A third Top Insurance Employer win for initio
We’ve done it again. Initio has been named a Top Insurance Employer for 2026, making this the third time we’ve received the award.
This award is particularly special to us because it’s based on feedback from the people who actually work here. And after a pretty massive year of growth, hearing that our team still thinks initio is a great place to work means a lot.
Growing without losing what makes us, us
The last year has been a big one. We’ve grown our team considerably, bringing in new people to keep up with the growth of the business. More customers, more policies, more projects and, naturally, more people required to make it all happen.
Growing a team is exciting. But we’re also very conscious that the bigger you get, the easier it can be to lose some of the things that made the place special in the first place. We’re determined not to let that happen.
Culture is incredibly important to us, which is why we’re pretty picky about who joins the team.
Being good at your job matters, obviously. But so does being the kind of person who will muck in, share ideas, help someone out and contribute to the slightly unusual collection of humans we’ve assembled here.
Not just anyone gets a job at initio. And we think that’s a good thing.
No corner offices here
Our office is open plan, and we mean properly open plan. Our executive team sit in the same office as everyone else. No executive floor. No mysterious closed doors. No appointment required.
It keeps our leaders accessible and means they’re right there amongst the conversations, problems, ideas and general office chaos.
Our teams work the same way. Claims sits right next to Support, for example. When a customer issue crosses over between the two, there’s no need for a formal meeting or a 14-email chain. They can turn around and talk to each other.
It sounds simple, because it is. But it makes a huge difference.
We actually talk to each other
Every week, the whole team gets together for a stand-up. Everyone shares what they’re working on, what’s coming up and whether there’s anything getting in their way. Quite often, the blocker is another person standing in the room. Awkward. But that’s kind of the point.
We talk about problems openly, honestly and, importantly, without taking ourselves too seriously. It helps us solve things faster, keeps everyone across what’s happening in the business and makes it much harder for departments to disappear into their own little bubbles.
We work hard. We expect a lot from each other. But we also have a lot of fun along the way.
We ask the awkward questions too
We don’t wait for an awards survey to find out what our team thinks. Every year, we run our own anonymous team survey, completely separate from the Top Insurance Employers process. It gives everyone a chance to tell us what’s working, what isn’t and where we could be doing better.
If there’s a problem, we want to know about it. And if there’s something people genuinely value, we want to know that too, so we don’t accidentally “improve” it out of existence.
That feedback helps shape how initio operates and, importantly, helps us protect the things people love about working here as the team continues to grow.
The people make the place
There are plenty of things we’re proud of at initio. The technology we’ve built. The way we’ve changed how people can buy and manage insurance. The growth we’ve achieved.
But the team behind all of it is pretty hard to beat. They care about what they do. They challenge each other. They solve problems together. They work ridiculously hard when it’s needed, and they know how to have a laugh while doing it.
Winning Top Insurance Employer for the third time is a nice bit of recognition that, even as initio grows and changes, we’re holding onto something pretty special.
It’s an honour to work alongside this group of humans. Even the ones causing the blockers.
Written by Megan Fisher
Initio’s Head of Marketing
Megan has been with initio since 2022 and creates customer-focused content that helps New Zealand homeowners and landlords understand insurance in plain English. She works closely with initio’s claims, customer support, and development teams to make sure content is accurate, useful, and easy to follow. She has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and product strategy.
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