What makes a good workplace? Gymnasium membership? High Pay? Colleagues who make you laugh? Or is it something more intangible – the purpose of an organization or confidence that you can move forward and be appreciated for what you do? Whatever the answer, the question is vital for the ability of a business to hire the best staff and get the most out of it. While companies find it difficult to stimulate productivity and always recruit workers in a relaxation of the labor market, improving workplaces is still as important.
“Many organizations want to understand what it is,” said Trupti Indulkar Raipure, director of the Human Resources Consultative Team at Consultancy Gartner. “An excellent workplace is a place where you can attract large talents and you can also keep them.”
In the British FT ranking of the best employers, 500 companies are noted on the basis of personnel bids in areas such as working conditions, salary and the image of the company.
Only one company, Cisco Systems, marked a perfect 100. Sarah Walker, director general of the United Kingdom and Ireland, says that it is not only a good one to have: to continue the objective of the company – that it defines “to feed an inclusive future for all” – depends on a working environment that embodies the same values. “It's multi-facet: does business strategy align themselves with what it feels in the field?” she said. “Are words and music?”
In its annual index Good Work, the Institute responsible for staff and development, the British professional organization for human resources, takes into account what it calls seven dimensions of work: remuneration and benefits; contracts; balance between professional and private life; Design of jobs and nature of work; labor relations; voices of employees; and health and well-being.
Experts say that remuneration is vital. “The remuneration is still number one,” explains Indulkar Raipure. “Ask the candidates, and the number one location goes to remuneration.” However, that's not all. Especially for companies with fewer resources, it is possible to compete for staff in other ways.
This year, a survey carried out by the teachers of the Harvard Business School revealed that 40% of American workers would take a salary reduction of 5% or more to maintain their current flexibility rather than having to be at the office five days a week. 9% more would exchange 20% of their wages to avoid the office.
It may not be surprising that several of these organizations have ranked very well in the FT survey have highlighted the employee agency and flexibility compared to the mandates. A hybrid model operates in Saga, which offers services ranging from insurance to vacation and online meetings for the elderly and ranked sixth in the FT survey.
“We are trying to make sure there is a good level of connection. We encourage our managers to ensure a regular rate, ”explains Roisin Mackenzie, director of people. “Once a week, twice a week … it's fluid; we always sail.”
Laura Adams, Director of Human Resources in the United States of the JLL real estate group, says that the company has found a balance between freedom and career progress with a hybrid model. “We fundamentally believe that being with leaders and getting this exhibition is the way you will learn,” she said. “We think it is led by the leader.”
In Saga, this approach also extends to performance, strategy and advancement – also key elements of the objectives. “What is really essential is that we look at what and how – clear goals,” said Mackenzie.
“The critical thing for us is that we spend a lot of time nailing our executive goals. Everything takes place from this. ”
It is essential to achieve this to create a good place of work, explains Indulkar Raipure. Employees “are still looking for an employer who can give them the opportunity to grow,” she says. Helping workers to achieve their potential also serves employers.
“You can motivate them and contribute to your wider vision and mission. If you find that your employees are motivated to achieve it too, it is a victory. ”
The advantages and benefits are another dimension and can be adapted to adapt to the business offer of the company to highlight the unique sales argument of an employer. Saga employees can take advantage of a week's advantage for the birth of a little child.
“We have … focused on employment support for the more than fifty. It is a distinctive advantage to come and work for saga, ”explains Mackenzie.
At Cisco, Walker adds that managers are proud of initiatives such as inclusive communities around different interests and demographics, such as the Women of cisco Blog, which remains beneficial for the company.
“We want our company to be representative of the company and the communities that we serve,” explains Walker. “The role of leadership is: do we play things at the macro level?” Do our teams reflect these values and commitments? ”
The surveys suggest that a sense of meaning is also crucial. Shortly after the pandemic, the consulting firm McKinsey discovered that almost two -thirds of American employees re -evaluated their objective in life, and almost half declared that they reconsidered the type of work they were doing.
At Cancer Research UK, who arrived at 12th in the FT ranking, this meaning of meaning makes employees happy. “Over the past 50 years, we have doubled the survival rate in the United Kingdom, and our people are at the heart of all this work,” explains Angela Morrison, chief of exploitation. “Every day, their work has this impact that changes life … It is a real USP for us.”
However, what “goal” means, and in fact what a good workplace does, is different for each employee.
In a blog on the employers' classification, the expert in workplace Josh Bersin wrote that no workplace could offer everything to everyone. The objective could be at the expense of remuneration. More established companies may not provide rapid progress but can always ensure security. Scrappy start-ups could have the opposite structure. “It just depends on what you're looking for,” writes Bersin.
