Yarra Valley Water – the best hybrid workplace in Australia

Yarra Valley Water has received top honours with the Best Remote Work Strategy at the Australian HR Awards 2023 for its best practice approach to hybrid working. 

General Manager of People, Performance and Culture Amy Singe said she was honoured to receive the award on behalf of the team.  

"We’re very proud of the success of our Hybrid Playbook and to all our staff and leaders who make this work. Our innovative approach is special because we unequivocally trust our staff and recognise hybrid working can be a gamechanger for our people. It also helps to make our organisation more inclusive for all, especially groups who have historically been underrepresented in the workforce" she said.  

Judging criteria for the category was based on innovation, employee engagement, productivity and results. 

“A flexible approach helps to ensure our workplace is inclusive for all our employees and prospective employees. It’s very much grounded in a sense of trust and empowerment that our people are able to make individual and team-based decisions about where and how to do their best work,” Ms Singe said.  

Ms Singe added that having a strong culture is one of the reasons why Yarra Valley Water achieves business success like customer satisfaction results at 85%. The organisation also consistently rates highly for Victorian water corporations for value for money, trust, reputation, and overall satisfaction in independent customer sampling by the industry regulator.   

“Our people also are highly committed to our organisation and our purpose with over 80% employee engagement. Recruitment in a talent-short market has achieved stellar results too such as increasing the number of women occupying leadership positions to 49.1%, as well as a 54% increase in applications for call centre positions.” 

“We’re committed to encouraging our people to show up and be at their best every day with our culture to support them - regardless of where they are working from,” she said.  

In 2022, Yarra Valley Water was recognised for Cultural Excellence by Human Synergistics, the organisation that delivers the global Organisational Cultural Index measure. It’s only the second time in 40 years it’s been awarded in the Australian Pacific region. 

Matthew Gilbert is a Water Planning Engineer at Yarra Valley Water who has Multiple Sclerosis and mobility issues. He says the ability to work in an environment that requires little effort to get to, and is a consistent safe space, has been a significant benefit.  

“Hybrid working means I can spend more time with my family, reduce the daily commute, and focus on my health and wellbeing,” Mr Gilbert said.  

“The success of hybrid working relies on having proactive systems in place that foster connection. This is something that we do really well here at Yarra Valley Water, with ‘moments that matter’ where staff come together onsite in person, and have regular check-ins with colleagues and managers,” he said.  

“We also have very clear guidelines about how to work remotely with our Hybrid Working Playbook, which is really helpful,” he said. 

Customer Care Team Leader Joanne Peach said hybrid working has allowed her to spend more quality time with her family.  

“As a full-time working mother, time is always of the essence,” she said. “Most of my spare time is spent running around after my kids, taking them to sporting commitments, birthday parties, and basically just keeping them entertained.” 

Previously, Joanne spent around two hours each day travelling to the office in Mitcham from Cranbourne. She says hybrid working has been a gamechanger. 

“With a one-hour commute to and from work, I used to be away from my family around 10 to 11 hours every day.  

“For me, it’s being able to complete some daily chores around the house such as hanging out washing in between meetings and taking my kids to their sporting activities earlier because I’m saving time off the one-hour commute,” Ms Peach said.  

“Now, I have a much better work-life balance because I can work from home when I need to,” Ms Peach said. 

For a list of the winners, head to the HR awards website.

To find out more, please watch Yarra Valley Water's hybrid working video.