Australian financial advice firm Invest Blue has adopted a nine-day fortnight pilot, which will give full time employees every second Friday off.
The firm, which provides financial advice, wealth management, lending, life insurance services, and advice, introduced the scheme to foster employee wellbeing and drive productivity gains.
The company says the nine-day fortnight, which will cost $1.9 million a year, 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 – which has 25 offices – strongly backed the philosophy “…if we look after our people, they will look after our clients”.
Lexi Glover, Chief Operating Officer, says with 194 employees spread across Australia 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,” says Glover.
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.”