Best Places to Work Awards

I read in the Florida Trend magazine today who in FL was chosen as "best places to work" for 2010.  Companies were broken down into three categories - Large companies - 250+ employees; Midsized companies - 50-249 employees; Small companies - 15- 49 employees.  There was a common theme showing up in many of these companies.  The employees are energized,  allowed to show their creativity, appreciated, valued and given responsibilities that together as a team creates success.  Some of the companies really have even created a fun place to work. They don't necessarily pamper the employees (quote from the magazine) but more importantly they value their employees and find creative ways to do so.

Bacardi U.S.A. is one of the companies in the "large company" category.  The company believes in moving people around to get new experience and contribute regardless of your position.  They also offer some nice perks such as a gym, free lunch for employees and paid health insurance to name a few.

Studer Group, a consulting company in the hospital field (medium size company), employees are encouraged to bring new ideas to the table; they rate each other as employees on how well they are each doing and they share the results with all employees; they also value flexibility.  Some of their quirks are 48-hours a year to use  for working in the community; adoption allowance for qualifying employees, etc.

Creative Space, a PR company (small company) values transparency including in the accounting department; value flexibility when it comes to work schedules; technology - every employee gets a laptop and cell phone to use in the office and at home.

The bottom line in all of these examples and in general - these companies rely on their employees' strengths, give them flexibility (which is very important for the younger generations), have created respect and a sense of team in their settings. Employee retention and loyalty are embedded in these types of environments.

Hopefully more and more companies will see the importance of creating similar cultures such as the companies who made this list. The payoff is higher morale, higher employee retention, more success in their business model and a healthy work environment.  These are the companies I love working with as they see the value in their people.