Atlassian tops BRW’s Best Places to Work list for second year in a row

SOFTWARE company Atlassian has taken the top spot in BRW’s annual Best Places to Work list for the second year in a row.

Atlassian-co founder Mike Cannon-Brookes at his office in Sydney. Atlassian is the winner of Austrade's Exporter of the Year...

SOFTWARE company Atlassian has taken the top spot in a row in BRW’s annual Best Places to Work list for the second year in a row.

Mecca Brands came second, with financial services firm Optiver taking third place in the survey of Australian workers, conducted by BRW and Great Place to Work Australia.

The rankings were arrived at by combining results of an employee survey, which determined whether a workplace was “trusting”, with a “culture audit” of HR personnel.

“A foosball table and free drinks are nice but they are no replacement for trust,” said BRW editor Michael Bailey.

“Our Best Places To Work tend to share a lot with their employees, including honest updates on how the company is doing and fair rewards for above-and-beyond effort.

“For the growing number of ‘millennials’ in Australia’s workplaces, a sense of their employer contributing to its community is also important.”

Atlassian, the 13-year-old company which makes business software including JIRA and HipChat, was hailed for breaking down barriers by using its Confluence communications platform as a way for staff to collaborate and convey congratulations.

Any staff can give a colleague ‘kudos’ for a job well done. According to BRW, 11 per cent of staff are awarded a kudos in an average week.

A separate list for companies with under 100 employees saw creative advertising agency Universal McCann claim top spot, followed by healthcare company The Physio Co and IT firm Intuit Australia.

“Employees like to know that they are working towards a goal and to trust that leadership has the skills and competency to take them there,” said Zrinka Lovrencic, managing director of Great Places to Work Australia.

“Management’s ability to convey a clear view of where the organisation is going and how it is going to get there directly impacts employees’ confidence in the future of the business.”

The BRW Best Places to Work winners saw average revenue growth of 25 per cent over the last 12 months and added an additional $1.3 billion to the Australian economy.