Every year Forbes magazine published a list of Best Companies to Work for. It’s almost like being nominated for Oscar. Why is it important for any companies to be one of the Best Company to Work for? Container Store, Costco, SAS are one of very few companies that made the list. Being in the Top Best Companies to work by Forbes 100 or 500 is a pretty big deal because:
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Free Publicity
Should I say some more? Who don’t want be listed as one of the best companies to work for by Forbes magazine that goes out to millions of professionals? -
Low employees turnover
Employees turnover is very expensive and creates noises to companies’ productivity. The average time for most companies to fill in a skilled position is about two to three months. In that three month period of time, you have to delegate one person job (or more) among the rest of the team. Then when a position is filled, you have to spend about two months of training until the new person completely understand the inside and outside of the job. -
It attracts the cream of the crop of skilled employees
When everybody wants to walk in the door and work for the company, it’s easier for that company to pick the best of the best worker out there. -
Best of all, it attracts investors
Investors are more willing to invest in a company that is stable and has a good reputation.
Making into the list of Best Companies to Work for goes beyond just providing good benefit and good pay. Being the Best Companies to Work For means making the employees happy, and it sure not an easy task. I have worked in three companies so far. My first office job was at a mortgage/banking industry while I was in college. Then after I graduated, I spent 5 years in a retail company that is pretty well known for its high demanding and putting employees in long hour of work. I did spend long working hours, to the point where I started to having nightmares about work. Feeling burnt out, I moved on to a discounted retail company. I liked the job, the people I worked for and with. The problem was the company was not financially stable. Sure enough three years later, it was split and I moved on to the current company I’m in right now and have been here for 7 years. Below is the criteria to be considered as Best Companies to Work for. These are based on my point of view as someone who work in a professional Home Office type of environment. People who work in stores, call center or warehouse might have different opinions.
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The company needs to be financially stable
In the previous company, every year I’d never know if I would still have my job. Not because of my job performance, it’s because the company was losing money and forced to lay people off -
Open door environment, nobody is too cool
I had never worked in a company where the high level executives are so approachable and down to earth. In the company I’m in right now, I have no problem chatting with a Vice President of so and so department asking if he’s going to participate in the Spring marathon this year. A well-known Sr. Vice President handed me a plastic cup this morning while I was waiting to make my coffee. You don’t normally get this type of treatment in any companies. -
Care about work/life balance
This could be a little hairy as different people have different opinion of what it means to have work/life balance. So what does it mean to have a work/life balance?- Employers should never make employees feel guilty when scheduling vacation
- Reasonable expectation on overtime. There is nothing wrong about having occasional overtime. However if employees are expected to work 60 – 80 hours/week every month, that is the recipe for getting them burnt out and heading out the door
- Provide flexible schedule. Flexible schedule doesn’t mean people can show up anytime they want. Have you ever heard the word Face Time? No…not your IPhone app. It means you show up when your boss show up and leaves when the boss leaves. Although I completely disagree with this statement, there is a line between Face Time and working during normal business hour. Normal business hour in most Home Office is from 7 am – 6 pm. So employees should be allowed to choose whichever schedule that might work for them ,e.g. 7 – 4 pm, 9 – 6 pm, etc. In addition, providing laptop so employees can work from home in case school is closed or a child is sick is a great way to show that company does care about family life.
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It cares about employees well being and happiness
In the company I’m in right now, we had few events such as tailgating, chili cookout, ice cream social, Summer bash (where we had inflatable, invited local band, and had cookout). This type of events force employees to step out of their desks and socialize. The office also has a gym and a basketball court that employees can go during lunch time or take a quick break and shoots some hoops. Contrary to popular beliefs, taking a short break during working hour actually increases productivity, and not the other way around. -
Praises team player over career minded people
Don’t get me wrong, being career minded is of course very important. However, if all you care about is getting ahead of your peers and don’t care about the result as a group, you are not going anywhere. Employees who are full of drama and catty do not fit in this company. I can’t really say much about other department, but in my department we don’t normally hire a fresh college graduate unless they have done internship with us. No offense but most college graduates although they don’t mind working hard in long hours, they can be full of drama and too competitive.
You might think why would any companies care about their employees. Caring your employees is a rewarding thing to do as I had mentioned earlier. The success in each company lies within its employees. The happier they are, the more they are willing to put their best efforts for the company. Yes everybody is replaceable, but so is every company.
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