It’s been a rough few years for workers as many of us have learned to do more with less. Yet amid news of belt tightening and shaky job security, more than 900 of you took the time back in October to answer our call for nominations for the debut edition of “Metro Atlanta’s Top 100 Workplaces.”
From the 495 companies nominated, we set out to find why their employees love where they work. By January, Workplace Dynamics, the consulting group we partnered with on the project, had winnowed the field to 166 eligible finalists that agreed to participate. Then we surveyed more than 40,000 of their employees.
Companies were graded (per survey responses) on several factors — the direction of the company, execution, work conditions, career paths, management, pay and benefits.
Workplace Dynamics used these grades to get the final ranking.
And there were intangibles. “I love the people I work with. ... It’s like a family here. ... This is a great work culture. ... I feel like I can make a difference.”
These were common refrains.
“There is no secret sauce to being a top workplace,” said Doug Claffey, CEO of Workplace Dynamics, whose consultant group surveyed more than 1 million employees from 3,000 organizations nationally in 2010. “From my experience, it tends to be about a) making employee engagement a top priority for senior leadership, b) ensuring that this priority trickles down through the organization, c) including employee engagement as a consideration in decision-making, and d) communicating as openly as possible throughout the organization.”
Claffey said that during the recession, some specific examples included everything from senior management taking pay cuts rather than laying off staff and managers, and serving hot dogs at the company holiday party to keep from overspending. He said the successful companies clearly communicated the situation, the plan to get through the recession and provided updates along the way.
This section applauds those who are doing it best. It includes a metro top 100 — 20 in the large category (more than 500 employees); 30 in the midsize (125-499 employees) and 50 in the small (124 or fewer employees).
Congratulations are in order for winners Woodward Academy, LeasePlan USA and Peachtree Planning ... and the other 97 workplaces that made the cut.
“We hope that these companies will feel proud that they’ve been recognized as a top workplace, particularly given that the evaluators were their employees,” Claffey said. “They will ideally feel that being an independently vetted top workplace will give them a competitive edge in hiring. Lastly, we hope they will let their customers know they are a top workplace. For example, I would much rather go to a hospital where its employees feel really positive about their workplace, given the choice.”
