Ducks In A Row: The Best and the Worst
by Miki Saxon
Great Place To Work just released their Best Places to Work rankings for large, medium and small companies in countries around the world. So out of the thousands of companies how are the best places to work chosen?
Our approach is based on the major findings of 20 years of research – that trust between managers and employees is the primary defining characteristic of the very best workplaces.
At the heart of our definition of a great place to work – a place where employees “trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with” – is the idea that a great workplace is measured by the quality of the three, interconnected relationships that exist there:
- The relationship between employees and management.
- The relationship between employees and their jobs/company.
- The relationship between employees and other employees.
In other words, it all comes down to trust and culture.
The funny thing about trust and culture is that the managers at all levels who strive to build trust and work create great, fun, inclusive cultures are reading this and nodding their heads, while those that don’t are clicking off to another site, because all the proof in the world won’t change their minds.
Proof is found in places such as the Ethics Resource Center’s the January 6th article Top Executives – Overpaid or Underappreciated? A whopping 91% have no problem with executive compensation when there is a strong, fair culture in place. (Hat tip to Lauren Bloom for pointing me to this site.)
Imagine the level of idiocy required to blind people to studies such as this.
The North American winners in each category may surprise you—they certainly surprised me.
- NetApp is the #1 large company;
- Ultimate Software is the #1 medium company; and
- Badger Mining Corporation is the #1 small company.
Ever wonder which companies are at the other end of the spectrum? The companies where the culture ranges from suspect to toxic and executive compensation outrages both employees and the rest of us?
I found the answer to that at 24/7 Wall St’s The 15 Most Hated Companies In America.
Can you guess which company has the dubious distinction of the #1 position?
Think; what company violated trust in every way possible and is know for it’s culture of ego, hubris, and obscene bonuses?
Right. The most hated company in America is AIG.
The upside of all these studies is that those trying to do it right have examples to emulate and kudos for their accomplishments.
The downside is that the others wouldn’t notice if you hit them on the head—AIG certainly hasn’t.
Image credit: Ethics Resource Center
