Lisa, the People and Culture Manager at Homage Australia is passionate about people, their development and creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. Lisa is a mum of 4 young children. Originally from South Africa, Lisa spent 2 years in Wellington, New Zealand before moving to Melbourne, Australia where she and her husband chose to raise their family. She studied BComm Industrial Psychology and joined Homage Australia at the end of 2021.
Lisa shares her thoughts on the importance of prioritising diversity and inclusion and how the Homage Australia culture benefits from our diverse team!
A day in the life of Homage’s people and culture manager
As a People and Culture Manager at Homage Australia, a start-up business with a rapid growth strategy, no one day is the same. The focus areas for the People and Culture team at the moment are recruitment, staff engagement and staff development.
In relation to recruitment, the focus is to find the best suitable candidate for each role ensuring each potential employee is aligned with Homage’s mission and values regardless of background, culture or political views.
When it comes to staff development it is important to ensure each employee is treated fairly and given the same opportunities and support.
Favourite part of being the people and culture manager at Homage
Lisa says being part of Homage as a start-up in Australia is a very unique experience. It offers the opportunity to define what the company culture should be, and how we treat and engage our employees throughout the employee life cycle. Ensuring our workforce is competent and clear on expectations, creating a culture that is aligned to Homage’s values (which include mission driven, bias to action, growth mindset, obsession with the customer experience and taking ownership), and ensuring each employee’s input is valued, recognised and celebrated.
Most memorable moments at Homage
When Lisa started her role at Homage, multiple employees said, “We are so glad that you are here” as they felt like there was someone they could talk to objectively. Lisa does see part of her role as being the employee advocate, ensuring all employees are treated fairly and feel included.
Lisa noted that various team members have stated that they feel the Homage team is like family to them. Many of our employees are not originally from Melbourne; their families are overseas and they are new to Australia. It is great to know that Homage as an employer does not only offer work opportunities but an environment and culture where employees feel so safe, supported and engaged that they refer to their team as family.
Diversity and inclusion at Homage Australia
In today’s society, diversity includes; race, cultural background, faith, gender, and sexual identity. Lisa says “Homage recruits the most competent person for each role regardless of their identity and or background. Our selection criteria are based on competency and alignment to our values and mission”. She believes diversity in the workplace brings uniqueness to the team, and a wealth of different life experiences and exposure which we can all learn and benefit from. We are very privileged at Homage Australia to say that we have 15 different cultures that form part of our dynamic team.
At Homage we value people, and each individual’s voice matters. Lisa believes that having employees who are sold out to our mission, having a common goal and respecting each employee’s background and belief is what makes our team unique and successful.
Dear future Homager
Lastly, Lisa has 3 important messages for the future Homager to onboard successfully;
- Be kind to yourself and other people;
- It’s okay to ask if you don’t know;
- Always stay true to yourself.
Become a member of team Homage
Join our diverse and fun team! Check out our Australian and global vacancies here.
