Based on confidential employee surveys gathered during the pandemic, workplaces that put employee health first enjoyed record jumps in employee experience scores.
Great Place to Work determines the list each year through rigorous analysis of data from their proprietary Trust Index employee experience survey.
Companies whose employee trust scores rose during the pandemic are characterized by widespread faith in colleagues and their leaders. Seventy-two percent of employees at winning companies have confidence in executive teams.
The top 10 best companies to work for:
1. Cisco
2. Salesforce
3. Hilton
4. Wegmans Food Markets Inc.
5. Rocket Companies
6. UKG
7. Texas Health Resources
8. Camden Property Trust
9. Capital One Financial Corporation
10. American Express.
Great Place to Work surveyed employees on issues including how trustworthy, caring and fair the company is in times of crises; employees' physical, emotional and financial health; and the company's community impact.
Particular attention was paid to how employees' experiences varied depending on their job role, gender, race/ethnicity, payroll status, and other characteristics to ensure that the company is creating a great workplace For Allâ„¢.
This year, 60% of each company's score is based on confidential employee feedback. The remaining 40% is based on the programs each company said they created to support their people and communities in response to the pandemic. This methodology represents a change in response to the unique circumstances of 2020.
In survey questions that probed employees' perceptions of management, the top 100 companies saw a 5 to 6-point increase on measures of two-way communication, integrity and competence - key leadership qualities crucial for leading through a crisis.
Nationwide also enjoyed an astonishing climb in employee scores. In addition to its financial contributions to address the needs of 2020, Nationwide stepped up by holding a "unity day" for employee conversations about racial injustice and instituting a program to bring in civil rights speakers.
Amid these efforts, survey scores for Black employees rose 9%, such that 92% of Black employees now say it's a great place to work.
For comparison, at the average U.S. workplace, just 49% of employees across all demographic groups say theirs is a great place to work. Nationwide's Black employee scores on the question of whether "my work has special meaning" rose a remarkable 16 points, to 90%. ■