Our company culture takes on a new look
At Afea, our company culture is really important to us. We even have a book dedicated to our goals, mission and values called our Culture Book.
We know we have a strong culture, but we wanted to come up with a clearer definition for it. Which is why we developed ‘The Afean Way’.
What makes us different?
When people join Afea, they realise it’s not like other companies.
According to our People and Culture Manager Joseph Assad: “The way we do business is unique. It’s different to how other businesses operate.”
What makes Afea different is a variety of factors. It’s the way we operate, it’s the way we behave, and it’s the way we think.
We narrowed down those differences to 9 principles that characterise and define the Afean Way.
What is the Afean Way?
At the centre are our values – Authentic, Purposeful, Responsible and Understanding. These values are at the core of every decision we make.
Surrounding these values are 9 principles that characterise the Afean Way. They are:
Care & Compassion
Can-Do Attitude
Being Present with Intent
High Performance and Goal Focused
Going Above & Beyond
Growth and Continuous Improvement
Discipline and Commitment
Flexible and Adaptive
Family Focus
When new employees join, they often have heard a lot about our culture and resonate with what it stands for.
“When they’re here, they feel it as well. They feel that family focus. They feel that we’re present and have good intentions, that we care and are compassionate. Going further, that we’re disciplined, have a high-performance culture and are goal focused. We have a can-do attitude. We’re continuously improving and growing,” Joseph said.
How does our culture impact our daily operations?
Everyone who works at Afea lives by these principles and the senior management team takes notice.
“We have ‘Employee of the Month’ awards for each of our Chatswood and Parramatta offices. The individuals presented with those awards have demonstrated alignment with our culture,” Joseph explained.
People like Milan who won a recent Employee of the Month Award. In his nomination, they described him as being always helpful with a positive attitude. He always goes above and beyond to help everyone out, no matter how busy he is.
Another example is Sally, who hasn’t been at Afea for very long but has already found her home. Her nominee described her as having a happy attitude that is contagious. As a leader, she always supports her team and they trust in her.
How does culture lead to success?
According to Joseph, it’s sometimes hard to measure culture.
“Sometimes it’s just a feeling. Defining it is difficult. We live it and feel it,” he said.
However, our culture has led to many recent successes. Earlier in the year, we were ranked one of Australia’s Best Places to Work in the Australian Financial Review BOSS Magazine.
We also won Employer of Choice for Sydney Metro in the 2021 Business Awards, Delivered by Business NSW.
These awards are thanks to the contribution of staff who make our organisation a great place to work. It shows the value our people hold in our culture.
What’s more important is how our culture affects the way we care for our clients. We hear every day the difference our Afea support workers and coordinators make in the lives of the families we support.
Ultimately, the Afean Way helps us to fulfil our core mission – To be the Most Trusted Care Provider.
