Afterpay: Analysis of Performance, Culture and Engagement Initiatives

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Afterpay Limited, a financial technology company operating on a 'buy now, pay later' model. The report examines the company's performance-related initiatives, including its incentive schemes, revenue generation, and customer acquisition strategies. It also explores Afterpay's culture-related initiatives, particularly its commitment to gender equality and non-discrimination. Furthermore, the report delves into Afterpay's employee engagement initiatives, such as its customer service channels and online platforms. The analysis highlights how these initiatives contribute to Afterpay's overall success and growth, including its expansion into new markets and strategic acquisitions. The report also discusses the implications of these initiatives and suggests potential areas for future development within the company.

Running head: PART-B: INDIVIDUAL REPORT
PART-B: INDIVIDUAL REPORT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PART-B: INDIVIDUAL REPORT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Performance related initiatives........................................................................................................2
Culture related initiatives.................................................................................................................3
Engagement related initiatives.........................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5

2PART-B: INDIVIDUAL REPORT
Introduction
The report is focused on understanding the people, culture and contemporary leadership
aspects that are prevalent in the contemporary corporate world. The report specifically focuses
on analysing the performance based, culture based and engagement based initiatives that are
taken by the organization, Afterpay Limited. The company was founded in 2015 in Australia. It
is a financial technology company. Afterpay provides users with the ability to pay interest free
fortnightly payments on a fortnightly basis. The operations of the company are based on the
effectiveness of the system that it provides to the customer. The analysis of the organization
would help to gain more effective understanding of performance based, culture based and
engagement based initiatives that can help organizations function efficiently. All the three
elements are very important determinants of organizational behaviour. They are also intrinsically
related to the concepts of leadership and management. The various factors that can be used to
enhance the productivity of organization concerning these vital areas are discussed.
Performance related initiatives
The company believes in the motto of buy now and pay later. In accordance with the
same the performance related initiatives are undertaken. The company wants to ensure that the
workforces are working in accordance with the quality standards that need to be maintained. This
is important for the long term development value of the organization. An important initiative is
the payment system without the traditional credit. This system is maintained by implementing an
incentive scheme for the employees. The employees that can engage with the customers to
provide sales equal to beyond certain figures. The workforces are constantly motivated to
perform at their best levels. One of the most important factors that are put to use is motivation.
Employee motivation can help to boost performances of the employees. It can be controlled by
various factors that are intrinsic or extrinsic to the work environment. The company does not
charge any interest on the payment that is made on a fortnightly basis. This is a factor that also
leads to better customer value and attracts more customers towards the service.
The incentive scheme can be utilized in tandem with effective forms of rewards and
recognition strategies. The organization can improve employee motivation through both
monetary and non-monetary forms of rewards and recognitions (Prieto et al. 2020). There are
various categories of rewards and recognition initiatives that are focused on motivating the
worker that work more efficiently. At the same time the transformational leadership system that
is implemented, focuses on improving the performance capabilities of the weaker employees. It
is important to consider that the rewards and recognition strategies can help to make the
employees more loyal to the organization. This is because they would tend to believe that their
hard work is recognized and appreciated by the organization. The company focuses on
improving employee performances by optimizing communication across all the levels of the
organization. An effective measure of the performance related initiatives that have been taken is
revenue. The organization has been able to generate a revenue of 261.6 AUD in the recent year
(Digital 2020). Customer count is also an effective measure of the performance benefit that the
company has received. The present customers of the organization number 4.6 million. The

3PART-B: INDIVIDUAL REPORT
operations have expanded into the markets of the US, New Zealand and the UK. These are
effective measures as this can prove that the organization has been performing effectively over a
significant period of time.
Culture related initiatives
The company has implemented one of the most effective culture based initiative to
develop organizational culture. The initiative is in regards to the practice of zero generalization
based on the gender of the staffs or the customers (Digital 2020). This is a very important step
towards effectively improving both the internal and external culture of the organization. This is
an important matter as gender bias or discrimination based on gender can have serious
implications on any organization. Moreover, it can also lead to severe legal consequences if done
externally. Hence, it is important that a more welcoming organizational culture is maintained.
Culture based initiatives are focused on improving the relationships that the organizational
management shares with the people who work for the organization. This is important in
developing an important framework for the productive functioning of the organization. This
initiative is focused on reaching the customers in a non-discriminatory way. This can create an
effective environment for work related interactions. This can be beneficial for the image of the
organization as well as the establishment of an effective gender neutral and diverse workplace.
The prevalent culture in the organization can thus be said to be one where an effective
environment for the growth and the development of female employees. The organization in this
way focuses on stopping any form of gender discrimination among both the employees and the
customers. It is important to understand that this environment also helps to develop better
relationships with the customers. The organization does not generalize any form of gender
stereotypes or gender roles. This is a positive strategy to enhance the cultural values that bind the
management, customers and the organization together. Organizational culture refers to the shared
beliefs, values and assumptions that govern the functional aspects of the government (Bailey et
al. 2017). The values tend to have strong influences on the people that are present in an
organization. Hence, this initiative is likely to affect productions positively. This culture has
improved further due to the online working of the company. There is much lesser scope for
generalization based on gender during online operations. This has helped the organization to
create stronger relationships with their customers. Behind the screen operations have reduced
gender discrimination to a great extent. The organization is operating in an environment that
helps to reduce cultural barriers between the employees and the customers. In the long run this
can make way for other important cultural practices in the organization.
Engagement related initiatives
Engagement related initiatives as effective in terms of the value that they create in
bringing the employees closer to the management and the organization. Active engagement of
employees within an organization helps to effectively increase the productivity of the
organization. Some of the important initiatives that have been taken by Afterpay with regard to
employee engagement are information on the website for the customers and a contact us options
for customers to call the offices. The employees are also more engaged by this means as greater

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interactions are needed for the same. This is a form of strategy that ensures that both the
customers and the employees are actively engaged with each other develops an environment of
active participation. All the employees are actively engaged in providing the services to the
customers.
The information provided on the website covers that of the customers that are binded to
pay. Hence, the customer can understand when the payment is due and make the payment
through the website itself. This improves the value of self-service for the customers. They can be
aware of the various factors that are important for the website. It is important to consider that the
customer can get all the information that they can require form the website itself. This promotes
active customer engagement. The customer can directly call the company in case of any issue
and speak with the people that are there to assist the customers. The rate of employee
engagement goes up as the customers have to constantly interact with the employees through the
website (Arditi, Nayak and Damci 2017). This initiative helps to actively engage the customers
with the company and its employees. Employees can know clearly about the expectations of the
customers. The job is made to be more engaging for the employees are clear customer
satisfaction targets are set. The online setting also makes gathering feedback from the customers
much easier. The feedback helps the employees to either be confident of their work or
understand their weaknesses. The success rate of this initiative is good as the initiative has
already helped the organization expand in 2018. Matrix Partners invested 19.4 million AUD in
the company. Moreover, the employee engagement helped the organization to become bigger
with more productivity. Afterpay purchased its competitor companies Clearpay and Thinksmart.
Hence, this employee engagement initiative can ensure greater success for the organization in the
future based on its present successes.
Conclusion
The implications of the study point towards effective performance based, culture based
and employee engagement based initiatives. It can be said that the company has optimized its
performances concerning all the three important areas. The performance based initiatives are
based on providing greater freedom to the customers and more motivation to the employees. The
culture based initiatives are based on tackling the gender generalization issues. The engagement
oriented initiatives are focused more on actively engaging both the customers and the employees.
It can be said that if more initiatives are taken for each of the management areas, it could ensure
even greater success for Afterpay in the future.

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References
Arditi, D., Nayak, S. and Damci, A., 2017. Effect of organizational culture on delay in
construction. International Journal of Project Management, 35(2), pp.136-147.
Bailey, C., Madden, A., Alfes, K. and Fletcher, L., 2017. The meaning, antecedents and
outcomes of employee engagement: A narrative synthesis. International Journal of Management
Reviews, 19(1), pp.31-53.
Digital, C. (2020) Afterpay Touch, Afterpaytouch.com. Available at:
https://www.afterpaytouch.com/ (Accessed: 18 April 2020).
Digital, C. (2020) Afterpay Touch, Afterpaytouch.com. Available at:
https://www.afterpaytouch.com/touch-culture (Accessed: 18 April 2020).
Prieto, A.B.T., Shin, H., Lee, Y. and Lee, C.W., 2020. Relationship among CSR Initiatives and
Financial and Non-Financial Corporate Performance in the Ecuadorian Banking
Environment. Sustainability, 12(4), p.1621.
Ruck, K., Welch, M. and Menara, B., 2017. Employee voice: an antecedent to organisational
engagement?. Public Relations Review, 43(5), pp.904-914.