26 July 2021
Openpay Response
4yHi There,
I am grateful for the time you’ve taken to provide us with your feedback and to let you know this has been passed on to Michael given the concerns you have raised. While I acknowledge the feedback that you have provided and the negative opinion that you have of the company, I am also aware of the circumstances surrounding your departure from Openpay and with that knowledge, I can't help but question the nature and intent of your comments.
In the interests of providing the 'reader' with facts to allow them to form their own view, I have chosen to respond to some of the concerns that you have raised.
As a company, we seek feedback as a way to improve. From quarterly pulse surveys to our annual Culture and Engagement survey and the 'nothing is off limits' Q and A during our monthly town hall meetings, we are gathering team member feedback (all of which is anonymous), from before someone starts with us to the day they depart. I am confident that the data we collect through these initiatives provides us with not only an accurate and up to date picture of 'whats happening' at Openpay, and allows us to identify the key areas of concern or opportunities that need addressing, but we are able to track and measure the impact of these improvements. While I acknowledge and believe that we can always do better, the company has a positive track record of turning feedback into actions and I am proud of the growing number of programs, initiatives and improvements that have come as a direct result of the feedback of our team. I believe our approach of being transparent with this feedback and involving team members in the solutions here have contributed to a reduction in our attrition rate in FY21 and a further increase in our engagement score.
We aim to provide our team with pay and benefits that motivate, inspire and reward those who excel. Our exisiting incentive program within growth rewards based on the achievement of group and individual revenue targets and I'm pleased that are able to reward team members for their efforts when they hit and exceed their targets. To build on this, we're currently putting the final touches on new performance incentive programs which aim to recognise performance in roles beyond just growth and to provide meaningful ways for all of our team to benefit from the long term success of the company.
As a member of the Senior Management team, I've long suspected that there may be a few with hidden talents amongst my colleagues. I'm confident however that painting is not one of them! I have been impressed with the storytelling abilities in the team, which I'm thinking is what you were alluding to in your critique. Being able to paint a picture or create a 'vision' of what is possible so that a team can be engaged and attach themselves to a mission or goals, is an important skill and one that can make a leader great. Displaying poor behaviours on the other hand, does not. As you know, the People and Culture team are available for team members to raise any concerns regarding the behaviour or conduct of a leader or another colleague. Our Whistleblower line is another avenue for raising such concerns with the option of making an anonymous complaint. I assure you that had any such complaint have been made by any team member regarding the inappropriate or unethical behaviour of any member of our team - no matter their position, that appropriate action would be taken. A public platform such as this is not an appropriate forum to raise serious concerns regarding the character or conduct of a colleague, especially as they are not afforded an opportunity to formally respond, therefore I encourage you to contact me directly to discuss your concerns in more detail, confidentially.
As a company, we are committed to supporting the growth and development of our leaders. To support our regional leadership teams, we recently announced the introduction of our new global operating model (a change which was informed by the feedback of the team!). While we are still small enough to know everyone by name, as we scale into new regions, we wanted to ensure that our teams have the freedom and autonomy to make decisions at a local level that will help them win their local markets. This will also lead to quicker decision making, less reactivity, increased ownership within each region...the list goes on.
While your time with us has obviously been impacted by the response of the business to your actions toward the end of your tenure, we nonetheless, wish you all the best with your future endeavours.