Summary:  It’s award season – awards for best places to work. What do you need to do or consider to make your organization a great place to work.

I have to admit I’m not a big fan of the “Best Places to Work” awards. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is vital for all workplaces to be great, it creates success in business, in people and in the community. It’s the awards. It seems to be that time of year when different publication announce their winners according to their criteria.

Yes, their criteria.  Sometimes they tell us what the criteria are and sometimes they don’t. What about your criteria? Each workplace, business and person is different and will have different ideas of what makes a great workplace.  Right now, stop reading and write down what is important to you and your company. Now make another list of what you believe is important to your employees. Do they match? Do they intersect? Is there some form of commonality?

If not, this is what needs to be looked at. Not what marketing people put together to get your business on a list.

That being said, I do believe there are a few criteria which you need to be mindful of and these are based on research on what contributes to an employees engagement in the workplace. Engagement is the ultimate test of a great workplace – not ping pong tables.

What you should strive for. What is your long-term vision for your business, what are you trying to achieve and how can your employees help you.

Belief in your mission. Yes that piece of paper or poster at one time or another you put on the wall and hope everyone reads it. If this is the case, you need to revisit and create something you really believe in, something your employees can believe in. Let it become infectious.

Sense of purpose. This is something all employees need. They want and need to know their role in the company fulfills a need and gives them a purpose, a reason to get up and go to work every day.

Doing what they love every day. Imagine if your people were focused only on what they love to do every day. Imagine that for yourself. How would it transform your business.

Focus on strengths. Not only should they be doing what they love, they should also be doing what they do best. What would that look like?

There are more, this is to get you started.  Along with a colleague we have developed a program to assess your people and your business to achieve engagement and create your version of a Great Place to Work.

Want to learn more? email me to schedule a complimentary session.