Work Style - Great Place to Work Institute

14
twsm — GPTW Special Issue 2010
The story behind Great Place
To Work ® Institute.
Extract from “Where it All Began”
(“1984, The 100 Best Companies
to Work For In America”),
from Robert Levering’s Transforming
Workplace Cultures.
2009, Primavera Editorial, São
Paulo, Brasil.
Finding a good place to work is
not easy. Over the years everyone
hears about great places to
work… but how do you go about
finding America’s superlative employers?
American companies are rarely
examined from the standpoint
of their employees. The literature
of business is rich with stories
about companies and analyses
of their operations. The Wall
Street Journal chronicles these
activities so well that it has become
the largest selling daily
newspaper in the nation. During
the course of a year, Businessweek,
Forbes, and Fortune pub-
follow consignments in hospitals. “In particular, the
company distributes highly technical and expensive
medical devices (…) Because the technologies have
short expiration dates, the ability of the company to
track and manage them (…) influences the profitability”
states Elina Psimitis, President and CEO.
Another important factor is the attention given to the
individual and his or her physical and psychological
well-being. “For us it is important to solve personal
conflicts and injustice as soon as they are perceived
by any employee (…) Our employees suggested to
implement a kind of “ombudsman” – a person who
provides impartial advice and support if necessary”,
affirms Wolfgang Plemper, Director Business Consulting
at Noventum Consulting GmbH Germany.
At ConVista Consulting AG Germany an employee
has suggested creating a “Sport-AG”. “For 2 years we
have had regular sport activities for all employees”
states Oliver Kewes, Member of the Executive Board.
At Esbjerg Kommune Denmark, two employees developed
a non-discrimination policy regarding gender.
Company managers supported the new plan by
introducing it into daily work and continuing to improve
it at various seminars” affirms Maria Møbjerg,
HR Manager.
Giving joy is the idea suggested at Sca Hygiene Products
A/S Denmark which works with baby diapers.
“One of our local employees suggested to put a print
of a crown on the diaper when we had a little newborn
prince in Denmark (…) The result was met with
a very positive response from our customers”, tells
Aagaard Jytte, HR Manager.
There are also ideas to improve hygiene, as Cristina
Cabral, Director of Human Resources at Liberty Seguros
tells us “one suggestion implemented has been
to install in each of the bathrooms a container with
anti-bacterial spray to clean the tops of toilets.”
Finally, employees even offer ideas on how to overcome
the crisis, as Gjelstrup Kjær, HR Coordinator at
Roche Denmark states “When we had to lower our
costs, our GM sent out an e-mail to all employees to
ask for their ideas on how to save money. Many ideas
have been announced and implemented, e.g the opportunity
to buy an extra week of summer holiday,
automatic 2-side printing.”
Balance between
men and women
In most companies performing in the field of IT Management
consulting, the proportion of men is higher
than the proportion of women. Nevertheless, gender
is not a criteria during recruitment.
For example, SimCorp Germany traditionally attracts
more men than women. “Among the qualifications required,
considerably more men than women are represented”,
says Rita Jeziorowski.
Generally, companies strongly believe that an increase
in diversity creates an increase in different perspectives.
“Currently, 60% of the Italian Board is composed
of women. On the whole, 50% of the employees are
women and 50% are men” says Cristiana Milanesi, HR
Director at Mars Italia.
Another clear example of diversity comes from Abbott,
with the presence of women in leadership positions.
“In Ireland women hold nearly 60 percent of
management positions, and in Denmark and Norway,
women hold half of the management positions,” says
Matthew Bedella. “Moreover, gender does not drive
differences in salaries, which are generally based on
the level of education, experience and expertise, and
on an employee’s demonstrated performance and results.”
At ConSol* there are no gender specific salaries,
as remuneration orients itself exclusively on performance.
“The formula for success at ConSol* is the
implicitness, with which equal opportunity is lived in
all company divisions. Our approach is innovative: We
try to put the individual needs and capabilities of male
and female employees on a level with the operational
requirements and tasks”, says Isabel Baum Marketing
Manager at ConSol* Consulting & Solutions GmbH
Germany.