South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Deadline extended for top workplaces
Nomination deadline has been moved to Nov. 1
There’s still time to nominate employers as the Top Workplaces in South Florida. The nomination deadline has been extended from Sept. 13 to Nov. 1.
So far, 90 private, public and nonprofit organizations in South Florida have invited their employees to take the annual Top Workplaces survey, sponsored by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Any organization with 35 or more employees in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties is eligible to participate. Workplaces are evaluated by their employees through a
24-question survey provided by Energage of Philadelphia, the Sun Sentinel’s research partner on the project.
To nominate an employer, go to sunsentinel.com/nominate or call
954-666-0786.
In 2018, Energage conducted Top Workplaces surveys for 50 major metropolitan newspapers and surveyed 2.6 million employees at more than 7,500 organizations.
A total of 104 organizations were surveyed in South Florida, and 71 were recognized. Of 24,897 people who were invited to respond, 12,869 participated.
It is the sixth consecutive year that the Sun Sentinel invited people to nominate their employers for the Top Workplace awards.
The recognition gives companies and nonprofit organizations a chance to boost employee engagement, attract and retain top talent and transform the workplace culture. More often than not, it means maintaining policies that recognize employee achievement, placing trust in what they do and giving meaningful consideration to their ideas.
“Top Workplaces put the employee at the center of things and focus on creating the right environment to unleash potential and inspire performance,” said Doug Claffey, CEO of Energage.
In 2000, it was management guru Peter Drucker who said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” That statement is even truer today.
The researchers at Energage have observed that we now work in a world where the best culture wins, not the best strategy. The business world is evolving so quickly that strategy or market position alone will no longer protect a business. It is only an engaged workforce and a vibrant workplace culture that will allow an organization to thrive.
Last year’s winners
Last year, 71 employers stood out on the South Florida Top Workplaces list.
The program is divided into three categories according to the number of people employed in the tricounty region: Small organizations have fewer than 125 employees in
South Florida; midsize have 125-399; large have 400-plus.
The top-rated employers are honored in front of their peers during an awards luncheon. The event declaring winners from the current competition will take place next year on a date to be announced.
For its efforts last year, the InterContinental Miami hotel won the large company category, mainly for placing high levels of trust in employees who serve the hotel’s guests. For Jamal Samad, a loss prevention supervisor, management’s faith keeps his attitude aloft on the job.
“For me, it’s all about the culture,” he said. “Just coming into work everyday … working with the amazing staff here. My leaders, they really believe in me, they trust me, and I feel like I have a voice.”
Gold Coast Schools of Tamarac, which helps professionals obtain licenses
and certifications, took the midsize category. Twin brothers Jim and John Greer, 49, who own the company, say they’ve put one-upmanship behind them.
“Most companies implement a mission and core values. We’ve taken that a lot further. We have 30 fundamentals we work under to solve problems,” said John Greer. One key fundamental is “leave your ego at the door.”
Supreme Lending, a mortgage company founded in Dallas that maintains three South Florida locations, won the small company category, largely on the strength of rewarding its employees for their accomplishments.
“It’s never really been about money, ever,” said senior loan officer Lynne Whitefall. For exceeding her customer service and other goals, Supreme Lending sent Whitefall and her husband to Jamaica for a vacation.