For the third consecutive year, Afea Care Services has been recognised as one of Australia and New Zealand’s Best Places to Work.

The prestigious annual list, published by The Australian Financial Review BOSS Magazine, is based on a rigorous assessment process by behavioural science consultancy, Inventium, which identifies ten key factors that are critical to employees feeling motivated and engaged at work.

We rank third on the Health list, from over 700 nominated organisations across Australia and New Zealand.

“We are truly humbled and grateful to receive this recognition for the third year in a row,” Afea CEO Gaurav Oberoi said. “At the core of Afea, we are committed to providing a supportive and nurturing environment for our staff to grow, learn and develop, enabling them to make a positive impact not only in our clients’ lives but also in their personal lives.”

We received commendation for innovating our employee assistance program (EAP) offering with Leora, a mental health platform blending artificial intelligence (AI) with human therapist support.

Afea staff and their immediate families can “chat” with AI chatbot Leora 24/7 to manage stress and anxiety and be guided through clinically validated assessments and self-help tools. Staff can also access free counselling sessions with registered therapists for further support.

Instant access to mental health support

According to Joseph Assad, Afea’s Head of People and Culture, “As we support vulnerable people in our community, it’s important that our office staff and carers also feel safe and supported. This initiative ensures our workers can instantly access mental health support whenever they need.”

“AI can make up for the gaps by complementing human-led support and providing tools in between sessions to scale care,” said Esha Oberoi, Founder & CEO of Leora.

“Leora has been developed to arm individuals with the therapeutic tools that a therapist would use in the sessions. These digital tools are using cognitive behaviour therapy techniques designed to be self-directed and empower individuals to self-regulate when there is no human support available.”

Improved EAP utilisation

In 2021, the annualised utilisation rate of Afea’s EAP was 3.5%, which shot up to 42.5% after Leora was launched in November 2022.

In the first two weeks, more than a quarter of the chat sessions logged with Leora were overnight chat sessions, or sessions that occur between 9pm to 8am, the inclusive hours when traditional therapists are inaccessible. This demonstrated demand for an after-hours service for mental health support that Afea staff can now access.

Afea staff were able to successfully book and attend a therapy session within a 24-hour period after the Leora launch.

One of our support workers, Kylie Page, has written back to say that it is great to have Leora and “have someone else to talk to”.

What makes a Best Place to Work?

The judging criteria is equally weighted by responses from a staff survey and a written submission, with questions relating to the organisation’s policies, practices and programs that support employees.

“Inventium is proud to announce the 2023 AFR BOSS Best Places to Work list in conjunction with the Australian Financial Review. After analysing data from tens of thousands of employees, we are excited to announce the very best workplaces across Australia and New Zealand. These are workplaces that offer employees ultra flexibility, that place wellbeing at the heart of the employee experience, and that ensure people feel a sense of belonging, no matter what their background is,” said Dr Amantha Imber, Founder, Inventium.

Afea extends our warm congratulations to the other nine finalists on the Health list:

Learn more about Afea Care Services.