The best of the Irish

Core Media

Anyone who works in media knows it’s a struggle to get a good work-life balance. “Every new year we’re in business we have tried to make improvements in relation to that,” explains Alan Cox, chief executive of Core Media. “Most recently we have invested in technology that might actually provide people with the tools to further balance their lives.”

Staff can now take a piece of kit home with them, plug it into their broadband, and have complete access to all files and folders on the company system.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 3

IT solutions provider Ergo Group understands the value of good people

“We also got rid of all our desk phones and purchased Microsoft Link which sits on our computers, and replaced all the desktops with laptops. So people aren’t bound to their desks anymore.”

With complete mobility, staff are now encouraged to work from home. “If it’s helpful or if they need peace and quiet there are no rules around it. It’s down to the person to manage the situation themselves.”

Emails have also been banned between 7.30pm and 7.30am. “Work emails are often sent outside working hours and even though people are not obliged to answer them, they often still do. Each time your phone makes that noise, it creates a little spike of stress. So we’ve encouraged everybody to turn off notifications on their devices.”

Topaz Topaz has always had a strong CSR agenda, and it is a central marketing pillar of the company. “Because we’ve got such reach throughout Ireland, giving back, particularly in a community setting, is very importantto us,” explains Paul Candon, marketing and corporate services director at Topaz.

“We want to be a company that influences difficult issues, such as mental health. Last year we got involved with Aware through the ‘Beat The Blues’ Campaign. We asked our employees which charity to go for and they voted for Aware.

“This was a challenging one, as mental health is a very big issue in Ireland. A lot of companies would shy away from it. But we wanted to take a leadership position.

“They’re the kinds of challenges we take on and we’re very proud if it. But this sense of responsibility drives into our employees too. They buy into the agenda, and become supporters and advocates of our charities.

“Our next CSR project is called ‘Cash for Clubs’ and we’re going out to all the sports clubs in Ireland, and if their members fuel with Topaz, we’ll give them tokens to collect for all sorts of sports gear and jerseys.”

The Barry Group

With more than 230 people employed at their Mallow headquarters, it is important for a company like the Barry Group to have staff that can work in harmony. “Our philosophy, first and foremost, is that our team is as important as our customers,” says managing director Jim Barry.

“They’re a joint priority. In my experience, if your team are fully engaged, your customers will get top-quality service.

“Over the last 12-15 months, we as a company took a big step back to see how effective we were. I had what you might call an honesty attack. We identified quite a few ways of improving what we do, and produced a document on ‘How We Work Together’. It’s about understanding the behaviour of the company. We wanted to improve how our people interacted with each other - managers, leaders and the wider staff.

“A strong company needs everyone to work together. So we worked with our people at every level and listened to any issues they might have had.”

They took a pragmatic approach and asked staff to give straight answers to straight questions.

“We identified opportunities to improve management performance, and gained buy-in from across the organisation on specific projects,” says Barry.

“It’s a common-sense approach. Everyone wants to enjoy going to work. If they do, they’ll get their job done to a higher standard and work together.”

Version 1

Version 1 is focused on building something special and engagement is at the heart of that. “We want to create and nurture an environment where people feel, above all, that they are valued members of a team,” explains engagement manager Jennifer Dolan. “The key to Version 1 being a great workplace has been our focus on employee development. There are no Xboxes, no skateboards, no onsite massage therapists! We use surveys to focus on what people say that is important to them – helping each member to develop as a person while also building something special – a great Irish success story.

“We pay attention to employee feedback. One area highlighted to us by a previous Great Place to Work survey was that employees didn’t feel Version 1 was doing enough in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Our internal team worked with our CEO and the Version 1 Community Trust was born. This is an employee-driven initiative that rewards a number of grants each quarter to worthy causes submitted by V1 employees. Since launching in 2013, the trust has given away nearly €70,000 in grants to 55 local and global community-based causes. The impact was huge, with our survey score increasing by almost 20 per cent on this particular question alone and a whole host of positive comments.”

Ergo Group

IT solutions provider Ergo Group understands the value of good people. That’s why they do their own recruitment in-house through a variety of innovative HR approaches. “We use an internal resourcing team,” explains chief executive John Purdy. “We are somewhat self-sufficient in driving our own hiring activities, and tend not to use external recruiters. We have put a lot of effort into this space because having the right people means we can deliver the right projects to our clients and gain further business.”

Ergo use social media extensively, and does rigorous profiling of individuals before they go out looking. “We use everything from technical examinations to scenario situations. In recent days, a bunch of applicants were interviewed and given a real business problem and we asked them to solve it. We weren’t looking for the right answer, we just wanted to figure out who could be creative in their approach.

“We’re actively looking for people a little left-field,” he adds. “So any relevant experience will be taken into consideration here. In certain roles you can be left-field. I don’t want to be involved with a company where everybody thinks and looks and dresses in the same way. We want you to bring your individuality to it.”

The Irish Stock Exchange (ISE)

The ISE has a strong, team-based culture focused around its customers and place in the economy. “We value each other, our customers, and our position in the economy and community,” explains head of HR David McAndrew. “To support these values we developed a new competency framework which has been incorporated, together with the corporate values, in our performance management and bonus processes. All employees are held accountable and are rewarded for living the values. We believe as a management team this is crucial to the very powerful and positive culture we have developed and we want to maintain it, especially as we grow over the coming years.

“Getting recognition from the Great Place to Work institute is important to us and we have set ourselves the objective of being recognised as one of the best places to work in Ireland. Employees enjoy being part of something that matters locally but also leads the pack in certain product areas globally. There is a real ambition and entrepreneurial spirit within the ISE. This ‘can-do’ positive work ethic has been key to attracting and retaining high-calibre, ambitious candidates.

For the ISE, an excellent work environment is not all about the Ts&Cs, “although they are obviously important. We know that we have something completely unique. In employee numbers terms we are a relatively small organisation but the ISE punches well above its weight in terms of importance for the Irish economy.”