Time together at the July All-In
Our promise to our employees
People
We all know how much of an impact the people we work with can have on our experience. We are deliberate and considered in who we bring into our business, and the end result is an amazing group of people with diverse skill sets and interests. Coming to work with people who are super smart, self-aware, committed and in it together means it hardly feels like work somedays. There’s nothing as special as feeling constant support and knowing people have your back.
Impact
Not only do you get to work with a bunch of champions, you get to do so while delivering projects which make a real difference in the world. Feel proud of what you are creating and enjoy knowing your hard work will have a positive impact for those who need it most. This is caring about doing good work at its best. We also put our money where our mouth is with our B-Corp membership, Reconciliation Action Plan and Sustainability Strategy.
Flexibility and autonomy
We hire brilliant people, we give them the tools and support to succeed, then we get out of their way. While we might be clear about what you need to do to be successful, you have control over how you get there. You also have the flexibility to work in a way that suits you - need to work from home? No worries. Need to duck out to pick up the kids from school? Sure. Want to go for a walk at lunchtime or see your doctor first thing. Go for it. We trust our people to get their work done, in a way which works for them.
Open to experimenting
We mean it when we say we try new things. We are open to taking a different approach to a project, trying out a new technology or using a new design medium. While we are interested in research and theory, we integrate this into our practice and take action. We use these experiments to get better, learn and improve our ways of working. We see any missteps as a chance for more learning, not a failure.
Learning and growing
What’s the best thing you can do with brilliant people? Help them get even better. Being surrounded by talented folks who are committed to their own learning rocks, and so does working somewhere that actively invests in people’s development. There are plenty of opportunities to learn through projects, as well as through our formal processes, including peer reviews. After all, we grow through feedback.
Culture and leadership
Hands up who's left a job because of a leader? Yep, it’s a thing, and so is the culture they create around them. We invest in our leaders’ growth and the end result is leaders who care, who are supportive and make it safe for people to bring their whole selves to work. We train our leaders in mental health first aid, and have multiple processes to regularly check in on our people. We also know how to have a laugh, and come together in a variety of ways to make sure everyone can be included.
Bonus benefits
We also have a whole heap of benefits designed to support the things our people love most including additional annual leave based on tenure (up to 3 weeks!) to help keep a great balance), a professional development budget that grows as you do to support your learning, and access to our employee assistance provider for the times when you may need a little more support. You can also purchase additional annual leave, use salary sacrifice, access bonus payments for referring clients or new team members, get a flu shot if that’s your thing and spend a day giving back with volunteering leave.
How can we be so sure this is actually what it is like to work at Portable?
Because our people told us this is what they love. We ask them regularly what they get out of working here, and we also ask them what we can do better. And best of all, we listen, we adapt our approach, and we improve the employee experience.
Members of our product team at a conference on AI innovation.
The senior leadership team during our "Christmas in July" themed party.
Values that align with our work
We care about doing good work.
Good work means quality work, but also work that matters. At Portable, we care about and talk about what makes our work good from both perspectives. We think carefully about what good looks like and set clear expectations on what we set out to achieve. And we seek to understand and connect the good work we're doing to our purpose. We're proud of what we deliver. We never phone it in or tick the box.
We get stuck in when there's work to be done, but recognise that sometimes doing good work consistently actually means stepping away for a while, and that's okay. And we don't "go rogue" when it comes to doing what we believe is good work. We respect the plan the team has created and if that plan needs to change, we agree on a new plan as a team.
We try new things.
At Portable, we frequently share and test new ideas and processes, and we make space for everyone to contribute to that. There's usually a better way, and we're flexible enough to explore those possibilities. We're curious and creative and go wide for learning and inspiration.
We experiment purposefully in order to find the right solution. We push ourselves to try new things, but at the same time, make it safe for ourselves and others to fail.
We are in it together.
At Portable, we work as a team. We don't believe in hero efforts where individuals go off on their own. We believe good work happens when we collaborate well to achieve our goals. When we make a commitment to others, we stick to it. When things go wrong, we don't point fingers, but we take responsibility for our part.
When we can't deliver on our commitments, we let our team know as early as possible. We get that sometimes people get stuck, and that's okay. We're brave enough to ask for help, and accept and encourage others to do the same. We speak honestly and build real relationships with each other. We do the work it takes to understand others and actively include their unique perspectives and differences. And throughout it all, we remember to let fun bubble up around the work.
We learn through feedback.
Portable is a place to learn and grow. When things go well, we celebrate and build on the success, but when they don't, we make sure we take the time to reflect and learn. We learn from and utilise our teammates' strengths whilst supporting them to work on their weaknesses.
We give respectful feedback that helps others learn and grow and we actively seek it from others to improve our work. When we receive feedback at Portable, we acknowledge it respectfully so that people feel safe to share feedback again.
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