When people think of a great workplace, they often picture a company with gorgeous perks, fancy parties and amazing benefits. While those elements are present in many of the well-known Best Workplaces, the definition of a great workplace goes far deeper than perks and benefits. In fact, at its core, a great workplace is about the level of trust that employees experience in their leaders, the level of pride they have in their jobs, and the extent to which they enjoy their colleagues.

While trust, pride and companionship are far more challenging to sustain than a great set of company perks, they are all attainable by any organization willing to work on them.

In our research, we have found that people experience a great workplace when they consistently:

• Trust the people they work for (assessed through employee perceptions of Credibility, Respect, and Fairness, described below).
• Have Pride in what they do.
• Experience Companionship with their colleagues.

Based on the definition of a great workplace above, we have developed the Great Workplace Framework, which serves as the lens we use to assess the employee experience of workplaces and is the foundation of our measure of engagement.

The framework consists of 5 dimensions – Employees’ perspective:

1. Credibility: Employees see management as credible (believable, trustworthy); assesses employees’ perceptions of management’s communication practices, competence, and integrity.
2. Respect: Employees feel respected by management; assesses employees’ perceptions of professional support, collaboration and involvement in decisions, and the level of care management shows for employees as people.
3. Fairness: Employees believe management practices and policies are fair; assesses the equity, impartiality, and justice employees experience in the workplace.
4. Pride: Measures how employees feel about their own individual impact through their work, their pride in the work of their team, and their pride in the company overall.
5. Companionship: Measures whether employees believe their company is a strong community where colleagues are friendly, supportive, and welcoming.

The Manager’s View

From the managers’ perspective, a great workplace is one where managers:

• Achieve organizational objectives.
• Work with employees who give their personal best.
• Work together as a team / family in an environment of trust

Through our work, we’ve identified the nine areas where leader and manager actions, behaviors, and communications have the greatest impact on the level of trust in an organization. They are:

1. Hiring: Hiring practices ensure new employees fit into the culture and are welcomed.
2. Inspiring: Employees see how they contribute to the company’s higher purpose.
3. Speaking: Leaders provide information honestly and transparently.
4. Listening: Leaders are accessible and actively seek employee input.
5. Thanking: Employees are appreciated regularly for their work.
6. Developing: Leaders help employees to grow professionally and personally.
7. Caring: Employees are supported as people with lives outside of work, especially in times of need; the workplace is inclusive and embraces diversity; benefits are meaningful and distinctive.
8. Celebrating: Organizational and team successes are regularly celebrated. 
9. Sharing: Rewards of mutual efforts are shared equitably with all who helped produce the results and are shared with communities.

These fundamental concepts about great workplaces are universal and consistent year-over-year, country-to-country. They apply to all organizations, including those with diverse employee demographics and globally distributed workforces. We invite you to learn more about how you can create a Great Workplace as defined by the global standard today.

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Dogma C3X is an Intelligent Business Consulting Platform inspired by the 3Cs industry model, which offers a strategic look at the pillars that every company needs for success: Customers – Company – Competitors. "Intelligent" because by using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) it can collect, process, and analyze the growing tsunami of data (structured and unstructured) related to the 3Cs, which is incredibly valuable. Only by strengthening, positioning, and integrating these three pillars (Customers - Company - Competitors) you will be able to build a sustainable competitive advantage.