So how exactly does a company become named a top place to work?
It’s all in the hands of the employees.
Every year, The Boston Globe partners with WorkplaceDynamics of Exton, Pa., specialists in employee engagement and retention, to survey workers around the state. This year, of the 1,660 companies invited to participate, 366 went all the way through the process. More than 73,000 employees completed confidential 24-statement surveys, rating their employers according to seven factors.
Among the statements:
■ Direction: “I have confidence in the leader of this company.”
■ Execution: “New ideas are encouraged at this company.”
■ Connection: “My job makes me feel like I am part of something meaningful.”
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■ Management: “My manager cares about my concerns.”
■ Work: “This company encourages different points of view.”
■ Pay and benefits: “My pay is fair for the work I do.”
■ Engagement: “This company motivates me to give my very best at work.”
As usual, employees ranked the statement, “I feel genuinely appreciated at this company,” as the most important of the 24. “My benefits package is good compared to others in this industry,” on the other hand, was deemed the least important.
Compared to the 2013 survey, employees answered more positively on more than half of the statements posed in both years, with fair pay seeing the biggest gain, and perceptions that one’s company is headed in the right direction accounting for the biggest drop.
The employers were placed into one of four size groups: small, with 50 to 99 employees; medium, with 100 to 249; large, with 250 to 999; and largest, with 1,000 or more.
The results are listed in the charts starting on page 26.