Attracting the best talent is becoming increasingly difficult for UK businesses, which is why the most successful organisations are going above and beyond to create a thriving, engaging and fun working environment for their employees. In an intensely competitive market, it’s imperative that you stand out from the crowd.
Every year, employee engagement specialists Best Companies measure and recognise engagement levels through four esteemed Sunday Times Lists: the Best 25 Big Companies; the Best 100 Mid Companies; the Best 100 Small Companies; and the Best 100 Not-For-Profit Organisations.
Those that earn a place on a List demonstrate that they truly care about their employees, exceling in the eight factors that Best Companies uses in its methodology – developed alongside researchers at Plymouth University – to determine how engaged a workforce is.
The eight factors of engagement are:
- My Manager
- Leadership
- My Company
- Personal Growth
- My Team
- Giving Something Back
- Fair Deal
- Wellbeing
You can read about what each of these entails in greater detail here.
How do we measure performance?
Based on the survey response data, scores are averaged across all 8 factors to produce an overall score. It is this score which is used to compile the Lists. The list score is then used to calculate a BCI Score for each organisation. This score determines whether they are rated highly enough to receive Best Companies Accreditation – either a Ones to Watch, One Star, Two Star or Three Star status. You can find out more about the surveys here.
Registration for next year’s List is now open, and is the perfect opportunity for organisations to find out exactly how their employees feel about where they work. They can also see how they compare with other businesses in their sector.
Jonathan Austin, founder and Chief Executive of Best Companies, discussed why companies should prioritise employee engagement. He commented:
“Competition for talent is more intense than ever right now. Being identified as one of the very best organisations to work for is what will set you apart from the rest. More importantly, it demonstrates that your business is one that cares about and values its employees.”
Dr Ian Dennis, Head of Research at Best Companies, explained how the survey – which generates the data used to compile the Sunday Times Lists – works:
“The Best Companies employee survey was carefully developed to reliably assess those aspects of their work experience which are most important from the employees’ perspective and which most influence their approach to their work. These aspects are represented in the eight Best Companies factors, the scores on which are combined to give an organisation’s BCI score.
“Since its development the survey has been reviewed annually using data from more than 200,000 respondents each year to verify that it continues to provide high-quality measurement of the eight factors and to ensure that it adapts to changes in the workplace.”
Employee engagement not only results in happier and more productive employees. Here are just a few of the other benefits it can bring to your business…
Higher retention – If people are engaged and love their job, then they’ll want to stay. While some turnover is healthy for every business (bringing fresh ideas and new perspectives into the company), replacing employees on a regular basis is time consuming and costly. Keep the best employees around for the long term by demonstrating to them that they can progress through the company.
Improved customer service – The secret to fantastic customer service is to actually focus on your employees first. If they already know that your business cares about them, this will be obvious in the way they talk to your customers and they’ll be more willing to go the extra mile to please them.
Better bottom line – The primary aim for any business is to make a profit, but did you know that there is a clear correlation between employee engagement and your bottom line? In fact, Best Companies research has shown that the share returns of organisations that have achieved Best Companies Accreditation were higher than those of FTSE100 businesses.
Do you have what it takes?
Registration for the 2017 Best Companies to Work For List is now open, so why not sign up to see if your attempts to improve employee engagement are paying off?
After registering, your employees will each be sent a BCI Survey to complete, which contains carefully-constructed questions that aim to uncover how they really feel about your organisation From there, Best Companies will analyse the data and identify areas for improvement.
Jonathan Austin added that for many organisations that take part, their true goal is to achieve continuous improvement:
“Whilst several organisations do work with us with the ultimate goal of achieving a place on the List, their real motivation behind taking part is to identify how they can make their organisation a better place to work.”
So if you’ve gone above and beyond to make your world a better workplace, get the recognition you deserve and sign up for your survey with Best Companies!