What makes best companies to work for?
Often times, people ask their colleagues, “Which are the best companies to work for?”
We have seen the ‘best companies’ list featured annually in major press, newspapers, or magazines. These companies are often considered as leaders in the industry, hold employee-friendly policies that attract top talents and provide great environment and atmosphere to work.
If you think about it, is there really ‘the best companies to work’?
You see, there’s little point to work in a ‘best company’ if your job does not give you satisfaction and create happiness in your life. Sometimes, best company tag can be a mere publicity, while the real fundamental components of the company’s mission and policies are almost non-existent. This is very easy to prove.
Take any “Best Companies” list, and ask some of your friends who are currently working with these top companies. There is every single chance that the good things you hear about the company are urban legends. Don’t be surprised to see your colleagues laughing out loud to see the list and come back to you to say, “Stupid list!”
What really makes a company a great place to work, so that you can qualify it as your own version of ‘best company’? You need to look all the factors that will qualify the company as the best company, or best place to work. Look at the areas that you should identify.
1. Compensation and benefit
Without a doubt, this will obviously be one of the driving forces. Not surprisingly, majority of the job seekers will consider this as the first factor when considering a job offer. If you’re paid peanuts but working like a slave, then your days in the company is numbered. You want to be rewarded financially proportionate to the effort you have poured into the company.
Of course, having said that, you should also understand that a good compensation does not necessarily mean huge and fat paychecks. It’s a lot more than that. Employees in these days should also look at the long term financial reward and financial commitment from the organization. Is there any Share Options (ESOS) or equity offered? Is there any extra and alternative retirement plans available? Is there any addition in terms of the employer’s contribution to your EPF account? Look for the following compensation table to see which one is relevant to you, and which one you aim to attain in the future.
2. Satisfaction and experience gained
Does the current job give you a real sense of satisfaction? Is your potential being fully developed? Are you allowed to express yourself in the team? Are your skills groomed and nurtured in a well and properly manner? Good employers will know that the best investment is in the employees itself. Highly potential employees will be nurtured and groomed to help them attain the leadership skills, master the technical skills, and eventually reach the next level, one after another.
IT Companies like IBM or audit companies like PwC and KMPG do not give the highest salary of all when you start working with them. But these are companies which are well known to provide the best trainings and highest learning curves to the employees. That is why they are highly reputed in their industries. Once the employee has mastered all the skills required, he or she will be in demand in the job market. After 5 years, you can move on to the new company with maybe double in salary.
You can’t go wrong when you are in the company which has an established training and development programs in place. In sports, just look at Manchester United and Arsenal football clubs. A lot of their successes are attributed to their investment and development of young players. Otherwise, today you would probably not be seeing the Giggs, the Beckham, the Vieira, the Ashley Cole, the Fabregas and so on.
3. Boss/superior
A lot of people underestimate the importance of having a superior that can make you grow fast. Many also perhaps do not realize that in many cases, resignation occurs due to their immediate supervisor. In a research conducted, it is concluded that ‘employees don’t leave companies; they leave managers and supervisors’. Having a good boss does not mean you and your superior must be best friends or buddies.
The impact that a manager or superior has in today’s marketplace can either be very valuable or very costly to the organization. Great leaders possess the talent to match the right person with the exact roles that produce the best possible results. While a flop manager will not produce any productive results out of his subordinates and will only wasting the organization’s budget.
Does your boss give you recognition upon your success in completing major projects? Are you given a space to work independently, or every aspect of your work is under close scrutiny? Ask yourself, given certain circumstances, will you be willing to work with the same boss again in the future?
4. Culture and atmosphere
Does the working environment fit you well? Is the employer inculcating good work ethic and work culture? Are your team members and colleagues supportive towards each other in achieving the common goals and objectives? Is there an equal employment opportunities in place?
Is there someone in your workplace who encourages your development? If you can realize, organization is a place where long-term relationships are established, from business associates, team mates, friendships and even marriages! If you can’t form a good relationship with other working colleagues, quickly get out from there, the place is not for you!
5. Advancement opportunity
Human potential is only realized when there are in a position where their talents and strengths are fully utilized. Only then they can move up the ladder of the corporate organizations. In laymen terms, no one wants to stay doing what he or she is doing forever, or do you? Of course you need promotion.
Do you want to remain as an Account Assistant after 7 years being in that position? No. By the 7th year you should already be in a supervisory or managerial layer. As the years go by, you should be taking more responsibilities as well as more leadership roles. Take a look at the example of how your career evolves as the years go by and you’re taking more and more senior roles. Depending on circumstances, you may be able to move at the rate faster than those stated in the examples.
What about you? What are your own criteria for best companies to work for?