When you think about the perfect workplace, what comes to mind? For some, it may be fellow employees playing volleyball in a sand court just outside the office doors like Google. Or perhaps you think of employees sitting around on bean bags brainstorming ideas and finding solutions to problems in an open office environment. Maybe you are even alone, sitting on the beach with your laptop, working in between quick dips in the ocean. Most people fantasize about the perfect job, the best place to work, following their passions and harnessing collaborative energies to do something meaningful. Or you may just dream of winning the lottery every day.
Glassdoor recently published its 7th annual 50 best places to work among large companies and 50 best places to work among small businesses, defined as employers with less than 1,000 employees. Although SurePayroll’s customers often employee far less than 1,000 employees, the characteristics of building an amazing company to work for are the same.
While perks are important, it’s most often the culture, opportunities for development, open communication, mission and vision, ownership of work and environment of inclusion that makes the real difference for employees. Yet a juxtaposition appears to exist. Many of the companies at the top of these lists also may make these same employees feel miserable. Why would employees rate their companies as the ideal place to work when, in fact, these same employees feel exhausted, overwhelmed and maybe even become ill due to the long hours and lack of rest and recovery time? According to the qualitative research from the New York Times, today’s employees are prisoners of low expectation. And they are worn-out.