Luminary was founded in 1999 with a track record facilitating digital transformation for leading Australian brands. From Melbourne, they expanded to open offices in Sydney, Indonesia, Brisbane, and Albury. Their mission – ‘to make digital bright and the human experience brighter’ – brings across a strong desire to serve their clients, their people, and their community.
Marty Drill, the CEO, started the company with the intention of building a culture where people could experience a great place to work. “That was the intention of why we started the company. There’s always been alignment around focusing on our culture, our employee benefits, things that bring connection,” he shared.
We spoke with Marty to find out how Luminary sets policies that are designed to have people’s lives work, and how Great Place To Work® gives insight into the effectiveness of its policies.
Luminary already had practices to increase connection and trust, and Marty wanted feedback on what it was doing well and where it needed to improve. He conducted an internal anonymous survey to collect feedback but found that employees used the platform to vent without providing much constructive perspective about their working experience.
However, Marty still believed that people needed an outlet. “Great Place To Work provided a structured, relevant survey… it lifted the level of getting feedback in a way that was usable. It’s literally night and day – internal anonymous surveys are a chance to vent; Great Place To Work surveys are where people bring their A-game. They’re objective in their approach to it,” he said.
It also helped that Great Place To Work provides a single survey to be completed for single entities – with the same set of questions in different languages – across multiple locations and countries. This allowed Luminary to also hear from its employees in Indonesia.
The success of Luminary’s people strategy is evident as it made the Best WorkplacesTM List in Australia among small companies in 2023 – and it wasn’t their first time nor their last. In 2024 and 2025, the company also earned a spot in Australia’s Best Workplaces™ in Technology List in the small category.
“We’re grateful to be listed; we see value in it because it’s a recognition. It’s a good outcome. But in itself, the survey had us focus on what’s working and what’s not working,” Marty said. What’s more important to Marty is for Luminary to be consistently CertifiedTM as a great workplace, ever since partnering with Great Place To Work in 2018.
98% of Luminary employees say that it is a great place to work. Through various practices in Luminary, the message sent across is we support you as an employee no matter what you’re going through.
Employees are allowed to work from anywhere up to nine days per fortnight. They can take a variety of leave for specific needs such as adoption or miscarriage. Parents can take hours off work instead of a half or full day, and primary carers can take up to a year off after paid maternity leave without repercussions to their careers.
“We are given special consideration for their personal life situations. I feel comfortable and supported here,” an employee commented in its latest survey.
Employees in both Australia and Indonesia are also given the chance to visit offices in the other country once a year, a strategy that supports face-to-face communication and connection. Airfare and accommodation are paid for by Luminary, and many employees extend their holidays with families.
Luminary’s Employee Assistance Program provides counselling in different languages for employees in both Australia and Indonesia, and Luminary sets up regular check-ins with all employees. A mental health hotline is also available for anyone who needs it.
A neurodivergent employee commented, “Management and HR have been incredibly welcoming and accommodating, and willing to work with me on accommodations to make my life easier.”
Luminary prioritises transparency, alignment, and accountability. Its key results framework states strategic priorities across the organisation. Every employee understands their role in achieving collective goals.
Employees receive a daily email update from Marty and their voices are encouraged. According to an employee, anyone “can approach the three owners (executive leadership team) at any time and talk to them. It is encouraged for team members to directly talk to the executive team, even without first approaching their line managers.”
Feedback loops exist to gather employees’ inputs so that all can be heard and supported regardless of their role. Miro and Retrium are used for cross-functional collaboration in agile project management, making it easy to brainstorm, iterate, and refine ideas.
Furthermore, the company fosters a close-knit environment where all employees know each other well, at least by name, which creates a strong sense of camaraderie and collaboration.
What I want is Luminary to be a great place to work for people – I’ve got a whole range of tactics to support that. Whether or not we make the list, I’m still going to do these things.
– Marty Drill, CEO
Luminary intentionally spells out expected behaviours of every employee in social contracts that are collaboratively developed and periodically reviewed by the entire team.
For example, respect looks like We treat people’s time as though it is precious and consider everyone’s time zones. Behaviours are suggested and voted on by employees in a democratic process – making it easier to hold each other accountable in their interactions. “It doesn’t fix everything but there’s lower gossip because of it,” Marty says.
“Most digital agencies churn through employees every 1-2 years. We regularly have people here for 5-10 years,” Marty says. With 96% of employees consistently saying they are proud to work there, Luminary’s commitment to building a transparent, inclusive culture is paying off – making it a great place to work For AllTM.
Discover what employees value about working at your company, and how you can boost retention rates and increase productivity and performance with Great Place To Work CertificationTM.
