Greene & Co. one of ‘100 best small companies to work for’ in 2007
21st February 2007
Greene & Co has received the honour of being named one of the ‘100 Best Small Companies to Work For’. The only estate agency nationwide to receive the superior 2 star status accreditation.
The annual ‘100 Best Small Companies to Work For’ list has been published by The Sunday Times since 2001. Compiled by workplace engagement specialists Best Companies Ltd. this year’s research canvassed the views of more than 100,000 UK employees across 434 organisations, of which 273 achieved ‘Star Status’ for 2007.
David Pollock, Managing Director, Greene & Co., believes in caring for his staff in order to motivate them to do their best. The company philosophy centres on the idea that staff will not be successful unless they are enjoying their work and feel that they are growing as individuals. Unusually within estate agency Greene & Co. retain high levels of staff loyalty, with 86.5% of staff saying they feel engaged within the business vs. only 70.7% of staff from non-accredited companies.
A variety of initiatives ensure that Greene & Co. staff feel involved in the business and are continually motivated to improve their own skills, including: a staff nominated Colleague Representative to discuss work issues with; fortnightly visits from a life-coach; career counselling; monthly training; £100 incentive to give up smoking; regular one-to-one meetings with the MD; £100 pa to spend on personal growth after three years of employment; a day off for birthdays; and a monthly staff suggestion scheme on how to improve the business. As firm advocates of proper regulation and licensing of estate agencies Greene & Co. also pay for all negotiators to sit for their NAEA exams.
Jonathan Austin, Chief Executive, Best Companies, proclaimed: “Greene & Co.’s 2007 accreditation is an outstanding achievement. It confirms their commitment to the on-going journey of workplace engagement. Our role is to set a rigorous benchmark so that organisations can become even better employers.”
The data from this year’s research reveals big differences in the attitudes of employees working for accredited companies compared to those in organisations that are still striving to engage their staff.
In one of the most significant findings, employers that gain Best Companies accreditation are far more likely to snap up good staff and win the war for talent. More than eight out of 10 (85%) of staff at accredited firms say they would 'strongly recommend' working for the organisation to others - compared to only 64 per cent in non-accredited companies.
To highlight the size of the challenge facing many employers, almost three out of ten employees working for the 161 non-accredited companies say that they would leave tomorrow if they had another job. According to Pete Bradon, head of research at Best Companies: “This statistic is of concern as these companies had been hoping to receive the Best Companies accreditation and we know that they are actually much better employers than the UK national average. Whilst it is healthy for some staff to be thinking about the next step, it is clear that employers have their work cut out if they want to improve retention rates.”