Team Australia – A 10-year growth journey

As we’re set to hit our 10-year anniversary here at Ligentia Australia in just 4 weeks, I’m reflecting on how closely the journey for the business’ growth has been mirrored by the growth of individual members of the awesome team I have the pleasure of leading.?

Several of the people who are at the heart of our operations today were there in the early days… Ellicia Cheik, Haana Nepia, Samura Gardiner, Luke McNamara and Ben Connor to name just a few. We’ve all come a long way in terms of learning and development as the business has expanded, but we also hold tight to some central principles that have remained unchanged from the outset. That’s why Ligentia has such a strong culture, and why we genuinely stand out from many of the ‘corporate’ organisations others might choose as the vehicle for their careers.?

When I think of myself as a leader, I tend to use the term lightly.? As a close team, with shared accountability – our people don’t need a whole heap of heavy-handed direction-giving.? Plus, I’m not really a super-outgoing or flamboyant figurehead ??.? We keep things pretty low key and informal here… but we are determined to be an employer of first choice for our folks – and that means getting some of the basics right.?

We’ve created a stable and nurturing environment and a climate of long-term security for our team members and their families. That we remunerate as well as possible and that our business is growing are only parts of the picture. We also create a safe and supportive work environment (irrespective of whether that’s real-world or virtual), we work hard, but we also respect and flex to accommodate work/life balance and family commitments for our team members. Plus, we’re 100% behind people learning, developing and exploring different opportunities for personal growth.?

When we’re bringing new people on (and we’ve done a lot of that in the last 2-3 years as our growth has accelerated), the deciding factor on fit is always whether a person has the right attitude.? Knowledge and skills can always be taught – but having an attitude that prompts you to give your absolute best every day, irrespective of the challenges you’re going to face, is something you’ve either got, or you’ve not.?

We approach our roles, responsibilities and customers with honesty and integrity. Ours is a business with a strong sense of ethics – but we’ve also got room and scope for a lot of diversity.? We have a lot of bubbly and lively personalities, particularly in our customer services teams; because bright, upbeat qualities play well in those environments to keep customers and colleagues engaged.?

We’ve also proven pretty good at bringing younger people into our business and helping them flourish.? Often, these aren’t text-book high-performers. But they are people with potential and passion, who need help with process, knowledge-building and discipline. And thanks to the strength of our business and our team, we’re able to provide an environment where future talent can flourish – which is wonderful to witness.?

Naturally the pandemic put extra stresses and strains on our operations and our people – but we’ve weathered it well. We leaned into the use of MS Teams to keep our people connected, and we scrambled early on to get all the correct permissions and ways of working in place to enable our physical operations to proceed, as undisrupted as possible.? We also set our virtual workers up for success with the tech, phones and screens they needed to perform well from home, to enable everyone to do their best, despite the challenging circumstances we all faced.???

Now we’re coming out of the other end, we’re keeping hold of the best parts of our new ways of working. Some team members are fully remote and others have set days at home to reduce time in the office.? We don’t have a single, set policy for this – but we are finding ways that suit the individual and the business, giving the flexibility and the structure that we need to succeed.? As long as we continue to connect daily and take time to check-in on how people are doing personally – as well as professionally – I’m feeling confident that our business will continue to grow from strength to strength.?

Now at 10 years in – and looking forward – it’s my hope that we maintain the values that keep our business strong and stable, whilst also throwing our arms round new challenges and opportunities. I think our people realise that the world really is their oyster, given the trajectory for growth we’re on and the pipeline we’ve got for new business.? Certainly, each and every person on the team will have my full support to take their career forward in the direction and shape that is right for them. And I’m confident that the business will continue to offer the breadth and depth of opportunity that helps us keep hold of great people, long-term.?

If you’d like to connect with me on this or something else, feel free to reach out to me. For the full story on our 10-year milestone, you can visit:? https://engage.ligentia.com/australia-10-year??