It’s official. Google is the #1 Best Place to Work in America according to Fortune Magazine. If you haven’t yet read this issue of Fortune, you should. It’s a powerful listing of what can be done by corporations in order to make their workplaces more exciting.
It’s also important to realize that even though the Fortune list is the granddaddy of them all, there are numerous other lists that also recognize firms as a top or best place to work. If you are on a recruiting or employment branding team, it is critical that you realize the tremendous value that these lists can have on recruiting. They are unequaled in their ability to help establish your employment brand image as a top place work, but they are also excellent sources of information on which firms’ recruiters should focus poaching efforts.
Two weeks ago, Fortune Magazine‘s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list came out, and if your firm isn’t on it (or ranked high on it), your employment branding strategy can only be judged as a failure. You might ask why. Well, simply put, the Fortune list is the most powerful branding opportunity available to firms. There is simply no other action or program that has as dramatic an impact on a company’s long-term recruiting as being highly ranked on this list. The issue of Fortune that includes this list is the most widely read and passed around issue of the year. It is also highly credible because the criteria are relatively rigorous, and it’s been around for almost 10 years.
The top 10 firms on Fortune‘s list of “100 Best Companies to Work For” include:
I’ve had the opportunity to work with seven of the top 10 firms on the list, and I can assure you that they are, in fact, extraordinary places to work. It’s also important to note that if you visit the list on Fortune‘s website, you can sort the 100 firms by many categories, including great benefits, a low turnover, high pay, etc.
There are many reasons for getting on Fortune‘s and other similar lists. They include:
There are several other powerful lists that can help a firm build its employment brand. These lists include:
This is a subset of the “most admired” firms list published by Fortune Magazine. This list allows you to see which firms have the best and worst people management practices among the most admired firms. If you’re in HR, consider these as opportunities to identify both the right way and the wrong way to manage people.
Best Firms at People Management:
Worst Firms at People Management
1 Visteon
2 Delphi
3 Dana
4 Federal-Mogul
5 Huntsman
6 Delta Air Lines
7 ArvinMeritor
8 Lyondell Chemical
9 Northwest Airlines
10 UAL
Published by Fortune Magazine but administered by Hewitt Associates and The RBL Group, this list focuses on leaders. It is viable if you want to examine the best practices and leadership development or if your firm is having a talent shortage as a result of large-scale retirements. This list contains a group of 20 firms from around the world that are noted for their strong leaders and leadership development programs. It currently lists:
This list is published by BusinessWeek Magazine and is the list to be on if you want to attract the best people graduating from high school or college. The current list includes:
Obviously, this list is targeted at working women, and it highlights the many benefits that women-friendly companies offer. The current top ten includes:
The importance of being on lists grows every year as firms put more emphasis on employment branding. But, it’s also important to realize that these various lists also have equal value for learning about best practices and as targets for recruiting efforts. Now, some might argue that many of these lists are really just “beauty contests,” and they would be partially right. The fact that these lists are not perfect in no way takes away from their branding power and their ability to send a message to potential applicants that your firm is a place that the very best should consider for their next job.
Getting on these lists is a skill that you can develop over time. If you’re just starting out, I suggest you begin with local or functional lists. Then, as your experience and skill increase, try to get on the granddaddy of them all: the Fortune “100 Best Places to Work” list. If you do, you’ll become an instant hero within your corporation, I guarantee it!
