In a recent piece for The Australian, Lord Mark Price (founder of WorkL) issued a wake-up call to employers: Salary and benefits are no longer the primary drivers of job satisfaction.
For many leaders, this is a jarring shift. We’ve been taught for decades that the “bottom line” is the only line that matters to employees. But the data from the Australian Best Places to Work awards tells a different story. The best-performing organisations aren’t just out-paying the competition; they are out-engaging them.
At Hub Australia, we’ve seen this trend accelerating. While culture is often discussed in terms of “vibes” and “values,” we believe culture has a physical home: the workspace.
The “Flight Risk” Reality
Lord Price notes that employees who perceive a lack of development and purpose are high “flight risks.” When people feel disconnected, they look for the exit.
But engagement doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in the environments we build for our teams. If your workspace still looks and feels like a 2010 cubicle farm, you are sending a silent message that your culture is stagnant, regardless of what your mission statement says.
Bridging the Gap: The 6 Steps to Workplace Happiness
The article outlines six essential pillars for a happy workforce. Here is how the physical and strategic workspace acts as the delivery mechanism for those pillars:
1. Empowerment & Information Sharing
Transparency is hard to achieve in a siloed environment. Modern workspaces use “neighborhood” layouts and open collaboration zones to ensure information flows freely and everyone feels involved in the decision-making process.
2. Wellbeing (Physical, Emotional, Financial)
The “Best Places to Work” score 16% higher in wellbeing than the average. This isn’t just about gym memberships; it’s about ergonomic design, natural light, quiet zones for deep work, and spaces that reduce the friction of the workday.
3. Instilling Pride
Lord Price identifies pride as a massive advocate-builder. When an employee is proud of where they work, they become your best recruiters. A workspace that reflects high-quality design and a commitment to excellence makes employees feel like they are part of a “winning” team.
4. Job Satisfaction & Growth
You cannot have “continuous conversations about career aspirations” (as suggested in the article) in a space where there is no privacy or dedicated mentorship areas. The environment must facilitate the growth it promises.
The Bottom Line
As Lord Price rightly says: “Without a structured approach to career development, many businesses inadvertently push talented employees out the door.”
We would take that a step further: Without a strategic approach to the workspace, you are undermining your culture before it even has a chance to thrive.
If you want to be recognised as one of the best places to work in Australia, don’t just look at your payroll—look at your environment. Is it a talent magnet, or is it a flight risk?
