Great Places to Work – Is your organisation one of them?

By Shane McGinley – Accountancy Ireland

Long commutes, increased stress and more competition than ever before for quality graduates, means there is no shortage of opportunity. But what makes one company a better place to work than another?

One of the major issues workers face in the new millennium is getting the work-life balance right, however it is not just an issue for workers, managers also need to take note.

The increased pace of business life has led to more than half (52%) of UK and Irish employees claiming to have experienced one or more symptoms of over-work or burnout, according to a report from Hudson, the global recruitment and human resources consultancy. 14% of HR managers interviewed for the report said they have lost one or more members of staff due to burnout, with 36% witnessing a decline in productivity and 79% reporting an increase in the number of sick days being taken.

“Working long hours and being available 24/7 goes with the territory for many UK and Irish employees. Burnout, however, goes deeper than this. It is worrying that business managers do not appear to be able to increase productivity and hold on to top talent at the same time. For employers, an increase in absenteeism, premature career change and a decline in interest and productivity among employees can have a serious long-term effect on business success,” reports Peter Cosgrove, Country Manager of Hudson Ireland.

Furthermore a new survey as part of the Eurest Lunchtime Report 2006 found that on average Irish employees take a mere 38 minutes for lunch. As we reported recently the 2006 Ireland Salary Survey, carried out by specialist recruitment consultancy Robert Half Finance & Accounting, revealed that one in three (32%) finance professionals are stressed at work due to their increasing work load.

In February the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheal Martin launched a need mediation and training company which aims to address unresolved conflict in the workplace and assist companies in implementing a change of of culture which will result in a more flexible, efficient working environment. Round table Mediation & Training, based at Mainport, Monahan Road, Cork, will provide a full suite of services to businesses and organisations which seek to create more organised, systematic approaches to disputes through the provision of workplace mediation and facilitation services, investigations services and customised conflict management training programmes. “Recent evidence which points to increasing numbers of employment complaints and disputes clearly signal, that a change of direction in Irish employment dispute resolution practices is required. Unresolved conflict is an impediment to good business,” said Minister Martin.

In light of such reports and the publication of the Irish Independent 2007 list of the 50 Best Companies to Work for in Ireland it begs the question – what makes a great place to work? A great place to work, according to the Great Place to Work Institute who compile the annual list, is “a place where employees trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.”

“The top 50 companies are the most trusted organisations we have seen,” believes Cathal Divilly, M.Sc, Project Director at the Great Place to Work Institute, “companies with high levels of trust are a great place to work.”

According to Divilly, other criteria include companies that are constantly looking to reinvent themselves and their practices, are constantly looking to refresh what they do for employees and are constantly engaging employees to ascertain what practices are working and what practices employees would like to see implemented.

The list is compiled in two parts. The first part is an employee survey, which counts for two-thirds of points and the remaining third is a cultural check where the Institute looks at management practices in place in key areas of the company. Any company with 50 or more employees is eligible.

Divilly reports that while a lot of the companies are large organisations smaller companies do benefit from being close knit organisations, management and staff working closely together and having a large degree of flexibility in what they can do for employees.

“The reality behind it is that companies don’t do it because it’s nice to be nice – they do it because there are sound business benefits in being a great place to work. It feeds into how motivated your employees are and then how productive they are. It is not a tree hugging exercise,” says Divilly. This was proven in the US where stocks of publicly traded companies on the annual list of Fortunes “100 Best Companies to Work for” collectively beat the broader market by more than 300% over a seven-year span.

Some companies do not take part just for the list, but for the feedback they receive and reports they get from the Great Place to Work Institute on the challenges evident within the company and advice on how they can meet them. “If you are an organisation – before you figure out what you need to do it is important that you have engaged with the workforce and know where the issues lie so you can pin-point new initiatives,” says Divilly. Some large organisations have also opted for departmental reports so they can analyse the performance of various departments within the organisation. Participation in the 2007 list cost €4,650 for companies with 50-100 employees and €5,950 for companies with 100 or more staff.

In relation to accountancy firms, Divilly reports that they “feature quite prominently, their practices are quite good and proactive and they are not averse to developing good practices.”

Over the last five years, one company to feature quite prominently and regularly has been Deloitte and Derek Moriarty, the partner in charge of HR at the firm believe this is because they place a lot of emphasis on HR and their employees.

“It is viewed as a very important department and our commitment to the Great Place to Work has spanned from that,” says Moriarty. “We are hugely committed to help our clients and our people and very proud that within the Irish context we are one of the only accounting firms in (the list) for the last five years.”

Moriarty believes that firstly you need to understand your graduates. “You have to ensure that from the moment they join they have the opportunity to develop a successful career quickly. There is a significant amount of training, coaching, feedback and one-to-one mentoring involved so they can get up the career ladder. It’s not just about doing the accountancy exams.”

Moriarty believes that firstly you need to understand your graduates. “You have to ensure that from the moment they join they have the opportunity to develop a successful career quickly. There is a significant amount of training, coaching, feedback and one-to-one mentoring involved so they can get up the career ladder. It’s not just about doing the accountancy exams.”

As a direct result of feedback from the Great Place to Work survey they introduced the Steps program. This involved introducing e-working through a pilot programme, emergency child care, a compressed working week in Summer where people can finish early on Fridays, longer paternity leave for men, phased return to work from maternity leave for women and every three years employees can build up holiday time and take extended leave if they want to travel.

“Being on the list is recognition and it is good to get internal recognition from our staff,” says Moriarty, although he does acknowledge that “it is not all good stuff and you do find things you need to improve and see the changing issues employees face.”

In recruitment he has seen how graduates want different things from work these days. “They don’t want excessive overtime; they don’t want to live to work; they want to have a successful career but there are also a lot of other things they want to do outside of work. You have to respond to that.”

In the ever competitive market for quality graduates, work such as that done by the Great Place to Work Institute makes it easier for graduates to see which companies offer the best prospects and, as we have seen, also makes the companies who actively partake in it more productive and successful and that really does make for a great place to work!