2010’s FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For include SAS, Nordstrom, Google and Whole Foods. Other than making the top 100, what do these companies have in common? According to a recent article from The Hiring Site.com‘s Stephanie Gaspary, the answer is trust. All of these organizations’ employees trust the folks they work for. They take pride in what they do. And They like the people they work with. There are three components of trust:
1. The relationship between employees and management.
2. The relationship between employees and their job/company (pride).
3. The relationship between employees and other employees (camaraderie).
Trust breeds higher productivity rates by a higher quality employee pool, higher quality products and greater innovation and risk taking. These enhanced trust levels also decrease costs. How? Reduced turnover and lower resistance to change are a few money-saving perks. Health care costs are also lower when trust is high.
Employees who feel trusted – and trust their companies in return – tend to have healthier lives outside of work because they leave work at work, leaving them with more to give to their personal life.
Building a trusting relationship between organization and employee starts before the employee is even officially hired. The first day of work is really the opening act, so be sure you make the new hire feel welcome and appreciated. Another bond-forming exercise is having the newbie interact with senior executives in their first days, they’ll feel more valued and connected.
Among trust, top organizations also motivate, thank, and listen to their employees. And these companies offer benefits that make the job worthwhile, like job sharing, telecommuting, compressed work weeks, and phased retirement. The key to offering such benefits is communicating that they are readily available and easy to attain.
So, it’s been stated that the higher productivity and profitability are perks to being a Best Place to Work, but there’s more … Once everyone catches wind, you’ll start seeing more qualified applicants.
Remember, employees are your greatest asset, and they leave every night. What are you doing to ensure they return? If you build around this model, everyone benefits. Hiring gets easier. Top talent is retained. Production increases. Profits grow. Build a best place to work and you build a foundation for ongoing success.
There are many perks to being a Best Place to Work, for your organization and for your employees. If you’d like to read the full article, you can access it here.