The interest in measurements
This edition of the Best workplaces was characterized by a clear growth of organizations that participated. In fact, there were 303, from 210 in 2021, “as proof of the growing interest in objective measurement methods and the appreciation for the feedback of one’s collaborators on their work experience”, says the CEO of Great place to work, Alessandro Zollo.
163,000 employees were interviewed, with a response rate of approximately 84%. Among the reasons for this growth there are “certainly the post-pandemic effect, the trap of the commodity company, the evolution of managerial Italy, so much so that today 31 companies out of 60 in the ranking are Italian (52% ), while 10 years ago they were 8 out of 35 (23%). But also the cost of resignations which brings the retention and attraction of people back to central roles, and then the theme of happy people who make the business happy», continues Zollo. The Trust index takes various factors into account and shows an improvement of 2%, as does overall satisfaction.
The ranking
Going into the details of the Best workplaces ranking, as explained by the president of Great place to work, Beniamino Bedusa, among the important issues there is certainly employment, but also motivation. «The best companies – says Bedusa – increase their workforce by an average of 15% compared to last year, have 95% confidence in their leadership and manage to achieve important results on difficult topics such as meritocracy, with the + 23% compared to the panel of 303 companies analysed, and correctness, with +19%. Results that have an even more important weight because they were achieved after years of major organizational upheavals».
Thus, if we take Bending Spoons, the managing director, Luca Ferrari, tells us that «flexibility in working hours, a competitive salary and our annual company retreat are all appreciated aspects but there is no greater benefit than working with extraordinarily passionate, creative, collaborative and ambitious people. I am convinced that the enormous investment and sophistication in selecting our colleagues are among our main strengths». The company that in 2022, before the acquisition of Evernote, had a turnover of 158 million dollars, has many growth ambitions. Like his collaborators who are 350, mainly software engineers, AI researchers, data scientists.
Who is late
According to the research by Great place to work, there are still many companies in strategic sectors that are lagging behind in listening to people. An example is the wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants, health and social welfare. Zollo, observes that «the great distance between excellent companies and the average Italian panorama is still very disheartening. From a study by John Hopkins University on a sample of 2,000 Italian workers who were subjected to the Trust Index© questionnaire, worrying distances emerge: 50 percentage points on the recognition of benefits with 83% for the best against 33% for the Italian average. Or 42 points compared to the work-life balance with 86% against 44%. And then 38 percentage points compared to meritocracy with 79% against 41%, just to name a few ».