HOW INC. SELECTED ITS BEST WORKPLACES

With labor tight, firms are getting creative to attract and retain talent. Your foosball table won’t cut it anymore.

While economists quarrel over where the U.S. is in the current economic cycle and politicians fight over fiscal and monetary policy, the state of the American workplace is strong.

Inc. and Quantum Workplace conducted America’s largest national research effort for Best Workplaces, collecting data on nearly 2,000 companies. The biggest takeaway: Organizational health, as measured by employee sentiment, is at an all-time high. The nominations included workplaces of all sizes and in all industries. Each nominated company took part in a deep employee survey, conducted by Quantum Workplace, on topics including trust, management effectiveness, perks, and confidence in the future. We gathered and analyzed the data. Then we ranked all employers using a composite score of survey results, and came up with 346 Best Workplaces (for a complete list, go to Inc.com/best-workplaces).

This year, 74.2 percent of surveyed employees said they were engaged by their work—besting last year’s 72.1 percent. The segment of disengaged workers dropped from 2.1 to 1.7 percent. Clearly, a tight labor market has allowed employers to be smarter about how to create competitive cultures.

The strongest engagement scores came from companies that prioritize the most human elements of work. These companies are leading the way in employee recognition, performance management, and diversity. It’s a different playbook from a decade ago, when too many firms used the same template: free meals, open work environments, and artifacts of “fun.” Unusual employee perks today include: free farmfresh eggs and vegetables, paid newspaper subscriptions, table-tennis training with a former world champion, and a pay-it-forward allowance to show kindness to strangers.

— Greg Harris, president and CEO, Quantum Workplace