What Makes "A Great Place To Work"

Hi: Thank you for tuning in! 
 
 This episode discusses employee survey responses when organizations have asked for their employees' input. Much of the topic centers around what Energage has learned from their experience with employee input. Energage is hired by organizations to conduct employee surveys and the results of these surveys lead to the annual list of companies that end up on the list, "Great Place To Work". Information includes:

 -Nine qualities listed by Energage that make “A great place to work”

-An article, “What Makes and Employer a Great Place to Work” written by Mark Feffer for the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)

-Quotes from HR professional when SHRM asked what they think makes a great place to work

MUSIC: Piano, Singer, Songwriter, Power Pop, by Bobby Cole; Singin’ The Blues, by Lance Conrad. 

Transcript

MUSIC: Piano, Singer, Songwriter, Power Pop, by Bobby Cole

 Hello, and welcome to Workplace Fairness and Dignity!  

 What makes an organization a “great place to work”? I’ll cover this on today’s podcast. 

 My name is Cecilia Akuffo, and I am from the Boston area.  My first podcast, From Fired to Fired Up, gives the background to my story. The short version is, I worked in Human Resources for approximately 10 years as a staffing recruiter, until I was fired … this past fall by WebEx … from a job I loved. I was fired because I spoke up about abusive behavior. I created this podcast as a platform to promote the normalization of workplace fairness and dignity, and to promote organizations that are committed to employee dignity and fairness.  

What makes an organization a great place to work for, or, that place where you may go to and spend more time than you spend with your family – at least in pre-COVID times. 

Energage is a company that organizations hire to conduct employee surveys, and every year they give a list of awards, on “Top Work Places” based on certain factors including the feedback of employees based on the surveys. 

You can find the 2021 Awards for top workplaces at: https://topworkplaces.com/find-top-workplaces(select “Explore Top Workplaces” to view the entire list).

Energage says about “Top Places To Work”: Great Culture Is More Than Perks. Creating a Top Workplace is about more than offering great benefits and vacation time. It’s about organizational health. Employees want to align with the company’s vision, they want to be challenged by a high-performance culture, and feel that they are valued and that their voices are heard. 

Energage is a company that does employee surveys, they were in a good position to ask the question, What makes an organization a great place to work? And they did ask that question. And Energage says “a healthy company culture is intentional". Some companies offer employees stock options. Others, like Google, they say, provide their employees with free meals at work, etc., etc. But a great place to work criteria is about more than just fun employee perks.

1:59 Energage identified nine qualities of what makes a great place to work, based on employee feedback surveys from various companies, this is what they learned and published on their site on August 5th of 2020, they published this about the nine qualities of great companies. I will list one through nine:

1.                 Leadership is involved and engaged

2.                 Communication is a top priority

3.                 A healthy company culture is intentional

4.                 Leadership understands threats and areas for improvement

5.                 Innovation is critical to success

6.                 Individuals are empowered to grow

7.                 The focus is on employees

8.                 Compensation and benefits are competitive

9.                 They stand out as an employer of choice

I want to highlight some of the information they share under specific points; we’ll talk about one, four, and seven:

Number 1. Leadership is involved and engaged: Energage says, employees find it easier to support the mission when they see leaders holding themselves to the same standard they hold others to. They say 83 percent of employees at Fortune 500 companies in the Best Companies to Work For category, 83 percent of those employees said about their leadership, that they “lived out the same values expected of employees, making them more trustworthy”. This contrasts with the 42 percent of employees, putting trust in their leadership at what Energage terms “average workplaces”. 

So 42 percent of employees put their trust in leadership as opposed to 83 percent of employees at Fortune 500 companies in the best companies to work for category versus 42 in what Energage terms average workplaces. And this is because in the best companies to work for category the employees say that they see their leadership living the same values expected of their employees, which makes them more trustworthy.

Point Number 4 they make: Leadership understands threats and areas for improvement. They say top workplaces utilize employee feedback to better understand what makes a great workplace and they also pinpoint areas where more effort is needed to create positive change. I’ll say that again, top workplaces utilize employee feedback to better understand what makes a great workplace and also pinpoint areas where more effort is needed to create positive change. Transparency in this respect is often what makes a great workplace in the eyes of top talent who appreciate an organization that is committed to honesty and growth rather than denial and stagnation.

Number 7. The focus is on employees: Great workplaces, says Energage, great workplaces have shifted their focus from getting the most out of their employees to giving back to their employees to ensure that their employees’ needs are met. And so this translates to better business outcomes that are often a result of employee-focused decisions. So when organizations include employee survey data in their decision-making, they are able to go straight to the heart of the business and better understand where they fall short. Building on survey insights not only brings about legitimate, actionable change, it also lets your employees actively participate in the growth of the organization.

4:53 MUSIC

Not all workplaces are in a position to implement every single item, but I think there is information that everyone who has employees can learn from.   Everyone can start with the basics, such as a focus on employees, and empowerment of individuals contributing to the work. 

Here’s an example. I recently visited a record store, the old-fashioned type that still sells vinyl records still. I have visited the store for years. As I walked with a friend and we were talking about the record store – my friend’s also a frequent visitor to the store, they commented on how helpful the people who work there are. I realized that in all the times I have visited I have never had one staffer be less than completely professional, pleasant, and helpful. 

Then I thought about this. The owner, who’s not always present, when he is present, he’s always the same, courteous, polite gentleman, very helpful to EVERY customer. When he is working in the store, unless you know who he is you would think he’s just another employee; and he gives wide berth to his staff and lets them work with the customers without interference when people have a question, when they have problems – whatever it is. I only know that he’s the owner because a friend who’s known him for years told me that he is. But now it’s clear to me, as I thought about it, that the owner sets the pace for his employees. Leadership, as the cliché goes, starts from the top down. I have no doubt that the owner of that record store treats his employees well, and they in turn pass that on to the customers, including following his example. So, you may say “it’s just a record store”, but their professionalism would hold up in any office setting. 

For one thing, I also have an acquaintance who worked in the store when he was new in town and he has since moved on to an excellent high-paying job. But, he still frequents the store and has nothing but positive words for the owner and his former colleagues.  And that tells me a lot. So either the owner hires well, he manages well, or both. 

6:42 MUSIC: Such a Swinging Good Time, by Neil Cross

Back to Energage. Energage identifies itself as a Certified B Corporation. I have since learned that organizations that are certified B Corporations are organizations whose performance must meet certain standards such as: social and environmental performance; public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. To become a B Corp, organizations go through the equivalent of “Fair Trade” certification, or the equivalent of the USDA, US Department of Agriculture regulatory process for foods. B Corp organizations identify themselves this way: they identify themselves as a community “that works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high–quality jobs with dignity and purpose”. In other words, they say they are committed to using business as a force for good.

 7:31 MUSIC

What Makes an Employer a Great Place to Work, asked Mark Feffer. Feffer answered the question in an online article published June 1, 2015 by The Society for Human Resource Management (also called SHRM for short).  

Feffer talked about some of the perks offered by tech companies, while saying, those perks are “only part of the story”. He quotes China Gorman, CEO of the Great Place to Work Institute, the research and consulting firm behind the list of Fortune magazine’s annual 100 Best Companies to Work For. Gorman says, what also matters is to have a very intentional, people-centric culture.

Feffer says, the leaders of organizations that are in the Best Company to Work For category do the following: the leaders of these companies talk about their people not as employees who can be satisfied with the right compensation package, but as colleagues who are invested in the business. They talk about the importance of trust …by managers in employees … and trust by employees in managers; of the commitment employees must have to each other; and of the importance of engagement -- of employees being “all in” with regard to the business and its success.

Feffer ends by saying that to build a great culture takes intentionality, which comes from the organization’s leader, like the CEO who decided that the advantages of a great workplace outweighed the expense and effort involved in nurturing one. He also says, senior leadership is only part of it, that the executive team, middle managers, employees all need to actively make the organization’s approach work. 

8:56 MUSIC

SHRM asked Human Resources professionals what they think makes a great place to work. Here are some of the responses they received on LinkedIn from some of the HR professionals that responded:

—Melanie Silverman in London wrote: “A company that is as invested in its employees as it is in its customers and clients. A great company has leaders that inspire, motivate, and encourage the improvement and development of staff. People feel free to challenge the status quo and are treated with respect and trust. And, of course, a company that understands that there is life beyond the workplace.” 

—Tim Sparks in Arden, North Carolina said: “Where you’re treated with respect and not thought of as a tool to turn a profit.” 

[CORRECTION TO AUDIO ATTRIBUTION]

—Natalia Rivera, Allentown, Pennsylvania responded: “Respect your employees. Proper training. No micromanaging. Letting employees manage their work effectively without intruding.” 

—Melanie Hornstein, Ocoee, Fla. Said: “Growth and development, flexibility, advancement opportunities, company culture, trust, and mutual respect. Fair compensation and raises.” 

 10:00 MUSIC

The current themes from today are, that: 

Setting a healthy workplace culture takes intentional effort. Perks are important, but they aren’t the whole picture. 

Employers need to keep in mind the type of workplace that people will spend most of their time, most of their day giving their efforts to the organization in exchange for a paycheck. 

Employers would be wise to create a healthy environment or workplace culture where the employee wants to give their best to the organization. 

Employees trust leaders, this is another theme, employees trust leaders who walk the talk. Eighty-three percent of employees in Fortune 500 companies in the best companies to work category said their leadership live out the values they expect of their employees. This applies to Fortune 500 companies, and I see it lived out at a small record store in a small town. 

Top workplaces use employee feedback to pinpoint areas where more can be done to create positive change. That wasn’t a recurring point, but it’s still an important one. It points to the next theme where…

At top companies to work, the focus is on employees. Decisions are employee-focused which leads to better business outcomes. 

11:06 MUSIC: Singin’ The Blues, by Lance Conrad

This episode is dedicated to Cicely Tyson. As an African American actress Ms. Tyson selected and accepted roles that represented strong Black women. As an actress she resisted stereotypes, turning down roles that were demeaning to African Americans. She used her platform and fame to support and champion the Black American fight for civil rights. Ms. Tyson died on Thursday, January 28, age 96. When asked by an interviewer how she would like to be remembered, Ms. Tyson said, “I done my best. That’s all.”

Thank you for listening! Tune in next time.