Sanitarium Health & Wellbeing was founded in 1898 and was the first company in Australia to introduce ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, peanut butter and vegetarian products. Today, Sanitarium employs over 1,200 staff and 100% of the company’s profits are returned to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to continue to aid local community and humanitarian support work.
Sanitarium is dedicated to building a culture that respects and celebrates the value of each of its employees. “One of Sanitarium’s core philosophies is truly valuing each other, which is why we invest in leadership training, health and wellbeing programs, authentic communication and relationship-building, as well as recognition and development opportunities,” said Todd Saunders, General Manager.
In 2011, Sanitarium introduced the bi-annual Culture Survey tool Human Synergistics’s Organisational Culture Inventory (OCI) and Organisational Effectiveness Inventory (OEI) across all full time and part time staff in Australia and New Zealand to create a clear synergy between what Sanitarium values and what they measure. Training was provided to staff across the business to become Culture Coaches that champion the survey and support organisational change.
Leaders of Sanitarium are committed to connecting with employees and have devised a number of initiatives including an annual team talk, culture debriefs, leadership and learning groups. Sanitarium created an online performance and development system called iGro to facilitate two way communication and conversations between individuals and their managers. iGro focuses on performance goals, required behaviours and development planning. The process involves joint goal setting, regular catch-ups and formal six monthly and annual reviews to support the company’s equal emphasis on performance, behaviours and development.
Sanitarium has been recognised as an ABA100 Winner for Employer of Choice in The Australian Business Awards 2014. “We’re committed to ensuring genuine benefit for our people, and it’s great to see this recognised with Sanitarium selected as an Employer of Choice in the Australian Business Awards,” said Mr Saunders.
