Great Place to Work 2018: At these companies, work offers meaning
The Great Place to Work Institute honored the "Best Employers in Switzerland 2018" in Zurich on May 16, 2018. As part of the world's largest study on workplace culture, over 26,000 employees were also surveyed in Switzerland. 150 companies compared themselves with the "Best Employers", disclosed their HR processes and allowed their employees to provide anonymous feedback.
In 2018, Great Place to Work recognized the best employers in Switzerland for the 10th time. The ranking is based on a study with comprehensive employee surveys and culture analyses. These two tools form the basis for measuring and continuously improving workplace culture. The ranking is divided into small, medium and large organizations, as well as a category for the healthcare and social services sector.
Ranking "Best Employers in Switzerland 2018″ - Top 3 per category
Large companies (250+ employees)
- 1st place: Cisco Systems (Switzerland) GmbH, Wallisellen
- Place: IKEA AG, Spreitenbach
- 1st place: McDonald's Suisse, Crissier
Medium-sized companies (50-249 employees)
- Place: UMB AG, Volketswil
- Place: AWK Group AG, Zurich
- 1st place: Scout24 Schweiz AG, Flamatt
Small companies (20-49 employees)
- Place: Rackspace International GmbH, Zurich
- Place: Mundipharma Medical Company, Basel
- Place: SAS Institute AG, Wallisellen
Health and social services
- Place: mediX Group Practice, Zurich
- Place: Swiss Mountain Aid, Adliswil
- 1st place: Rehaklinik Dussnang AG, Dussnang
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary, multiple award-winning organizations were also honored. Not expected by everyone and impressive: McDonald's Suisse has faced the comparison with the best employers the most times and was awarded 9 times.
XING Switzerland also awarded a special prize on the topic of "Employability". This went to SAP (Switzerland) AG. Employability stands for concepts and activities that are designed to ensure the long-term employability of employees (for example, further training, flexible working hours, home office, and health promotion measures). The award criterion is the cultural analysis by Great Place to Work and further interviews by XING.
Compensation forms the basis - sense and trust make the difference
The results of the Great Place to Work 2018 study show what the foundations of a good workplace culture are: Credibility, respect and appreciation, fairness (including compensation) and team spirit. Also very important are pride in the job and the company. When it comes to the perception of an appropriate salary, there are large differences between the companies (79% positive perception at excellent vs. 38% at non-awarded organizations). What is striking here is that perceived fairness and perspective are more important than the absolute wage level. Here, even companies without high wages often achieve a better perception than industries with high, but unfairly perceived wages.
However, more is needed to awaken creativity, to be able to react quickly to changes, and to inspire employees to make a special commitment. The importance of a sense of purpose and trust in the company are often underestimated. Yet it is precisely these points that prove to be decisive for a special commitment on the part of employees. It is important to integrate employees in decision-making and to assume social responsibility together. Today, it is more important for employees to make a valuable contribution to society.
According to Michael Hermann, CEO of Great Place to Work in Switzerland, "Employees will only be particularly committed to their work if they see a purpose in it and have confidence that their efforts will be appreciated and not abused."
Award-winning companies offer sustainable employee satisfaction
The other study results show considerable differences between award-winning organizations and the rest. For example, approval of the promotion of work-life balance is significantly higher in award-winning organizations at 77% than in non-award-winning ones at only 44%. The best employers also manage to meet expectations of the company. After more than two years of service, satisfaction remains fairly stable at 81%, while non-award-winning employers are disappointing more and more employees (approval drops to 65%). With a good workplace culture, employees and managers also succeed in pulling together and experiencing their environment in a similarly positive way (with values for both groups above 80%). It is important for this that employees can contribute ideas and opinions without worrying about making mistakes. In non-award winning organizations, this often shows two groups working against each other with large differences in satisfaction (63% for employees vs. 82% for managers).
Matthias Keller from UMB AG confirms that a good workplace culture is essential for companies. "As an excellent employer, we find it easier to attract talent and inspire our team. This leads to the best possible service for our customers."
More information and rankings: www.greatplacetowork.ch/beste-arbeitgeber/schweiz/2018/
