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Reward and recognition for distributed teams

Madeleine Robins shares insights for managing dispersed teams

Big Red Group People and Culture Director Madeleine Robins, has long been at the forefront of innovating ways to empower and connect employees. With a strong background in corporate culture, Robins has witnessed rising workplace challenges attributed to distributed teams, and applies her deep experience and knowledge into creating best practice programs for the Group.

In a recent online series facilitated by Employment Hero exploring the future of work, Robins discussed this increasing challenge, and the importance of reward and recognition in managing a dispersed workforce.

Stemming from the pandemic, there has been a significant shift in what the workplace means to individuals, particularly in how they feel valued within a team. Not long ago, a workplace was about being physically present in the moment, being in a room where leaders could see their colleagues and acknowledge their contribution. As workplaces become more distributed, global, connected, and flexible, businesses must find new ways to connect and meaningfully recognise their people.

At the heart of Big Red Group’s culture, is the desire to stay connected. As Robins states, “irrespective of the size of our business, it is still about connection […] wherever you work you still need it. It’s that connection that builds social capital and allows for a growth culture, the investment in connection is part of the work.”

As employees start to enjoy greater life balance fuelled through flexible and remote working, with more available time through eliminating the office commute, employers are left with little choice but to increase trust and empowerment. It’s a new working environment, and embracing change is the first step in ensuring long term sustainability.

When it comes to reward and recognition for distributed teams, Robins acknowledges that employees are in a developing space, and that their working identity is deeply tied to their sense of self. “One of our biggest challenges was that our team wants to be rewarded and recognised for more than the work they do. They want to be recognised for who they are as a person, how they lead and how they turn up.”

Robins has put structures in place to encourage and facilitate recognition with the help of online platforms and leadership development. These integrated systems of collaboration (such as Salesforce Communities and Microsoft Teams) and investment in key employee moments such as reviews, team meetings and one-on-ones give a collective ability for employees to recognise each other in the workplace. Coupled with a market leading employee engagement program – including ’ which drives regular cross team connection, Robins is confident employees feel valued and maintain that important human connection that enables a high growth business.

Whilst it has been challenging to adapt to a new style of working, with ongoing lockdowns preventing many teams from returning to a physical workspace, Big Red Group employees continue to make and maintain meaningful connections, despite the distance between.

In summary, engaging, recognising and valuing distributed teams is an ongoing journey for both individuals and the organisations they work for. Collectively, they must work hand in hand to make each unique situation work, while understanding the key drivers such as rituals, rhythms and behaviours. There is much growth, learning and discovery ahead.

As Robins concludes, “we’re challenging ourselves; our team is not the same, our business is not the same. I encourage businesses to take a fresh look at it and try something different.”

To hear the full webinar click here.

Fortifying the domestic tourism market

Supply partner SeaLink sails through the pandemic with determination

In the 10 years spent as a supply partner to Big Red Group, SeaLink Travel Group has grown exponentially, becoming the largest tourism and marine transport company in Australia, with locations throughout many states and territories

SeaLink General Manager of Global Sales and Distribution, Richard Doyle states that “travel is about connecting people, it’s about sharing the experiences and creating brilliant memories.” However, COVID put a lot of pressure and ambiguity upon SeaLink, they had the challenge of adapting to the reality of being part a touristnd marine venture in these trying times.

When the pandemic began, SeaLink knew that maintaining their momentum would require direct action. Their vast portfolio of island packages, famous lunch and dinner cruises on Australia’s iconic harbours and rivers, ferry trips and experiences like whale watching were all parts of their multi-faceted business. Each component would need a unique strategy to remain viable in a pandemic.

For the business, the most challenging aspect was the ambiguity of not knowing how long the pandemic would be when it first started, however, having transparency across the business to acknowledge this allowed stringent strategies to be put in place – tough decisions and honesty were critical.

Adhering to COVID safe guidelines was paramount in building customer trust and reassurance. Doyle states, “As we are selling experiences, we all have to make sure that our guests’ safety was priority number one when they undertake whatever experience they do with us, that has become key to our business success.” Analysing the national response to COVID guidelines in each state protected the business from any potential issues and ensured safety for every customer.

With Australian border closures and a complete ban on in international arrivals, the domestic market would become the main focus for SeaLink at this time. Doyle knew this to be the case, “We spent a lot of time in the early months of lockdown in March-April 2020 to really transpose and change our product. When we started operating again our ability to reposition and remodel our experiences was vital.”

Through partnerships, such as the one with Big Red Group, SeaLink were able to mobilise the domestic customer base. “Big Red Group has been an important part in getting us to that domestic market” Doyle stated. Working within this partnership; the campaigns around celebrations such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day contribute and engage a wider audience for SeaLink, helping to sell the destination.

For SeaLink, the highest point during these times was when they successfully reopened and were once again welcoming guests back on board. With many new and exciting ventures on the horizon, SeaLink continues to grow and is looking forward to the international market joining the domestic market in experiencing the best that Australia has to offer.

Whilst there are still some unknown aspects due to the pandemic, SeaLink future-proofed their business by fortifying their domestic market, through deepening their understanding of it. Whilst the pandemic has not yet ceased, SeaLink knows they have put in the hard work to keep rebounding.

Doyle closes in saying “Even with this current state of lockdown, we know that customers really want to get back out there and travel and to see and experience Australia. We look forward to welcoming people back to help them create more brilliant memories.”

There is no doubt, SeaLink’s future remains bright.

Big Red Group CEO provides advice to small business

David Anderson shares top 5 focus points for 2021

Recently, Big Red Group CEO David Anderson took part alongside Adam Jacobs, Co-founder of The Iconic, in a City of Sydney online seminar to share insights and advice to small businesses. The meeting brought together diverse brands, each with different products, seeking advice on how to grow their business in the current market.

Both leaders shared advice specific to each business, however as an overarching point, Anderson shared the top 5 questions every business owner should be asking themselves as they vie to remain relevant in 2021.

How can I ensure sustainable growth?

Having a growth mindset is essential to building business momentum, and overcoming the challenge of stagnation. Whilst Big Red Group is experiencing strong domestic growth fuelled by international border closures, Anderson continues to question how to build underlying sustainable growth. This continuous focus on long-term growth is vital for the future of the business, particularly as international borders reopen, and Anderson sees partnerships and marketplaces as powerful ways to achieve this.

Do I maintain my competitive advantage?

In a crowded marketplace it can be difficult for businesses to stand out. It is important to recognise external trends and how they may change or apply to a business. During the pandemic, Big Red Group has continuously invested in marketing, people and technology to further grow its marketplace of trusted brands including Adrenaline, Lime&Tonic and RedBalloon. Anderson knows it will take this kind of bold leadership to maintain its competitive advantage, particularly when international borders open. Small businesses should look to discover their unique selling points and take advantage of gaps in the market.

How do I realise a return on investment?

Appropriately investing time and effort is critical when calculating a return on investment for both small and large businesses. As Anderson states “I am a big believer in invention and innovation.” Trying different things, and establishing and monitoring the metrics around how they effectively help move the business forward ensures that resources are being utilised appropriately. And if the return is simply not there, don’t be afraid to cut the ties.

How do I attract and retain talent in a competitive market?

Maintaining and building capability in the marketplace through a dedicated and supported workforce has been particularly challenging throughout 2021. With the pandemic causing a prodigious shift in how the workplace operates, it is paramount that businesses intently focus on to how they attract, retain and support talent. They must continue to cultivate leadership, growth and connection to remain relevant.

How do I drive the right outcomes?

Having the appropriate trajectory of your business and making the correct decisions as you move forward determines where the overall business will sit. When these decisions reflect the implemented values, business can think about where they will be in due course. Having the metrics to support goals is critical in determining the efficiency of operations.

As the second half of 2021 unfolds, the landscape will continue to shift, but if businesses are true to their core and focus on what is within their control, they will find their way through.

Click here to see the full webinar.

Strengthening the experience economy

How agility and resilience has helped Paperbark Camp navigate their way

Paperbark Camp based on the NSW South Coast (Jervis Bay) has been part of the Big Red Group supply community for more than 11 years. Director of the luxury camping business, Camilla Hamilford has seen more than her fair share of challenges over the past 18 months including bushfires, flooding and Covid-19, testing the resilience of her team and business.

As a small family owned operation with loyal and dedicated staff, they have managed each setback in their stride, responding quickly and efficiently to each unique set of circumstances faced. Staff and guest safety has been the priority throughout each ordeal, managing immediate threats and then reconciling the longer terms impacts.

Of all three major events, the bushfire was the most frightening and impactful, destroying their smaller glamping property ‘Flash Camp’ at Coolendel. And although Paperbark Camp was built to contend with floodwaters, there were some major inconveniences to deal with when the floods came.

But it was Covid-19 that sent the business to its lowest point. Shutting down at the beginning of the pandemic and standing down staff without knowing what the future held.

But after hitting the lowest point, then came the highest. With international borders closed and Australians relishing the opportunity to travel domestically once restrictions eased, Paperbark Camp capacity began to soar upon re-opening in June 2020.

Despite it being mid-winter, a traditionally slower season, Paperbark Camp was swamped with booking enquiries. Strong bookings have continued, and being located proximate to a major city has been advantageous says Hamilford, with people feeling secure in taking mini-adventures, with their homes not too far from sight.

Hamilford’s biggest challenge right now, which is an industry wide one, is finding hospitality staff, especially chefs, who are in high demand and short supply. An issue that they will likely be contending with for a while.

While confident that Australia is on the road to recovery, Paperbark Camp is cognisant that many in the tourism industry who are more reliant on the international market continue to suffer.

Hamilford says Covid-19 has reinforced the idea that connection with people and making memories is so important, with Big Red Group providing a channel to people who are looking to do just, through its leading experience brands Adrenaline and RedBalloon.

While the challenging months have tested them all, it has also made Paperbark Camp realise how agile they are, and has equipped the team with the ability and mindset to better prepare for, and embrace change. And after 22 years in operation, it has made the business look at different ways of doing things which has been beneficial.

While Big Red Group brands continue to provide customers looking for unique experiences to businesses such as Paperbark Camp, it is Hamilford and her team who supply the magic that keeps them coming back for more.

Big Red Group hosts industry partnership event

CEO David Anderson welcomes all to new workspace

June 8^th 2021 – Big Red Group CEO David Anderson joined other leaders of the business in welcoming industry partners to its new eco-rated workspace at Martin Place in Sydney’s CBD. The event attracted attendees from state, regional and national tourism agencies, along with small businesses from around Australia, many in Sydney for the 2021 Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE).

Anderson opened the event, commenting on the value of partnerships in driving economic recovery and growth within the tourism sector. With Big Red Group currently outperforming the market by more than 60%, and up more than 50% year to date (like for like, compared to 2019), Australians are engaging in domestic experiences more than ever before, fuelled by international border closures.

This has created new opportunities in the realm of partnerships, with Big Red Group’s leading brands Adrenaline and RedBalloon recently partnering with large government entities to extend their audience reach. These include:

Current:

Tourism Australia (Holiday Here this Year – ‘Get Amongst It’, Adrenaline)
Service NSW (Dine & Discover – RedBalloon and Adrenaline)
WA Tourism (WA Your Way – RedBalloon)
Destination NSW (‘Love Sydney’ – RedBalloon)

Jan / Feb 2021:

Tourism Australia (Holiday Here this Year – RedBalloon and Adrenaline)

Anderson says ”These partnerships highlight the value of collaboration to reach new audiences and channels. As the largest experience marketplace in ANZ with over 2200 experience suppliers onboard, our scale, trusted brands, and leading marketing and tech, positions us as a value-add partner who can enable government and industry to reach new audiences. It’s an incredibly exciting time, with these collaborations just in their infancy.”

With more campaigns around the corner, Anderson intends on making the most of the domestic opportunities while they are there and remains on track to deliver more than 1 million customers to Big Red Group’s supply network this year. On any given day, there are more than 500,000 Australians with credit to use across Big Red Group sites, highlighting the value to suppliers in being part of its marketplace.

And the most popular experiences this year?

Anderson says “Flying experiences such as tandem sky diving and hot air ballooning are at all-time highs, closely followed by driving experiences such as V8 race car driving. Country retreats and romantic getaways are also thriving, which is no surprise after a year of snap lockdowns – people want to get out and about, and spend time sharing experiences together.“

Fortunately, Big Red Group has more than 7,000 experiences to choose from, so the only challenge for people, is deciding upon one.

The experience economy

How partnership, resilience and agility is helping our supply community

Damien Anderson from Tiny Bear Distillery in Knoxfield Victoria, knows a thing or two about being agile, all learned through navigating his business through the ongoing disruption of Covid-19. A supply partner to Big Red Group for the past two years, the value of the partnership really came to fruition when the pandemic first hit.

In fact, Anderson says that without the partnership, his business would have closed. “Big Red Group allowed us to grow and adapt. They had a market which we wouldn’t have been able to access without their drive and reach. It kept our business relevant during the tough times. It’s a genuine partnership which allows us both to grow.”

Anderson found that to keep pace with the rapidly changing landscape and shifting consumer sentiment, he had to constantly adapt and evolve the business. He quickly moved from offering only physical distillery experiences, to adding an online virtual cellar door, providing opportunities for people to still feel connected while not able to get out and about.

The busines peaked at Christmas with people feeling more confident to explore, bringing a sense of happiness to the distillery as customers filled the surrounds. However, this buoyancy was short lived, with a series of Victorian lockdowns hampering operations ever since.

Moral is dipping at the moment, with another snap lockdown to contend with, the uncertainty making it difficult for the business to predict and plan. With March – July traditionally the slowest time for Tiny Bear, lockdowns just exacerbate the situation.

For Anderson it is tough knowing that in an instant, their livelihood can be shut down with no support. As a new and growing business, Tiny Bear has been ineligible for many of the grants and assistance packages that have kept other businesses afloat, such as JobKeeper and Circuit Breaker. They have managed without, but it hasn’t been easy.

While Anderson is not feeling overly confident in Australia’s economic outlook, he is deeply committed and passionate about what their business offering is. His belief in the products Tiny Bear creates is palpable – gin, whisky and very special liqueurs. With such an intrinsic passion for what they do, Anderson is determined to make the business a success, no matter what it takes.

Anderson’s steadfast mission is to keep their staff employed, who have worked tirelessly throughout all the challenges that Covid-19 has thrown them. He thanks them every day for their contribution and dedication.

His greatest takeaway from what the business has endured is to be adaptable, to think quickly, and make things happen. And with wise words relevant to all businesses, Anderson says “don’t be afraid to take risks, as it’s a bigger risk to do nothing.”

Big Red Group continues to work collaboratively with Tiny Bear and many other small businesses doing it tough Australia and New Zealand wide, using its scale and leading tech platforms to deliver customers to help their businesses grow. It’s what partnership is all about.

How to develop customer loyalty

Driving a culture for leading growth within ecommerce

Big Red Group’s Chief Growth Officer, Matthew Cavalier joined an expert panel on Corinium’s ANZ eCommerce Show to discuss how to drive a culture for leading growth within ecommerce.

Facilitated by Head of eBusiness Oceania at Nestle, Christopher Hatfield, Cavalier along with Kelly Jamieson (The Edible Blooms Group) and Adam Saunders (ChannelAdvisor) shared key tools and insights invaluable for small businesses seeking to develop customer loyalty and grow their ecommerce platforms.

The spirited conversation revealed some shared challenges such as accessing talent, and ideas on how to leverage marketplaces to scale an ecommerce business.

As Kelly Jamieson asserted “the right systems are critical to scale a business, along with the right people. If you have the right people things happen. It’s also crucial to invest in the customer journey – you have to enable the customer to make an easy transaction on your website.”

Metrics are important at The Edible Blooms Group, with Jamieson’s team taking everything into account – NPS scoring, bench marks, proactive listening to customers, and following up personally with calls if NPS levels drop. “It’s really important to invest in customer feedback and actioning response” says Jamieson, “learn from customers constantly, and tiny improvements can make a big difference.”

Adam Saunders agrees that it has to be customer led, “it’s important to look for where your customers are – where are they doing research, where is the inspiration coming from? How can I dominate my market?”

Matthew Cavalier sees a market full of growth opportunities, “you can sell more to existing customers, look for new market segments to open up, new products for new segments, or new products for existing markets. With more people coming to online marketplaces than ever before, how do you bring those new customers in – they may have different needs. If they are new to ecommerce, how do you make their purchase journey as simple as possible? Your business might need to adapt because your audience is changing.”

All agree that getting the customer experience (CX) piece right is vital. Understanding the path to purchase, how to optimise, and making the process as simple as possible is essential. A seamless customer experience is more important than ever.

Tracking and measuring the customer experience, and listening to feedback is fundamental, then making small tweaks to systems and processes to increase conversion. Small tweaks can have significant long-term impacts in building brands and trust.

And what role does channel and an online marketplace play in driving growth?

Cavalier says “we are a distribution channel for experience providers. Their forte is delivering the experience. If you look at the complexity of marketing and acquisition, there are multi platforms, cross devices, cross channels – what we bring is our expertise. We take their product to market and navigate it for them, so they can focus on their core business, ensuring when the customers turn up, they have the best experience possible.”

Jamieson concurs, “it comes down to having a trusted brand and a convenient marketplace. A marketplace is a good market entry strategy if trying to build a brand.” And for The Edible Blooms Group, it’s about building a year-round proposition for customers, growing the brand strategically and expanding the product offering so they can help customers for different gifting occasions.

Saunders sees a sizeable opportunity outside of Australia for brands, suggesting there are benefits in exploring international markets. “We are seeing a big change with major brands coming in, moving closer to consumers, using marketplaces to do that, and retailers creating their own brands, giving themselves more autonomy.”

Cavalier agrees, it’s about finding a way to engage customers for repeat purchases. For Big Red Group, launching sustainability offerings in line with the company’s ESG agenda across the brands (RedBalloon, Adrenaline) has been well received.

“It’s an exciting space to be in, determining how we can grow responsible ranges over time and support local businesses. We see different customers coming into the brands, very conscious of how they are engaging with those products. You have to really understand what they are looking for.”

Saunders says “sustainability is important to many people, so efforts for personalisation leads to positive reviews. Shift away from it all being about the sell, you want to create advocates of your brand. Don’t just understand the customer today, but understand the customer tomorrow.”

Cavalier’s team works collaboratively with Big Red Group’s supply network to ensure just that. They share the positive and negative customer feedback with suppliers so they can adjust their offerings. “That’s one of the benefits of being part of a marketplace, we can add value back, helping suppliers manage their quality control, raise awareness, give them an opportunity to fix it. Better reviews, better content, then they will sell more.”

Cavalier says “don’t be afraid to experiment, don’t be afraid to fail, and learn from it.” It’s all part of the journey to building customer loyalty.

Experience Supplier

The value of collaboration for experience suppliers

It might come as a surprise that many within Big Red Group’s supply community do not operate their business with the mindset of ‘every man for themselves’ when it comes to securing customers and growth opportunities.

Many experience suppliers see the value in creating locally based partnerships and rapport with co-located experience operators. Take for example Oz Jet Boating, a supplier that has been with Big Red Group’s Adrenaline brand for more than 18 years, and more recently with RedBalloon.

Operating 30-minute jet boats rides for thrill seekers on picturesque Sydney harbour, Oz Jet Boating has historically been hugely popular with international tourists wanting to take in iconic sites such as the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Luna Park. With international border closures, Oz Jet Boat has repositioned itself towards domestic tourism, focused on leisure, holiday and family markets.

While this market has been growing at a steady rate, Oz Jet Boat and other co-located experience operators recognised the mutual benefits that could be gained by offering ‘experience bundles’ to customers wanting to spend a day exploring Sydney’s harbourside. As such, they have established partnerships between local attractions (Luna Park, Sea Rock Grill) which is proving to be a win-win situation for both suppliers, and customers.

While bundling attractions is not something new, such as when visiting Gold Coast theme parks, Covid-19 has propelled more small businesses to innovate and become more receptive to the concept of partnering.

And it’s not just small businesses, it’s also industry. Recent partnerships between Big Red Group and Tourism Australia, and Service NSW, have delivered new customers to Big Red Group’s network of 2200+ experience suppliers. The marketing and scale of these large industry campaigns is nothing but good news for small business operators.

Big Red Group with its multi-brand approach (Lime&Tonic, Adrenaline, RedBalloon), has long recognised the value of cross-channel collaboration to open up access to new customers and audiences for its supply community. And in the future, Big Red Group sees much potential with opportunities to drive further industry growth through facilitating more networking between its supply community.

With Big Red Group represented at the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) for the first time (June 6-9, 2021, International Convention Centre Sydney), it sees it as an opportune time to gather a few suppliers together in what is likely to be, the first of many networking events. It is a great step towards more cross-supplier collaboration, which can only help fuel the domestic industry, and ultimately benefit customers in the future, with more experience options.

There is great power in collaboration.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” Helen Keller

Which is needed now, more than ever.

Environmental, social and corporate governance

Big Red Group Co-founders leading by example

BRG Co-founders David Anderson and Naomi Simson consider sustainability a responsibility of all people in leadership, one step taken recently was both joining the Green Pledge from Leaders for Climate Action (LFCA). In doing so, they put their names and reach to a growing business community including high profile leaders committed to driving climate action and change, joining the likes of Mike Canon Brookes, Sarah Wilson and Erica Berchtold.

Having a robust environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) agenda is fundamentally important to Big Red Group, on its mission to deliver an experience sustainably every second somewhere on earth by 2030. The leadership team are not only keen to lift the environmental consciousness of BRG’s cohort of 100+ employees, but raise awareness and change behaviours within the wider community.

Through its network of 2200+ supply partners, Big Red Group seeks to increase sustainable product offerings, to provide consumers with more opportunities to choose ‘good for the planet’ experiences. As such, Big Red Group introduced RedBalloon ‘Responsible Experiences Range’, and Adrenaline ‘Low Footprint’ offerings in November of 2020, both of which have gained immediate and strong uptake.

And this comes as no surprise as statistics alone tell the story. Per a recent McKinsey 2021 global trends report, environmental innovation and ‘green’ purchasing is rising globally, while locally in Australia 87% of consumers are more likely to purchase products that are ethically and sustainably produced. The experience marketplace is no different, consumers want the option to buy ‘feel good’ experiences which tick the eco-certified box.

This puts an ESG agenda firmly front and centre for organisations wanting to remain relevant in the future not just to consumers, but also to attract the right talent, says Anderson.

“We started our journey as a business articulating our purpose right from the start. Communicating this business purpose to an employee is vitally important, as today’s workforce expect it to mean something. They want to turn up knowing their work is impactful, and that they make a difference.”
“A business needs to be authentic, to know what it stands for, why it’s there, and what it’s trying to accomplish. And in that context, an ESG agenda alongside a profit agenda is more and more important.”

And for those organisations promoting a pure ESG agenda as their only purpose to be, Anderson says, “there’s a word for those organisations, and that’s defunct. You have to have profit. Businesses need purpose that allows both profitable and purposeful activity.”

As Big Red Group continue to evolve its ESG agenda, based around 7 of the UN’s 17 Good Life Goals, Anderson and Simson know there is still much to do. But they are hopeful that under their stewardship, they will shift conversations, inspire action and contribute to shaping a sustainable economy of the future. They will just take it one step at a time.

WATCH: David Anderson, Big Red Group’s Group CEO provides insights into business purpose.

Great places to work

Lessons learned from remote working

Within days of the pandemic announcement back in March 2020, BRG exited its Sydney office and decentralised the team to a full remote working model.

Deploying the team to home based working, and empowering them with the right tools and technology within a week was no easy feat. It was not a unique situation, many companies faced similar circumstances.

With no office, and no opportunity to physically interact with people, BRG’s People & Culture (P&C) team were faced with a challenge – how could they effectively onboard new starters, whilst ensuring BRG’s tone and culture still resonated? And how could they maintain conversation and engagement between existing team members?

Whilst many leaders faced this challenge, at the core of the enterprise is its commitment to culture – the challenge was set and it required a deep understanding and strategy to ensure that BRG’s experience of work was not just maintained but elevated. The leaders were determined to provide the same kind of welcome, engagement, inclusion and support that new starters normally experienced when attending BRG’s office, so the P&C team set about designing and implementing a comprehensive remote digital onboarding program.

They established set monthly intake dates so there was always more than one person starting at a time, paired new starters with aspiring leaders to mentor them virtually, and delivered interactive online training modules encompassing BRG’s history and culture, led by senior leaders.

Within days of the pandemic announcement back in March 2020, BRG exited its Sydney office and decentralised the team to a full remote working model.

Welcome kits were delivered to homes, full of goodies and experience vouchers to create excitement and embed a sense of BRG’s purpose – shifting the way people experience life. Over ensuing months, BRG expanded its FTE by more than 50%, requiring remote onboarding of more than 40 people.

Remarkably, BRG found productivity excelled while employees worked remotely, seeing record growth across the year. However, the very essence of BRG – employee connection – started to decline, requiring the need to innovate further.

Experiences @ Work was promptly launched in July 2020, a highly unique employee engagement program co-developed by Group CEO David Anderson and Director of People & Culture, Madeleine Robins. It has since become a core part of BRG’s employee value proposition, and an absolute highlight of life working at BRG.

This program ensured the broader team remained connected while working remotely, stimulated important conversations and effectively integrated new members into the team. During lockdowns, BRG implemented online Experiences @ Home, with shared group experiences. As restrictions eased, BRG moved to physical gatherings, engaging teams in once-in-a-lifetime experiences. These continue monthly, and recently, were hosted within BRG’s new head office (launched in April 2021) with experiences such as gin tasting, sushi making and cocktail crafting lessons.

While some of BRG’s team will choose to continue to work remotely, others are taking advantage of the new office and are either working full or part-time in the award winning eco inspired space. One thing that BRG has learned throughout the pandemic, is that work is what you do, not a place you go. And that Experiences @ Work are definitely here to stay.