Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing
Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing has been recognised as an Employer of Choice in The Australian Business Awards 2016. The Australian Business Award for Employer of Choice recognises organisations which have developed leading workplaces that maximise the full potential of their workforce through practices that demonstrate effective employee recruitment, engagement and retention.
“Sanitarium is an organisation truly driven by our mission and values, which helps us shape our vision of an ideal culture. Most importantly, it’s a vision shared by our people.
“We’ve worked hard to ensure that every staff member feels their contribution is valued and they can clearly see how they are contributing to our overall purpose. Our people tell us they feel they are given the authority, resources, experience and opportunity to perform in their roles, and compared to even the best businesses, we’re blessed with high engagement levels.“Winning the ABA for Employer of Choice Awards for a third year in a row is testament to our ongoing efforts in empowering people to enjoy work and develop their full potential. Because people make up our business and without their passion, Sanitarium would not be in the leading position we find ourselves in today.”
Sanitarium define their culture as the shared values, norms and expectations that guide their people in terms of how they approach their work and interact with each other. Guided by an employee value proposition that encompasses culture, leadership, development and recognition; Sanitarium focus on driving a workplace culture that delivers the best results to their customers through the satisfaction of their staff.
Living, learning and leading by values is important to Sanitarium, who have worked towards building a culture of professional development by emphasising training from induction. Developmental opportunities are delivered through on the job training, off site training, workshops, retreats, eLearning, peer learning, coaching, 360 feedback and webinars. This suite of initiatives is predicated on connecting employees to the Sanitarium mission and connects to a performance review system called “iGro”.
This system aims to create a line of sight to the Sanitarium business strategy and facilitates two-way communication and conversations between individuals and their managers. Whilst the focus of the iGro system is employee development and business outcomes there is also a flow through element to compensation. Based on a formula against the achievement of both goals and behaviours an employee is able to gain additional monetary increases if they have performed above expectation.
Employee wellbeing is also central to Sanitarium’s employer brand, through their “Better U” program the company has worked towards ensuring the wellbeing of their employees. Staff are offered a range of services and activities across a broad spectrum of areas, including nutrition, weight management, physical activity and mental health. Through the program, Sanitarium staff have access to a BetterU Coach to develop a tailored program with specific health and wellbeing goals, and then work with their coach to track progress against those goals.