Australia’s Most Attractive Employers

The agency responsible for implementing the National Disability Insurance Scheme has been voted as one of the most attractive places to work in Australia.

At the annual Randstad awards in Sydney the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) was named as the 18th most sought-after workplace by employees.

The Randstad awards recognise the Australian public’s views on which employers and industries are viewed as the most attractive to work in.

12,002 Australians of working age were surveyed to find out which workplace they would most like to be employed at, with 50 per cent choosing airline Virgin Australia.

The aviation giant topped the list, beating beat two-time winner, the ABC, who came in second place and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection who took out the third place.

First launched in Belgium in 2000 by recruitment firm Randstad, the Randstad Award will be hosted in 23 countries around the world including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Spain and the Netherlands and will capture the views of 225,000 people of working age globally.

According to the research, the most attractive industries were aviation, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and mining and natural resources.

CEO of Randstad Australia, Frank Ribuot, said Virgin Australia had consistently placed in the top three most attractive workplaces. The organisation won in 2011.

“The Virgin brand is widely recognised around the world and by people from all walks of life. For the past few years, Virgin Australia has been recognised as one of the best employers in Australia so it’s testament to the company’s continued investment towards building its employer brand that this year it has taken the highest accolade,” Ribout said.

The annual Randstad Award employer branding research sighted Virgin Australia as particularly attractive when it comes to having a pleasant working atmosphere, a good work-life balance and strong management.

Geraldine Chin Moody, Group Executive, People, Culture and Sustainability at Virgin Australia, accepted the award on behalf of Virgin Australia.

“Our people have been key to the successful transformation of the airline over the past few years, and this award is testament to their outstanding professionalism and dedication to excellence,” Chin Moody said.

“Our focus is on supporting our team to actively manage their careers and develop to their full potential. Our people get opportunities to be involved in our transformational projects and build their skills internally.”

While Qantas came in fifth place this year, they won the Youth Award – for being the Most Attractive Employer for the younger generation. This Award was announced following the launch of Randstad’s Shaping Young Futures program, aimed at reducing the consistently high youth unemployment rate in the country, by creating a better future for those in need through education.

Ribuot said Randstad’s research demonstrated that, like it or not, every business has an employer brand, even if they do nothing to promote it.

“It’s better to shape and actively manage your brand rather than simply leaving it to chance, if you want to make sure you’re attracting the best talent to your business,” he said.

“Organisations such as those who are recognised in the Randstad Award, who act positively and clearly communicate to their staff the value of the work they do and the role they play in society, have an opportunity to not only build trust, but to also attract bright and ambitious people to work for them.”

But he warned that it has to be authentic, because if the perceived employer brand doesn’t reflect the reality within the organisation, this will very quickly be exposed through social media and rolling news for all prospective employees to see.

“An employer brand is known as an organisation’s ‘billboard’, and with the modern, savvy individuals of today, having a wealth of information at their fingertips about organisations and their values, they will just take a quick look online and find a myriad of people telling stories, good and bad, about the organisations they work for,” he said.

“You want those people to be impressed when they do their ‘research’ on your organisation. The kind of people you’re looking to attract to your organisation, to take it forward, will have developed a shortlist of organisations they want to work for, and it is important you are on that shortlist.

“With the increasing war for talent in Australia and around the world, employer branding is only becoming more important.”

2015 Randstad Award Top 20 Most Attractive Organisations in Australia

1. Virgin Australia

2. ABC

3. Department of Immigration & Border Protection

4. Seven Network

5. Qantas

6. Nestle

7. Wesfarmers (Coles, KMART, Target and Bunnings)

8. Coca-Cola Amatil

9. Department of Defence

10. Department of Health

11. Australian Federal Police

12. HP (Hewlett Packard)

13. GHD

14. BAE Systems

15. Toyota

16. Westfield

17. BHP

18. National Disability Insurance Agency

19. Rio Tinto

20. Mondelez (Cadbury, Vegemite, Philadelphia)

2015 Randstad Award Top 10 Most Attractive Industries in Australia

1. Aviation

2. FMCG

3. Mining & natural resources

4. Design engineering

5. State and Federal Government

6. Media

7. Professional services

8. Banking & Financial Services

9. Retail

10. Information & Communication Technology (ICT)