Culture at Victorian Government

The culture is different across departments. Team size varies greatly. The smaller teams I have worked in are very collaborative and been easy to quickly feel comfortable in. Some teams have been more welcoming of my ideas than others. Having a large grad cohort has been really positive outside of office hours. The other grads are super friendly and supportive. Many of us have really bonded.

The overall culture of the teams I have worked in across the VPS has mostly be positive, though I don't find the culture of the graduate program to be particularly outstanding.

If your team enforces a WFH/in-office standard, there is generally a stronger team relationship. Teams who allow for complete WFH flexibility often felt isolated from each other with little opportunity to get to know colleagues. Supervisors and managers are very supportive of graduates regardless, as are senior team members.

The ESC has a truly wonderful culture, with wonderful colleagues at all levels. The organisation promotes internal mentoring, workplace shadowing, socialising and getting to know colleagues on a deeper level.

The teams I have worked in have had wonderful, and supportive culture. I feel that I have been welcomed in as a colleague and a friend, and feel safe and supported to ask for help when needed. As a graduate, I have been supported by all levels within my department, including directors, managers, supervisors and peer buddies.

Culture is great, huge emphasis on staff wellbeing and flexible working arrangements.

Lovely team, great at supporting each other, the team are great with graduates and explaining new tasks with context for further understanding.

Overall, most teams are happy to work and engage socially together, after-hours.

Quite structured in terms of hierarchy, but managers and directors are very approachable. It's fun to see the very high up secretaries / deputy secretaries get grilled on PAEC publicly. I don't think any other organisations get to see their CEOs be questioned regularly. Not too much after work hours but depends on the team. Other grads are usually happy to meet up for lunch and drinks after.

Hierarchical structure, things often require re-work and need to be looked over by various colleagues before getting checked off. This can be inefficient and frustrating. Some team members have more availability for socialising than others, given time constraints.

I am yet to see a negative workplace culture which is great. It can however be dull at times but this just depends on the team,

Our structure is clear and top down. But we have an open environment for communication, and we see directors and executives almost every day. They are easy to talk to. We collaborate a lot within our team and also with other teams in the same division.

Immediate team is really lovely but the wider team and department is holding a lot of angst and its clear some people are unhappy. The structure is very clear and hierarchical. Some lunchtime socialising but nothing afterwork.

Everyone is really friendly and collaborative. People bring in sweet treats and we have monthly games at lunch. There is a lot of flexibility with how and where you work. I would say that everyone works their office hours and takes time-in-lieu when needed. Although, this might be dependent on the team. I have also observed part-time colleagues logging in on their days off and working extra hours. While everyone works well together, a lot of people only come in 1 day a week. This can sometimes be hard being the only one in the office.

Across all three teams I've been a part of, everyone has been easy to get along with, friendly, and kind. There has not been much interaction outside of work hours. The tasks I work on tend to be quite individual, though I have no problem asking for help or advice when necessary and colleagues are always happy to make time and help out. Amongst others in the graduate program, there has been plenty of socialising with outside of work hours catchups, after work drinks, an occasional weekend picnic, coffee catchups etc.