Deadline for Workplaces nominations extended

If you haven’t yet submitted your nomination for the Sun Sentinel’s Top Workplaces program, you now have more time to do so.

The nomination deadline has been extended to Nov. 2. Applicants are welcome to nominate their own workplace or another private- or public-sector organization.

This is the fifth consecutive year the Sun Sentinel has partnered with Energage of Philadelphia to determine the tricounty area’s Top Workplaces based on employee survey feedback.

While top-scoring entries earn recognition, participants also receive feedback to help them sharpen employee relations and develop programs to improve workplace performance.

“Top Workplaces is more than just recognition,” said Doug Claffey, CEO of the employee research and consulting firm Energage, formerly known as WorkplaceDynamics. “Our research shows organizations that earn the award attract better talent, experience lower turnover, and are better equipped to deliver bottomline results.

“Their leaders prioritize and carefully craft a healthy workplace culture that supports employee engagement.”

Last year, 105 organizations agreed to take the survey. Combined, they employed 18,258 people in South Florida. Of those who received questionnaires, 11,365 employees responded, either on paper or online.

Energage conducts Top Workplaces surveys for 50 major metropolitan newspapers and surveyed 2.5 million employees at more than 6,000 organizations last year.

For the most recent program, 70 South Florida employers scored well enough

to earn recognition as Top Workplaces in three categories: small organizations with fewer than 125 employees in South Florida; midsized businesses with 125 to 399 workers; and large enterprises with more than 400 people on the payroll.

The employee survey gathers responses on 24 factors covering seven areas, including organizational health factors that measure how well employees are working together toward a common cause:

Alignment — where the company is headed, its values, cooperation

Effectiveness — doing things well; sharing different viewpoints; encouraging new ideas

Connection — employees feel appreciated; their work is meaningful

My manager — cares about concerns; helps with learning and growing

In addition, the survey asks employees about other factors:

Employee engagement — motivation, retention and referral

Leader — confidence in company leadership

The basics — pay, benefits, flexibility, training, expectations

Employers are ranked among groups of similar size to most accurately compare results. Within those size groupings, companies are ranked, and those that score high enough are recognized as Top Workplaces in their respective size categories.

Energage also determines special award winners based on standout scores in specific areas of the survey.

Any organization with 35 or more employees in South Florida is eligible to participate. They can be public, private, nonprofit, or government organizations.

Results will be published by the Sun Sentinel in April 2019.

Nominate a business by visiting SunSentinel.com/ nominate or calling 954-666-0786.