extraordinary employee experience. Based on a company-wide employee survey, the certification highlighted that 94 percent of employees in the U.S. and Canada said Telstra is a great place to work, compared to just 57 percent of employees at a typical U.S.-based company.
To many employees, and especially those who have been here awhile, this news is actually something we’ve known for a long time. The Great Place to Work certification, while prestigious, is simply the latest validation of Telstra’s ongoing company-wide efforts to promote inclusivity, a positive workplace culture, work-life balance, and an enhanced employee experience.
Many of the positive survey results highlight our long-time efforts to build the right environment, proving we’ve been passionate about when it comes to the employee experience:
- We champion an inclusive environment where everybody's viewpoint matters
- We were “flex” for years before hybrid working was even a term
- We’ve been giving back to our communities for years
It’s also no surprise that the survey aligns so closely with our core values: We are changemakers, we are better together, we care, and we make it simple.
We care
It's one thing to have a value that says “we care” on a bulletin board. It’s much more meaningful when you're able to have a conversation with an employee who's going through a challenging time and able to show care and concern through a combination of policies, benefits, and empathy.
We have several employee resource groups (ERGs) dedicated to this philosophy. Under the umbrella term Catalyst for Change, all of them are voluntary, employee-led communities focused on different parts of the employee experience: learning and development; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); and community engagement and activism.
Telstra’s DEI efforts include guest speakers to lead awareness sessions, along with celebrations of Black History Month, Women’s History Month/International Women’s Day, and Pride with webinars, internal events and more. Telstra also gives everyone one full day of paid time each year specifically for volunteering at food banks or soup kitchens, mentoring in under-served communities through the First Step job training program or cleaning up our environment.
The issues that are important to our employees are constantly changing, so the focus and way we talk about our benefits has adapted and we're always looking for ways to deliver new benefits or broaden what we already offer.
A great example is the production and distribution of the Total Compensation Statements for all our employees each year. These individualized statements provide comprehensive information on employee pay and benefits, highlighting the true value of their employer paid benefits which in turn provide employees the resources needed to make the best possible decisions for them and their dependents.
We are changemakers
The telecommunications industry is all about change: new technologies, new customer needs, new connectivity solutions. Our employees need to be ready.
Telstra’s “Future Ready” initiative is a learning program focused on ensuring Telstra employees have the capabilities needed for today, as well as the critical skills needed to advance their careers into tomorrow. The credentials can also be used as credit towards a formal qualification.
The Catalyst for Change ERGs also contribute through the Market Insights group, bringing news and trends about the telecommunications industry, specific products, competitors, and overall business trends to our teams in the Americas.
We make it simple
Hybrid, flex, remote, on-site: everyone is wrestling with creating the optimal work environment that balances productivity with a seamless experience. Telstra is committed to that effort, constantly searching for new ways to make it simple for everyone to work from anywhere, which contributes to better work-life balance. This includes providing our employees with a budget to purchase the technology and tools needed for their home office.
We’re so proud of this commitment, and even prouder that in the survey 99 percent of employees believe management trusts people to do a good job without watching over their shoulders, and 97 percent of employees feel they are encouraged to balance their work life and their personal life.
People are more engaged and they're more likely to produce when they're content and happy. I love the idea that employees feel our managers are approachable, that they are comfortable having conversations with them. It's also a key reason why the average tenure for U.S. employee population is around seven years, with about a third of our U.S. employees here for more than 10 years.
The Great Place to Work certification also extends to our onboarding and recruiting practices, giving us more tools to make it easier to attract, retain and support the best talent who will become our future leaders.
We are better together
This goal perhaps needs the least explanation. We’re always happy to celebrate individual achievement, but together as a collective unit, we believe we can achieve more than we could ever accomplish on our own. The annual all-employee Telstra Americas Conference is a truly rewarding time that allows us all to gather, have some fun, talk about strategy, make plans, and get excited about the new year.
Watching everyone cheer on their coworkers when they receive an award for achieving something great is inspiring. It illustrates the collaborative way the Americas team works together, and the idea that our combined efforts can achieve something great. Although our ideas and perspectives may be diverse, working together toward a common goal brings about something really special.
Maintaining a positive workplace culture is an ongoing effort. We all have a part to play, no matter who we are or what role we have at Telstra. Everyone shares the belief that we can come together, collaborate, solve problems, and work together to produce the right solutions for our customers, and the right experience for our employees.
Telstra always challenges the status quo. We're always the first ones to ask, “What can we do differently to get an even better outcome?” It’s about the constant belief that we can do more, that we can be more, and that we can accomplish more by pushing ourselves to always do better.
We’re hiring! Check out Telstra’s careers page to find open positions.
