Affinity Education Group (Affinity) is delighted to be selected as an Employer of Choice in the Australian Business Awards 2023.
The Australian Business Awards Employer of Choice category requires organisations to demonstrate their achievements across seven key areas: Organisational Culture & Leadership, Employee Education, Training & Development, Employee Health, Safety and Satisfaction, Performance Management and Recognition & Remuneration.
CEO Tim Hickey said the award recognises Affinity's talented team and our commitment to embracing and advancing their potential.
“Our promise - Potential, Realised - is at the heart of our employee experience, and the experience we offer to the children we educate and care for," Mr Hickey said.
“Affinity’s growth and success over the past decade has been achieved through our strong ‘Affinity Way’ culture, built on Affinity's six core values: Delivering Outstanding Professionalism, Going Above and Beyond, Living the Team Spirit, Creating Shining Stars, Being Completely Connected and (importantly) Having Serious Fun.
“Our Leadership Team are 100% committed to ensuring Affinity provides competitive and rewarding employment opportunities and training and development designed to optimise and recognise passion and potential in every employee.
This award acknowledges every trainee, educator, teacher, Centre Management team, Area Manager, National Leadership Team, Quality and Education Team, and Affinity’s incredible Centre Support Office who back our centres every day to deliver high-quality early education and care."
CPO Linda Carroll said Affinity was proud to be recognised as an employer that prioritises identifying and creating opportunities to promote its employees from within.
“Our award-winning Affinity Learning Academy (ALA) offers our people fully-funded and supported accredited training, with Development Coaches who visit each enrolled student every fortnight to support them, build their confidence and create opportunities for promotion,” Ms Carroll said.
“A unique element of Affinity’s leadership and operational model is the percentage of employees working in leadership positions who previously held roles as early childhood educators – up to 90% of Area Managers, 100% of our Quality, Education and Compliance teams, and up to 30% of Affinity’s remaining Centre Support Office team have had personal experience working with children in early education settings,” she said.
“This creates an empathetic and supportive culture that connects business operations to the reality of our employees’ daily working lives. Our sector has experienced many unexpected challenges over the past few years, and yet within our business, The Affinity Way remains alive and evident,” she said.
Lesley Jones, Head of Education and Pedagogy and creator of Affinity’s Lifelong Learning Curriculum said the strategic approach to connect Affinity’s dispersed network had been another key factor in employee satisfaction.
“This national curriculum model for delivery of Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework was co-created between Affinity’s Education team and ‘communities of practice’ consisting of educators and teachers. It is exclusively available to employees of Affinity Education Group, which creates a sense of pride among educators and aligns particularly to Affinity’s values of Being Completely Connected, Delivering Outstanding Professionalism and Creating Shining Stars,” said Dr Lesley Jones
“Our people know they will be empowered to become the best version of educators or teachers they can be with Affinity’s support,” she said.
