Top Companies - Top Leaders

Jan Mayer-Rodriguez and Mike Kublin

Fortune magazine and the Great Place To Work Institute just announced the Top 100 Best Companies to work for.

259 firms and more than 277,000 employees were surveyed and asked to rate management credibility, job satisfaction, camaraderie, pay and benefits, hiring practices, communication, recognition, and diversity.

A common theme for the winners?  Making their employees their priority. 

"If this place got any better, I might not go home at night."--SAS employee

Employees are the priority . . .

Most of the top 100 companies have a voluntary attrition rate of < 5%, most are in the top quartile for compensation, and most offer domestic partner benefits.

The other big differentiator was that almost all did a variety of "things" to keep employees happy. Here are some that were highlighted:

• On-site massages, fitness centers
• Promoting a work-life balance and tracking hours to ensure there was a balance
• "Catch" and reward others for a job well done; opportunities to appreciate others
• Formal idea sharing forums and regional gatherings
• Paid hours to volunteer or for sabbaticals
• 10% of work time allowed for pursuing a work project of their choice
• Training, development, job rotation, job shadowing, mentoring
• Flexible work hours
• Having a sense of purpose; working toward shared goals

And one we thought was especially interesting, was where a CEO posted their personal development plan for all employees to see, and track results.

Depending on the company you work for, and your individual role, you may be in the position to influence some, and actually implement others. Which do you already have in place? Which are you willing to influence or implement? 

Michael W. Kublin is the founder and President of PeopleTek, Inc., a leadership coaching and development company specializing in helping leaders and organizations thrive.

By examining behaviors, leveraging preferred styles, and by removing fear from leadership, organizational growth occurs and results improve. Prior to founding PeopleTek, Michael worked for Electronic Data Systems and American Express in a variety of leadership roles managing technical teams and interfacing with internal and external business partners and vendors.

Jan Mayer-Rodriguez is editor-in-chief for PeopleTek's weekly leadership tip, assists with developing and enhancing business relations, and identifies developmental opportunities for organizations and individuals. Prior to joining PeopleTek, Jan had a 27 year career at American Express where her positons focused on enhancing internal/external customer satisfaction levels, delivering superior products, and building effective cross team behaviors. 

Comments

[Jonena]

Mike and Jan,
Awesome post. Love the list, which I agree with wholeheartedly. And to the CEO who posts his/her personal development plan for all employees to see and track results, YOU ROCK!

[Jan Mayer-Rodriguez]

Thanks Jonena. We all benefit from taking our leadership to a higher level!