Work-Family Benefits Improve Dramatically Among Best American Workplaces
Widespread improvements among FORTUNE's "100 Best Companies to Work For"® include more flexible schedules and telecommuting.
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) January 18, 2007
The best American workplaces today are more flexible, more supportive of employees raising families, and more fun than the workplace of ten years ago, finds Great Place to Work® Institute, the international research and consulting firm that partners with FORTUNE (http://www. greatplacetowork. com/best/100best2007.php) annually to produce its "100 Best Companies to Work For"® (http://www. greatplacetowork. com/best/100best2007.php) list (on newsstands January 15).
"While many commentators long for the workplace of old – with fully paid health care, generous pensions and lifetime job security -- we see that for many lucky employees, the workplace (http://www. greatplacetowork. com/best/100best2007.php) has never been better," says Robert Levering, cofounder of Great Place to Work® Institute, and coauthor of FORTUNE’s list with Milton Moskowitz.
Other key changes among the best companies include increased racial and gender diversity, improved internal communications, and increased use of employee stock ownership programs.
The most dramatic policy changes over the last decade among companies on FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For”® list concern improved work-family benefits (http://www. greatplacetowork. com/best/100best2007.php):
72 offer job sharing programs today, compared with only 18 a decade ago. 79 now offer compressed work weeks on a year-round, regular basis, compared with 25 companies 10 years ago. 82 provide telecommuting (http://www. greatplacetowork. com/best/100best2007.php) opportunities today, compared with only 18 in 1998.
Cisco has the highest percentage of telecommuters this year with 90% of its workforce telecommuting or working from home. At five other companies on the 2007 list, 50% or more of the workforce telecommutes as compared with only one company 10 years ago.
One of the least common benefits in corporate America a decade ago was the inclusion of domestic partners and same sex couples in benefit plan coverage. Yet even then 28 of the best companies offered domestic partner insurance. Today 70 do.
These improvements are also reflected in the results of the Institute's Trust Index© survey. For the 2007 FORTUNE list, 105,000 randomly selected employees at 446 companies were surveyed in the largest simultaneous employee survey in corporate America. Results for all 57 Trust Index© survey questions have increased among the best companies between 1998 and 2007.
Eighty percent of employees at FORTUNE’s "100 Best Companies to Work For"® now feel that management encourages them to balance their work lives and their personal lives – an increase of 11 percentage points from ten years ago. Eighty-four percent believe their employers offer special and unique benefits today – an increase of 6 percentage points.
Other notable increases include an 8-point increase in employees' perceptions of management's competence; and a 15-point increase in employees' perceptions of opportunities to receive special recognition.
"These improvements are a direct result of global competition," Levering observes. "More companies now realize that they cannot compete successfully unless they attract and hold onto the most qualified workers. Today’s employees simply won’t put up with a lousy workplace environment. And women workers in particular are demanding a more family-friendly milieu. So we expect that the workplace will continue to improve as the competition for qualified workers should intensify over the next decade."
One thing hasn’t changed: the best companies still outperform their peers. According to Russell Investment Group analysis, a portfolio of publicly-traded "100 Best" stocks, started in 1998 and reinvested annually to reflect changes in the list, would yield a 14.6% return today, nearly triple the return of the S&P 500 (5.96%).
About Great Place to Work® Institute
Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc. is a global research and consulting firm dedicated to "building a better society by helping companies transform their workplaces." Great Place to Work® Institute works with FORTUNE magazine and other leading publications in 29 countries around the world to publish and recognize the "Best Companies to Work for." Through its education, consulting and best companies list activities, Great Place to Work® Institute recognizes the world’s best workplaces and provides information and advisory services to those who seek to create great workplaces of their own. www. greatplacetowork. com
CONTACT:
Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.
Katie Popp
415-503-1234 x321
Kpopp @ greatplacetwork. com
This press release was distributed through eMediawire by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www. HRmarketer. com) on behalf of the company listed above.
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