Inside Australia's coolest finance company
Every year Jobadvisor.org gives out Coolest Company awards in a range of different categories. 2016 saw the introduction of the finance category and each of the top five has a unique mix of culture values, unique staff incentives, business expansions and other little perks available to their staff.
Taking the number one spot in this new category is World First, a company that uses specialist knowledge of foreign exchange markets alongside technical innovations to help its clients move money around the world quickly, securely and transparently. The company culture focuses on a professional environment where work gets done but with an equal amount of fun thrown in to keep morale high.
Managing Director Andrew Porter is thrilled World First has achieved this award. He says: “It’s something I am immensely proud of and feel is an acknowledgement of the effort we have always put in to ensuring the right balance of fun and work in our business.”
World First has grown rapidly since its inception in 2004 and despite this there’s still a good relationship across all departments. Porter says: “The business was founded by two guys who walked away from a bank and decided to do it differently. They have always fostered a fun culture in the company they created. Having built the business up here over the last seven years, from five to 60 staff, I think it is very cool that we still seem to have such an engaged and fun-loving team.”
This is down to the fact that the company takes its time to see if people are a right fit for its culture as well as the role they’re applying for. Screening people in this way means that the culture of inclusivity, fun and authenticity continues as the company grows.
Building this culture is important but World First manages to stay ahead of the competition too because happy employees work hard. Porter says: “It’s not all about having trendy things like open bars and in-house baristas - it’s about encouraging and nurturing total respect throughout the organisation, offering opportunity to grow professionally and personally with no toxicity at any level.
“I think ultimately these values flow over into great client engagement, and overall, adds to a strong competitive advantage and pretty cool environment to be a part of. The team works very hard and has produced some amazing levels of growth for our business over the last few years. Having fun along the way has made it all worthwhile.”
Read the rest of this article in Business Review Australia's February issue.
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