BRW last night revealed what made Australia’s Top 50 Employers great. Some offer staff a day off on their birthday, allow people to work from home one day a week and enforce flexible working hours. Others encourage staff to stay physically active by having an annual sports carnival, have onsite skin checks, and let staff kayak during their lunch hour.

Cordelta, based in Philip, and in the business of ‘‘helping public and private sectors improve their management, technology and people’’, was ranked seventh out of 291 workplaces in this year’s BRW Best Places to Work list.

BRW deputy editor Michael Bailey said Cordelta founders Matthew Ryan and Ken Gutterson had created a structure at the company that did not entrench a hierarchy based on longevity.

‘‘New partners can buy into the firm’s equity for as little as $1,’’ Mr Bailey said.

‘‘Generous holidays are another Cordelta perk – staff get 23 days off plus the days between Christmas and New Year.’’

‘‘And they have their own corporate endurance cart team.’’

Mr Bailey said workplaces in the top 50 demonstrated a high level of trust between staff, and staff and management.

Surveyed staff at Cordelta revealed high levels of trust, camaraderie and pride at the firm. Mr Bailey said management also displayed respect for staff and fairness towards them.

‘‘Fairness is a big element of gaining trust and Cordelta’s uniquely accessible partnership model is fairer than most comparable firms,’’ Mr Bailey said.

Melbourne-based IT consultancy OBS topped the list and NetApp and Google were placed second and third.

Australia’s best place to work offers everything from massages to gym memberships. BRW’s editor Kate Mills said companies could learn a lot from ‘‘how they do business’’.

Managing Director at OBS Andy Neumann said, ‘‘The point of being a great place to work is that you have to be able to produce that environment consistently.

‘‘You can’t just achieve a set of conditions and forget about it. You’ve got to be able to do it again and again.’’