Mars Food Australia CEO Hamish Thomson reveals why the company is on a mission to help its employees lead better lives.
We have never made it a secret that our ambition is to be one of Australia’s best places to work, and we're pleased as a food business to be recognised along with the other Mars segments in Australia, for being extraordinary. Life’s too short for ordinary food or an ordinary business.
We encourage our associates [staff] to be the best version of themselves every day in an organisation that is very egalitarian and has little hierarchy. We recognise the power of feedback and are proud of our training, mentoring and coaching. We make sure our associates are having one-on-one conversations with mentors and line managers every day to help them write their own story within the business. Our mentoring program involves buddying up 40 to 50 graduates with more experienced associates – in many ways it’s reverse-mentoring. It keeps us old buggers modern!
Mars has the capacity to run these kinds of programs. It’s one of the largest privately owned businesses in the world, and its focus is very long-term. We have a lot of autonomy and freedom.
The business is also purpose-driven and principles-based: our five principles are Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom. When our business principles align with an associate’s own value set it's like a marriage made in heaven.
Mars Food Australia also runs a corporate health and wellbeing program called ‘Believe’. It’s a program that was developed by associates for associates in conjunction with health and wellbeing experts. It aims to help them make healthy choices and enjoy a balanced, active lifestyle. We have high participation rates in the program, which includes nutritional programs, an on-site gym and walking track, yoga, participation in sporting events such as Blackmores Running Festival, health assessments, mindfulness and sleep management programs and parenting education sessions.
Seldom can a corporate wellbeing program make a difference, but ours has made a difference. Since it started a couple of years ago we have seen a 35 per cent reduction in obesity, a 40 per cent reduction in cholesterol, and a 60 to 65 per cent reduction in depression. We’ve also seen that 60-70 per cent of associates are regularly including shared family meals, which has physical and psychological benefits.
We also run a program that enables every associate to give back 16 work hours to the community. In August we held our biggest ever single volunteer day, that saw close to 200 of our associates working with 20 community organisations working on a range of projects from planting vegetables gardens to installing watering systems, picking produce at local farms, cooking meals and painting community dining areas to create enjoyable places to share meals.
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