U-T LOOKING FOR BEST WORKPLACES IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY

Nominations for 10th edition will be accepted through June 24

Since 2020, companies and their employees have been on an emotional rollercoaster in the wake of the pandemic and a precarious economic outlook that has altered work- and home-life routines.

And the 10th edition of The San Diego Union-tribune’s Top Workplaces provides organizations an opportunity to receive free, unfiltered feedback from their employees so they can see how they stack up internally, as well as in comparison to companies of similar size.

“It really is an employees’ market right now,” said Bob Helbig, spokesman for Energage, the suburban Philadelphia outfit that conducts the employee surveys as research partner for the Union-tribune.

“We’re seeing record participation in Top Workplaces all over the country because companies want that third-party validation, a sort of seal of approval from their employees, that this is a great place to work,” Helbig said.

All it takes to participate in Top Workplaces is for someone to nominate a particular company by going to sandiegouniontribune.com/ nominate or by phone at (619) 7803999.

Energage then contacts the businesses and if they agree to take part, employees receive an anonymous survey that takes about five minutes to complete. Employees read about 25 statements — such as, “My job makes me feel like I am part of something meaningful” — and rank them on a scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”

Responses to the surveys are kept confidential, with Energage sharing the results to companies in private.

“There is anonymity in the process and it goes to the heart of what we try to do, which is to help organizations improve,” Helbig said. “It benefits companies to know in which areas they have some strengths and in which areas there’s room for improvement.”

There is no cost to take part. Anyone can submit nominations — employees, management and even people who are not employed at a given company.

JOHN GASTALDO FOR THE U-T Employee satisfaction has taken on greater importance in recent years. Power Digital Marketing is a recent winner in the annual San Diego Union-tribune Top Workplaces survey.