Working at One of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" - Meaningless If Your Manager Doesn't Rock...

OK - the latest list of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For is out, and undoubtedly, there are a lot of great companies on the list.  After all, who doesn't want to work at some of the companies listed in the top 10.  Google?  Cisco?  Goldman Sachs?  Sign me up today, because it's all good.  I can't wait to experience the culture... the rewards... the freedom...

And that's just the reaction to the companies within the list that I know.  Also included are some incredible companies we don't know, who obviously have great environments where talent can bloom.

But, hid inside the underbelly of these environments is a dirty little secret.  The dirty little secret also applies to companies not listed as well.  I'll outline it for you two ways - one for the "best companies to work for, and one for "the unwashed masses".  It goes a little something like this:

--The golden rule - "A company's culture and attractiveness as a place to work is contingent on the effectiveness, approachability and progressiveness of your manager.  That means:

1.  A company often listed as a great place to work is often mocked by those within the company with an ineffective manager, and

2. A company not listed as a great place to work will receive many of the same retention benefits among employees, who have a great manager who reinforces, supports and leads.

Before you label me as a cynic, understand what I'm saying.  The leadership of a company can create an environment where talent can flourish, and tools, resources and freedom to innovate are present, etc.  Companies should strive to create that type of environment.  It's a good thing...

However, a bad manager can make it all worthless in the eye of an employee.  Consider the recent article about Google as reported by TechCrunch:

"In 2008 Google HR set up a private Google Group to ask former employees why they left the company. We’ve been forwarded what appears to be authentic posts to the thread by a number of ex-Googlers, which we reprint below minus identifying information other than their first names.

The thread shows a brutal honesty about what it’s like to work at Google, at least from the point of view of employees who were unhappy enough to resign. Top amongst the complaints is low pay relative to what they could earn elsewhere, and disappearing fringe benefits seemed to elevate the concern. Other popular gripes - too much bureaucracy, poor management, poor mentoring, and a hiring process that took months."

I would encourage anyone who feels like they aren't at a "best employer" to read the entire article.  The result for me is an understanding that the best employers in America struggle just like you do with many management issues, and the best way to ensure your employees are engaged is to be a good manager who coaches, cares, communicates and has flexibility.

What do your exit interviews say?  Most of the same stuff heard in the rundown at TechCrunch about Google.

Comments

[HR Minion]

I agree. I worked at a company that won some of these great places to work awards and heard two different reactions based on the teams the people were on. The ones with bad managers were always more critical of the awards.

[Wally Bock]

Great post, Kris. You nailed the two most important points. There are great managers creating great working environments at crappy companies. And there are "great places to work" with deep pockets of awfulness.

And there's another dirty little secret here. To get on the list, you have to apply. You can have the best place to work for on the planet, but without some effort to win the award, you will never make the list.

[Paul Hebert]

I worked at a company that "applied" to be listed and they actively promoted the list and almost made you feel guilty if you didn't respond the way they wanted. They did a PR program prior to the survey to get the people in the mood to provide positive feedback.

While for some it was a great place - for others it was a stifling, politically driven, internally-focused profit seeking machine. People be damned.

Managers are the key to companies - some day we'll see the light on that one.

[Karol Rose]

Obviously, the key to being a great place to work is to have really effective people managers. However, good managers are often 'made' not 'born'. It's wonderful if your manager just seems to know how to communicate, acknowledge success, provide constructive feedback,etc. and support your need to successfully manage your career AND your life, but that's a lot to ask, and it may not come naturally. Managers need help to understand how different the needs of today's diverse workforce is from what they might have experienced in the past. And they need the tools and resources to support them as they try to make informed decisions about all the new ways work can be done and careers can evolve today. One of the things that often determines 'a great place to work' for employees is having the flexibility to manage career and your life - whether that's a formal arrangement, or just informal flex to take care of occasional needs. Many companies are trying to address to create a more flexible workplace, which even in these challenging times, can be a real win/win for organizations and employees. We need to focus on what we can learn from best practices and keep moving forward as we try to create more flexible cultures that respond to the broad range of business and human capital issues in today's work environment.

[LV Monogram Multicolore]

CNN's ability to keep up with such high-quality reporting has won it worldwide credibility.