What makes a great workplace?

With children’s artwork all around, a rocking horse and a climbing wall, you would be forgiven for thinking Storypark’s Wellington office is an early learning centre. 

It’s an intentional move, says CEO and cofounder Jamie MacDonald, who comes from a design background. “It’s set up in a playful and fun way to represent the spaces where our customers work.” 

Edutech venture Storypark provides software to enable better connection between early childhood centres and the families that use them. The idea was born 12 years ago when MacDonald developed software for his mother who ran a childcare centre. It is now used by over 11,000 early centres in 37 countries, supported by Storypark’s global workforce.

Approximately 20 percent of the company’s 65 employees work remotely. That largely represents the company’s Canadian and Australian teams, as well as some staff scattered around New Zealand. Others work under flexible arrangements, in part-time and full-time positions, splitting their days between home and Storypark’s Wellington office.

When designing a great working environment, and choosing between aesthetics and functionality, MacDonald says functionality must come first. 

“It always has to come down to what experience you’re trying to create, and how important is this aesthetic to the outcome?” he says. A phone booth, for instance, needs to be soundproof, but that doesn’t mean the frosted glass can’t be replaced with a colourful decal. 

Despite their kookiness, the office “artefacts”, as MacDonald describes them, make the Storypark environment a great space and help build team identity, he says. MacDonald has even been known to hop on the climbing wall himself from time to time to stretch out after sitting at an office desk all day. 

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A focus on values

The Storypark office space is one of three key elements that define the company’s work environment. The other two are working conditions and organisational culture. Investing in these aspects is what makes a good workplace, MacDonald says.

Creating a good working environment needs a strong foundation with a purpose and values, he says. For Storypark, those values come from the founding team, the market and the customer base. 

“We did a lot of soul searching early on and our board chair Dion prompted us to think about: What are we trying to do? What type of people do we want to attract? And then, what are your own values?” 

The company values that were settled on for Storypark – stronger together, children at heart, nurturing growth and relentless curiosity – also came in useful when plotting out the physical environment for the company but they go further than the office, he says.

“We try to interweave our values into every part of the employee journey at Storypark so it’s not just a token ‘here’s some values on the wall’,” he says. “It starts in the recruitment and onboarding processes, and continues throughout the tenure.” 

Modica Group is another company that is big on values. 

The communications-as-a-service venture which operates an SMS platform, has a team of 75 in New Zealand and Australia, with a number of fully remote staff spread further around the globe. 

Modica Group legal and human resources head Tim Fletcher says cultivating a good working environment both in person and online is a high priority for the company.

To do that it draws on the values established by its founders years ago: pragmatism, doing the right thing, being the change, tough love, and playing nicely. Tough love is approached via the Radical Candour feedback model, which encourages positive and constructive feedback, Fletcher says.

It’s an approach also recommended by Anna Muir, director of people and culture for HR agency, Humankind

“It’s very much about being direct, clear and kind in the feedback in order to get [people] to improve,” Muir says. 

The Radical Candour model suggests praising in public and critiquing in private. However, when praising employees, Muir recommends assessing what works best for the individual. Some employees may prefer the shouting from the rooftops style while others appreciate a more private approach. 

A good working environment also signals a strong leader, Muir says. That means someone who can communicate well, and who cares about their people as well as the performance of their organisation.

“They will actively provide feedback to people, ask questions and genuinely want to know individuals' answers,” she says, adding that they must also recognise that feedback should be a two-way street.

“A great workplace looks like what your people need and want it to look like,” Muir says.

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Ask the right questions

A good workplace revolves around the overall employee experience, says Muir. And, it goes further than having an office with space to connect, bright, open spaces, and – where possible – access to good public transport, it also needs to make people feel as though they belong. 

To do that, Muir suggests asking open-ended questions about specific things, from the physical environment to leadership models, like ‘how do we get the best out of you?’ Or, ‘how do you like to work?’

If, as a leader, you design a space with your employees where they feel connected, rewarded, recognised and able to do their jobs, they will perform better, Muir says. With those needs met “you don’t need to be afraid as a leader or as an organisation to expect high performance standards”. 

Recognising individual needs and cultivating diverse workforces pays dividends as it also enhances organisational performance through varied ways of thinking and doing, she says. 

Both Storypark and Modica use surveys to get a pulse check on their workplaces. 

Fletcher says regular catch-ups – not just when issues arise – encourage people to provide feedback. 

As a workplace, you will never be perfect, he says. “Recognise when it hasn’t been done perfectly, skip back and say sorry.” 

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Remote culture

The uptick in hybrid and remote workers adds another layer of complexity in today’s working environment. 

People now come into the office mainly to collaborate and connect, often working from home when they need to focus or have multiple meetings, Muir says. That means modern offices need open spaces for collaboration as well as quiet areas for concentrated work.

Fletcher says Modica’s leadership team is trying to work out how to make its online meetings less transactional. “You’re not just jumping on a call and saying, ‘yes, this is the work we have to do, let’s do it’, but making the space for ‘water cooler talk’.” 

Modica also encourages best communications practice by asking employees to participate in a DiSC personal assessment. Fletcher describes it as the Myers-Briggs of communication, which aids understanding of personal drivers and helps people engage with each other respectfully. 

Crucially, he says, culture can’t be forced and each company will have its own rituals that work for them. Modica, for example, cultivates inter-office camaraderie within its widespread team through dedicated programmes. 

These include Lunch and Learn sessions, and a Lighthouse series that brings people together to discuss things other than Modica. So far, they’ve hosted an insurance provider and mortgage advisors, and have plans to host a fine-dining chef. 

While these events take place in the office, they are also broadcast to the rest of the team online. The company also runs a monthly quiz on Zoom, grouping colleagues together from all Modica’s different locations. 

Storypark is also focused on improving online connections as the hybrid working model becomes the norm.

Activities such as Friday Wins, previously a weekly in-office celebration of successes, has shifted to an online monthly event where people are again randomly grouped with coworkers from all locations. 

Storypark also has a values channel on Slack, where staff are encouraged to share instances where they feel company values have been upheld. 

MacDonald says best-practice for remote working is for each participant to use their own laptop on a video call in online meetings, rather than sharing or using meeting room comms. This approach ensures remote workers feel included and everyone has access to a microphone.

Muir says having a regular cadence for connection and checking-in is important for the move into the online space. 

If the tools and frameworks for that are not already in place in your company, she recommends returning to basics and being deliberate in your design to create that environment. And, she says, where possible, create opportunities for staff to come together in person. 

If you’re doing it wrong, you’ll know, as people won’t come into the office or attend in-person events, Muir says. If you want to do better, just ask your staff. 

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Employee experience is at the heart of Best Places to Work – a programme Caffeine is supporting as its media partner for the startup community. The Best Places to Work employee engagement survey is now open.

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