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Charity P3 triumphs in award for best UK company
The Sunday Times has published its tenth annual survey identifying the best companies to work for in Britain. Social inclusion charity P3 is this year’s winner of the most comprehensive survey of workplace opinion in Britain.
Like last year's winner, Beaverbrooks, the key to P3's victory lies not in big pay and bonuses - the average salary of a support worker is just over £17,000 and only six of the 262 staff earn more than £35,000 - but rather in its “supportive, inclusive culture which promotes control, choice and independence for staff as well as clients,” says The Sunday Times.
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The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For survey is compiled from results given by employees to 70 questions related to workplace culture, covering their company’s leadership; their personal wellbeing; career development; pay and benefits; their feelings towards colleagues, managers and the company as a whole; and giving something back to the community and environment.
Each year Best Companies Ltd and The Sunday Times celebrate the best small, mid-size and big workplaces in the UK:
Best small companies: 50 to 249 employees
Best mid-sized companies: 250 to 4,999 employees
Best big companies: 5,000+ employees.
Employees from participating organisations are surveyed based on a rigorous methodology. This enables Best Companies to compile lists of the 100 top companies in each size category which The Sunday Times publishes.
The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For is now in its tenth year of publication and is compiled using a methodology tailored specifically to the British workplace.
Best mid-sized company
Overall, the best mid-sized company to work for is P3. This is the first year the social inclusion charity, which formerly topped the Best Small Companies to Work for list in 2007, has had enough staff to enter the competition for mid-sized organisations.
The charity aims to equip vulnerable and disadvantaged people with the skills and confidence they need to find a lasting route out of social exclusion.
P3 achieves top results in six of the eight factors in which employees give their views on the staff survey. People are proud to work for the charity (giving a positive result of 90%), have confidence in the leadership skills of their manager (87%) and say colleagues go out of their way to help each other (also 87%), all top scores.
Best big company
Nando’s, the restaurant chain, is victorious in the contest for the Best Big Companies to Work For. Employees say they love working for the organisation, giving an 80% positive score in the staff survey. They agree that there is a strong sense of family in their teams (81%) and that managers care about them as individuals (79%) and talk openly and honestly with them (82%). These are all top scores, beating the other 24 companies on the list.
Best small company
Softcat, the Marlow-based IT sales firm founded in 1993, is the Best Small Company to Work for in the UK. “What Softcat has to offer to the market is not unique. So the only way we can differentiate ourselves is with customer service. It's as simple as that,” says managing director Martin Hellawell. “It's why we're successful. And we do that because we have staff who love Softcat.”
The company earns top scores in the My Manager, Personal Growth ad My Team categories of the employee survey. Staff believe the company provides an excellent service, giving a positive score of 98%. They find managers really supportive (94%) and say colleagues go out of their way to help each other (95%). All three scores beat every other company on the list.
A final word
“These awards highlight the achievements of organisations with good leadership and management which result in high levels of workplace engagement - factors that are even more important in these uncertain times. Companies that secured their place on The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For lists are among the very best employers in the country and we congratulate them on their achievement.” - Jonathan Austin, chief executive and founder of Best Companies Ltd, which conducted the research for The Sunday Times.
"Being a Best Company to Work For is not just for the good times. The past year has been testing for both employers and employees. The stresses, strains and pay freezes of the recession are beginning to tell. However as these companies have shown, that does not have to be an inevitability. Firms which have built trust and engagement and a shared sense of common purpose over time are reaping the reward in terms of motivated employees willing to go the extra mile, despite the tough environment.” - Jackie Orme, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, sponsors of The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For.
Want to know more?
Title: "The 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010", The Sunday Times, 7 March 2010.
Survey sample: This year’s rankings are determined by the views of more than 230,000 employees, up from 200,000 last year, "making this by far the most comprehensive survey of workplace engagement and satisfaction in the UK".
In all, 964 companies took part in this year’s contest, including 347 mid-sized companies, 46 big and 571 small companies.
Methodology: The process consists of two elements:
employee survey
company questionnaire.
At least 90% of your company’s score comes from the employee survey and is dependent upon how highly your people score the company according to the eight factors the survey measures. There is a discretional 10% of your company’s score that can be derived from the company questionnaire.
The best companies methodology identifies workplace performance and best practice according to eight key factors. These factors are particularly significant as they are defined through the results from the survey process, and therefore by employees themselves, as critical factors in workplace engagement.
Leadership - How employees feel about the head of the organisation, senior managers, and the company’s values and principles
My manager - How employees feel about and communicate with their direct manager
Personal growth - What employees feel about training and their future prospects
Wellbeing - How employees feel about stress, pressure at work, and work-life balance
My team - Employees' feelings towards their immediate colleagues and how well they work together
Giving something back - The extent to which employees feel their organisation has a positive impact on society
My company - The level of engagement employees have for their job and organisation
Fair deal - How happy employees are with their pay and benefits.
To find out more about the methodology visit www.bestcompanies.co.uk//Methodology.aspx.
Availability: The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For supplement was published on 28 February 2010, while The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For, incorporating the 25 Best Big Companies to Work For was published on 7 March 2010.
For more details of the "100 best" plus a batch of feature articles check out The Sunday Times web site at www.timesonline.co.uk/best100companies.
Best Companies Ltd researches, develops and compiles the Best Companies to Work For lists, published annually in The Sunday Times. To find out more and participate in next year’s listing visit www.bestcompanies.co.uk.