Novatech a leading light in building a thriving workforce
For almost 25 years, Novatech Creative Event Technology has been a leading light in Australia’s AV and live production sector. The proudly South Australian business, which was founded by brothers Leko and Menk Novakovic in 2001, is the powerhouse behind events including LIV Golf, Vivid Sydney, the Australian Open, AFL Gather Round, Adelaide Fringe, Sydney WorldPride 2023 and more.
But it’s not just on the open stage that Novatech shines. The business is also a beacon for industry standards when it comes to supporting its workforce to thrive, both professionally and personally. An ongoing commitment to build a progressive, people-first workplace has seen Novatech launch a series of employee initiatives over the past five years, originating from the impact of Covid on the entertainment sector.
“Covid really decimated the industry,” Novatech director of sales and marketing and industry veteran Ashley Gabriel said. “We basically cancelled every single gig on March 13, 2020.
“We wanted to keep everyone employed so we created our own version of Jobkeeper a couple of weeks before the government released theirs. We were pretty good, we stayed strong, we kept everyone employed and we just powered on getting back to connecting to life.”
Novatech’s focus over the past five years has been a firm return to live events while ensuring its crew has the opportunities to grow and thrive, both personally and professionally. The company has released a range of benefits including New Family Member Support payments for growing families, increased remuneration and new employee benefits.
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Continuing its documented leaning towards of paying above-award wage raises and allowances, this financial year, all staff will be provided a 4% increase to their base rate, following 3.75% last year and previous consecutive years of 5% increases. Other worthy mentions from prior years aligning with this package are 15% production shift allowances for crew, 20% team leader allowance, 35% project manager allowance, and improvements to overtime provisions.
With a strong health and wellbeing focus that sees fresh fruit and veggies on the kitchen table, a reimbursable Health Incentive Scheme, free gym membership and the introduction of Reward & Recognition Leave providing up to two extra weeks off annually, Novatech is driven by the goal of being an Employer of Choice.
All permanent staff will now be offered private health insurance through a corporate provider after three years of service. These will be full comprehensive policies inclusive of hospital and extras cover, available for single or family cover. Coverage will increase from bronze to silver and then gold cover depending on years of service to Novatech. Eligible employees will have the choice to top up with additional cover should the approved benefit not meet the staff needs.
“Each year we have to challenge about what’s next, what do our staff need,,” Ashley said. “This year, the cost of living has really crunched. Adelaide has always been affordable but it’s becoming increasingly less so, and that’s impacting our staff.
“That’s why we’ve introduced a couple of new initiatives and one was private health insurance because we recognise that some people don’t have it while, for others who do, it adds up quite a bit and that’s out of their pocket. We can take that burden off and let staff get the benefit.”
Another benefit is a Service Recognition Gold Card for employees who have worked at Novatech for 10 years or more, with increasing monetary amounts allocated as their years of service increase.
“Our crew especially work extraordinary hours – seven days a week, 365 days a year, working to 3am sometimes, which means they don’t get to see their family or their kids,” Ashley said. “The Service Recognition Gold Card gives them an allowance per month to spend on meals and entertainment with family and friends. It’s designed to help people have a bit of a life outside of work.”
Novatech has also implemented industry-leading policies to attract, retain and support staff, including a Professional Development Fund. “About three or four years ago, we created an academy offering our own, free, six-week training course where new starters learn how to load a truck, how to lift something correctly and what a road case is,” Ashley said.
“After completion, participants get paid on casual shifts to put what they learned into practice, with the chance of being offered permanent employment at the end of six months. We’re at about an 80% success rate with people being offered a casual job within our business and then hopefully going full-time.
“We’re very much a male-dominated industry but in the last couple of years we have had a strong focus on attracting women into the into the business, trying to fix that gender imbalance. A good 40-50% of our academy graduates are female, which is refreshing to see.”
As one of the biggest employers in the AV and live production industry in Adelaide, Novatech is a firm believer in leading by example. The business has set a benchmark for how the sector can care for its people, particularly with the fiercely competitive battle to find, hire and retain staff.
“It’s better to retain staff than having to recruit all the time,” Ashley said. “We put a lot of effort into training and growing that IP with our staff. There’s a Novatech way and a consistency for not only our staff but our clients.
“We are at the higher end of our industry – people hire us and engage us when the events have to go well. There are no ifs or buts – the event has to go ahead, it has to be reliable. And that’s what our clients get when we have longtime, long-serving staff who are happy, content and professionally developing. That’s important and that’s why we do it.”
Another key priority for Novatech is ensuring the cost of covering these initiatives does not impact its valued clients. Instead, funding has come from internal cost efficiencies, particularly IT and infrastructure projects like Novaflow which more closely integrates business systems to save time and money.
“Costs in our industry have gone up 20 to 30% over the years since Covid,” Ashley said. “We are conscious of not putting our prices up to cover these and so we implemented internal reviews and processes to find efficiencies, rather than having charge our clients extra. It’s important for us to look after our clients as well.”
With a successful track record including recent expansion into the Asia Pacific market, Novatech is keen to share its learnings with Australian businesses. “We’re trying to be thought leaders,’ Ashley said. “If we can pass on our insights and other industries and companies can do this, that’s a good thing.”
