The dedicated small business lender is proving that small initiatives can have a big impact on employee satisfaction and retention.
- Leading online small business lender OnDeck, has been declared Australia’s 2023 Best Place to Work for businesses with less than 100 employees.
- The award was bestowed by WRK+ based on an employee survey score and in-depth culture audit.
- The high level of employee satisfaction at OnDeck is reflected in the outstanding service the lender delivers to small business customers and broker partners.
Sydney (9 August 2023): Leading online small business lender OnDeck, has been declared Australia’s 2023 Best Place to Work for business with less than 100 employees.
The award was bestowed by WRK+, and was based chiefly on the results of an employee survey.
Ms Zrinka Lovrencic, CEO of WRK+ congratulated OnDeck on winning this hotly contested award.
“This is a testimony to OnDeck’s leadership and dedication to nurturing a strong team through best-of-breed human resources practices.
“OnDeck is setting a high standard of care for its people across Australian workplaces.”
Mr Cameron Poolman, CEO of OnDeck Australia, said, “We are delighted to win the WRK+ 2023 Best Place to Work Award. As a small business lender, we recognise the importance of cultivating a robust and actively involved team to support our small business clients and broker network.
“This award is testimony to OnDeck’s view that our people backed by our commitment to harnessing cutting-edge technology are our strengths, and the exceptional steps we take to attract, retain and engage top talent.”
Ms Cherie Habashi, Head of People and Culture, at OnDeck, said, “Taking out the title of Australia’s Best Place to Work is deeply rewarding for the entire OnDeck team.
“One of the factors that sets OnDeck’s workplace apart is our authenticity. We genuinely care a lot about our staff, and we are very good at aligning our people to our business goals. This has allowed us to successfully give all our employees a shared sense of purpose – even amid a difficult economic climate.”
Over 93% of OnDeck employees participated in the Best Place to Work survey, with impressive results across a number of metrics. As a lender that is pioneering being a data-led organisation, OnDeck conducts regular mini-pulse surveys and its own in-depth annual audit to measure employee satisfaction and engagement.
Strong Company Values
OnDeck’s company values underpin how the team interact with each other and customers.
“We really are very strongly aligned to our values as a business, and they are absolutely not just words on the wall. In fact, 97% of our team agreed that OnDeck’s leadership team is true to the company’s values,” said Ms Habashi.
To further emphasise this, every month the OnDeck team nominate people they believe have lived the company’s values. The Executive team reviews each nomination to determine a monthly winner. The winner is announced at a Town Hall, receives a prize and goes into the running for an annual award.
Authentic Leadership
Just as strong as its value orientation, 97% of the team agreed that the OnDeck leadership team is competent at running the business. Ms Habashi believes this is attributed to the authentic leadership style at OnDeck.
“At OnDeck, authentic leadership means we celebrate wins and consistently challenge our team to do better for our customers. We challenge with respect and love hearing the team’s ideas. This means we can have great robust discussions where we remain true to our “One Team” value whilst delivering on our “Driven to Win” and “Customer First” values, said Ms Habashi.
Mr Poolman added, “We are delighted that 95% of the team believe their manager trusts them to do a good job and that honest mistakes are a part of doing business. Not only does this demonstrate strong psychological safety across the organisation, it also ensures we deliver the best outcomes for our customers.”
A focus on transparent communication
“Since day one our ethos has always been to put our people first, and part of this involves having a strong emphasis on communication in our business,” said Ms Habashi.
“We give very clear communication when things are good, and also when things are more challenging. This allows our team to understand the business decisions we make. This has also supported seamless change management at OnDeck.”
Ms Habashi added, “We launch our goals for each half via ‘OnReview’. Following this, each team member sets their own individual goals. This allows everyone to set personal goals that align with our broader company goals. With 95% of the team reporting that they can see a clear link between their work and the company goals and objectives, we’re pleased to see this process effectively working in the business.”
OnDeck holds a ‘Town Hall’ every month that allows the entire team to understand how the business is progressing against company goals. Further communication is shared through regular ‘team huddles’, and major business initiatives are shared with employees via ‘Switched-On’ announcements.
“Every month at a Town Hall, the CEO answers all questions that have anonymously submitted by the team that month – questions are not filtered, and nothing is off limits,” Ms Habashi said.
Mr Poolman agreed, “We take this process very seriously, and from the top down always ensure our goals fundamentally serve our vision – to set the standard for small business lending.”
Team Comradery
The final overarching strength at OnDeck is the lender’s great team culture. In particular, 90% of employees agree there is a team spirit at OnDeck. They feel they can be themselves, and that diversity of backgrounds, talents and perspectives is encouraged by the organisation.
Mr Poolman said, “When we say our people are our greatest asset, we mean it. So, we engage in anonymous external audits to keep ourselves honest in terms of how well our people are really engaged – and if we are doing right by them.
“Our people really are the foundation of how we are able to be a strong lender to small businesses and our broker partners.”
About OnDeck
OnDeck Australia is the proven leader in transparent and responsible online lending to small business. Since launching in Australia in 2015, OnDeck Australia’s focus has always been on supporting small businesses with access to fast, efficient unsecured finance.
Today, OnDeck Australia offers a wide range of term loans customised for small business owners’ needs. OnDeck Australia is focused on taking the friction out of business lending offering unsecured business loans from $10,000 – $250,000 across 6 – 24-month terms. We’ve helped thousands of small businesses across a range of industries access funding quickly and easily, while maintaining a 5-star TrustPilot rating.
In 2021, OnDeck Australia launched The KOALA Score risk-prediction model that draws on big data, predictive analytics, plus data from multiple credit reporting agencies to enable more Australian small businesses to be approved for a commercial loan.
In 2021, OnDeck Australia also launched Lightning Loans, which enables the decisioning of loans up to $150,000 in as fast as 30 minutes, and funding in as fast as two hours. For more information, visit www.ondeck.com.au
Media Contacts:
Anthony O’Brien
Corpwrite Australia
+61 (0) 411 578 818
