Kapitol Group Named 2022 Best Place to Work

Kapitol has been named the #1 2022 Wrk+ Best Place to Work, the first time a construction company has ever topped the list.

Kapitol beat businesses from a variety of industries to secure the top spot, in recognition of its genuine commitment to transform the construction industry for the better.

This national award, endowed by Wrk+, is generated from a survey that interviewed over 59,000 employees across all industries.

Kapitol’s commitment to its people is paying off with high levels of employee satisfaction, with the survey confirming that 96% of employees feel proud to work for Kapitol. The substantial growth of the company since it was established 4 years ago, which currently employs over 150 staff, is underpinned by its constant focus to create more inclusive ways of working.

Kapitol is unifying its workforce to commit time and energy to identify ways it can operate with higher efficiency, which has been identified by the company as a key priority for making tangible improvements across the construction sector.

An initiative central to this vision is its ‘10 in 14’ program for site teams. Implemented in 2020, the initiative aims to provide staff with greater work-life balance by working a rotating 6-day, 4-day fortnight. This initiative was further refined in 2022 with Kapitol’s site staff now only working Monday to Friday, with the exception of Site Managers and Site Supervisors who have remained working 10 in 14, with support on Saturdays from site temp staff.

Kapitol’s ‘10 in 14’ defies recent commentary by leaders in the construction sector that say a 5-day work week is not feasible. The initiative has even been successfully implemented at Kapitol’s largest construction project to-date, a 15,000m2 data centre project for client NEXTDC, which is nearing completion on-time and on-budget.

The long-term goal of establishing a gender-diverse workforce is a cornerstone of Kapitol’s vision.  Currently, Kapitol’s female employees represent 22% of the staff cohort, which is well above the ABS industry standard of 13% in construction. Kapitol plans on increasing this further through its current female graduate intake which sits at 40%, its regular engagement with female schools as part of their careers’ in construction program, and their partnership with Empowered Women in Trades (EWIT).

Since Kapitol was founded in 2018, Directors David Caputo and Andrew Deveson have placed significant focus on investing in the professional development of their team. Aiming to create ‘leaders’ rather than ‘managers’, Kapitol trains staff through mentoring, and run regular workshops on topics like Emotional Intelligence, Visions & Values, and Process & Efficiency.

“I think the seeds were sown for us during COVID when we made a conscious decision, even without the support of job keeper, not to reduce our staff’s hours or stand anyone down – even when we had to reduce numbers on site to 25%, or during the 2-week construction shutdown. Instead, we invested in training and upskilling our staff during our downtimes, and I think our staff appreciated that,” explains David Caputo.

“We are always striving to be better. Last year, we made the top 25 Best Places to Work. Following this recognition, we listened to our employees on what we could do better, incorporated that feedback into our leadership planning, and we’re beyond thrilled to see that we have now been recognised as the top employer across all industries.” says Andrew Deveson.

Kapitol’s People and Culture Manager, Alice Hanna, has worked in male-dominated industries for her entire career and is seeing real change through Kapitol’s actions throughout employees’ work and personal lives.

Alice recalls countless points of feedback from Kapitol’s employees on the positive impact initiatives such as the ‘10 in 14’ have made on their lives outside of work.

“At our last staff function, one of our employee’s wives came up to me to thank Kapitol that her husband is now able to go their kids’ sport, which he hasn’t done for years due to his 6-day work week,” Alice said.

Kapitol is constantly rejecting the idea of resting on its laurels and continues to commit to bettering its workplace for employees to be their best every day.