TOTAL REWARD
W L Gore wins best UK company to work for 2004
The Sunday Times yesterday published its fourth annual survey identifying the best companies to work for in Britain. W L Gore and Associates, manufacturers of Gore-Tex clothing, pipped jewellery chain Beaverbrooks to the top spot.
W L Gore Associates, based in Livingston, is an organisation with "no hierarchy", according to the 100 best companies to work report. There are no directors, managers or secretaries: all employees are "associates" who feel they have a share in the business.
Gore’ s triumph in a survey of 58,000 employees across Britain -- the biggest best companies report yet conducted -- is founded upon more than 20 top-three rankings in the 65 questions that make up the employee survey.
Gore's reward package
Kwik-Fit Insurance voted best for work and family
The 100 best report reckons that KWIK-FIT is a "shining example of how listening to employees can reap huge rewards". In the past year managers have made a big effort to involve everyone in improving their workplace and have implemented many suggestions. Greater flexibility in working hours and holidays has made an "astonishing impact".
All employees are able to purchase an additional five days’ holiday and flexible working alternatives include part-time options, job-share, flexitime, compressed hours and occasional homeworking.
The firm’ s "superb" maternity package might explain why women make up 61% of the workforce. After two years’ service, expectant mothers are entitled to eight weeks off at full pay, eight more at half pay and the remainder as statutory. After five years this improves to 12 weeks at full pay followed by 12 at half pay and the remainder as statutory.
When mothers return to work, their first day back is a half-day. They then work four days a week for four weeks.
"Lifestyle days" enable staff to take time off in advance for special events such as moving house or a child’ s first day at school. The firm is also considering opening a crè che.
A final word -- on the Importance of leadership
"Giving workers a sense of ownership is one of the key ingredients in creating the best companies to work for. Most often, the lead for achieving this comes from the top, making quality of leadership -- and the ability of the boss to inspire the workforce -- the single biggest influence on a company’ s ranking.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in small businesses, which are included in our survey for the first time this year. They record higher levels of staff satisfaction across the board, but the regard in which their leaders are held is exceptional." — The Sunday Times.
Want to know more?
Title: "The 100 Best Companies to Work For 2004", The Sunday Times, 7 March 2004.
Survey sample: More than 200 big companies (and almost 100 small businesses) took part in this year’ s Best Companies survey. There are 42 new entries 23 others have exceeded their performance last year.
For the first time, The Sunday Times includes a special section devoted to the top 50 best SMEs to work for.
Methodology: The views of 58,000 employees were canvassed across all participating companies. Most of the scoring (80%) is based on a 65-question employee attitude survey measuring employee satisfaction across eight areas -- everything from leadership to pay and benefits.
The final 20% of company ranking is based on an evaluation of a company's employment policies and benefits packages.
Availability: For more details of the "100 best" check out The Sunday Times web site at http://business.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,12190,00.html
Posted 8 March 2004