Sterling Publishing held its first annual staff conference in December, with staff participation a key focus of an event that serves to build on the company’s rapid growth and entrepreneurial spirit.
The conference, held at the Hydro Majestic in the Blue Mountains on Friday December 11, featured a range of staff presentations and team debates, along with an update from Sterling Publishing director Phillip Tarrant on how Australia’s Business Publisher of the Year performed in 2015.
Staff engagement and involvement were showcased by a number of initiatives, which were designed to deliver ideas and strategies for continued growth in 2016.
Staff participation included ‘Ignite Sterling’, a series of short and sharp individual three-minute presentations focused on new ideas, thoughts, fresh insights and opinions into the future of the media. All Sterling team members were encouraged to participate – from the company’s accounts team through to digital gurus.
Another session involved teams made up of staff from different departments within the business, with the objective of delivering presentations on new strategies for growth.
Topping these presentations off was the ‘Great Sterling Debate’, which saw two passionate teams of three argue the case for and against standing work stations. In the end it was put to a vote and the result was unanimous – in spite of it being a progressive employer that liberally provides standing work stations, Sterling Publishing prefers to sit while it works.
The staff conference reflected Sterling’s dynamic culture, Mr Tarrant said.
“An entrepreneurial spirit and a can-do attitude have elevated Sterling Publishing from a small, single-product business to Australia’s number one business publishing company,” he said.
“Sterling seeks to retain this tempo for growth and passion for innovation, and we’re always keen to tap into our employees’ insights, knowledge and ideas into how we can grow.”
“Sterling’s reputation, connectivity with the audiences it works with, distribution, coupled with an extremely talented team, give it advantages – and we’re eager to capitalise on these.”
Mr Tarrant ended the conference with an overview of the company’s performance in 2015 and the business strategy for 2016, which included confirmation of the company’s latest acquisition, MyBusiness.
“The future looks bright for Sterling and 2016 is set to be a watershed year,” he said.