This past Friday was a big day for some companies (or, at least for the their PR and HR departments). Last Friday was the day that the Great Place to Work Institute notified companies about whether they made the Fortune Best 100 Places to Work 2008 List. For some companies that have been applying to be on the list for a while, the day might have not been such a big deal. For others applying for the first time, I would imagine it being a lot like when I was a high school senior receiving the first letter (either acceptance or rejection) from a college I had applied to: I wanted to know, and I didn't want to know.
Having been witness to one company's efforts in applying for the list, and having read some of the criteria that the GP2W Institute highlights when publishing the list, I do have to ask whether or not these criteria really are indicative of a great place to work. Please note: I do NOT want to take anything away from the 100 companies that made the list at all. Knowing what I know about many of them, I do not doubt that they have the right stuff to be great places to work. I just wonder about the degree to which Fortune's article and list do justice to what it really means to be a great place to work.
At Knowldge Infusion, we work with companies all the time that are trying to improve the employee experience - and the manager, executive, customer, stockholder, etc., experiences, too. We talk about creating a line of sight for all employees so each and every one can see how they contribute to the bigger picture, and how technologies can enable that. We discuss providing employees with insight into all possible career paths available to them, not just a job ladder or job family, and how technologies can enable that. We work on strategies to ensure that the client has the talent needed to realize its business objectives and keep growing, and how technologies can enable that, too. For us at KI, we believe a great place to work means providing people with the opportunities to realize both individual and collective value, goals, and objectives. It means providing opportunities for managers, employees, whomever to discover and learn not only about the company, but also their place in it, and how this meshes with one's own values. These are the conversations we have with our clients. And, yes, these are the conversations we have amongst ourselves, too. Being a Great Place to Work is a never-ending journey. Come along for the ride.
P.S. To view the 2008 list, click on this link: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2008/full_list/index.html
Suzanne
Great post and congrats to all of the companies that made the list. Organizations that DO make the list have a great tool to use in creating and deploying their employment brand, and will do a good job in attracting certain types of workers. Those who didn't make the list, no reason at all to panic; many of the new age workers are learning about great places to work from other places than Fortune Magazine.
Have you seen:
http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/10-seeeeeriously-cool-workplaces/
http://companiesthatreallysuck.blogspot.com/
http://edugree.com/job-prep/worst-companies-to-work-for
From the standpoint of lists to be on, where would you rather appear?
Remember, your workforce is now the voice to the world about your organization.