We’ve been on a mission to uncover Australia and New Zealand’s top 20 Dream Employers. This year’s survey attracted over 7100 responses from the public, and the verdict was clear. Congratulations to Google, again! Google top the list for the second year in a row.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2011 survey, Dream Employers is now the largest public employer of choice survey in Australia and New Zealand!

Drum roll please…the 2011 top 20 Dream Employers are:

1. Google
2. Self-employed
3. Virgin Group
4. Qantas
5. Apple
6. Microsoft
7. OMD
8. The Walt Disney Company
9. BHP Billiton
10. Getaway
11. United Nations
12. Police force
13. Vodafone
14. NASA
15. Rio Tinto
16. Departments of defence
17. Commonwealth Bank
18. Cadbury
19. Facebook
20. Lonely Planet

The 2011 Dream Employers Uncovered report explores the complete findings from survey please click here to download the report.

The report explores challenging HR issues including employee retention, attraction, attrition and employee advocacy. It also covers gender and generational workforce differences, how organisations can stay strong in the face of adversity and what really keeps staff satisfied. Many of the winners also share their winning experiences as Dream Employers, so download your copy now!

The Dream Employers Survey is proudly brought to you by Insync Surveys and RedBalloon.

Click here for the full report.

Source:  Dream Employers

In one way, a bad economy is terrific for managers. When jobs are scarce, bosses are free to be inept without the fear of chronic staff turnover. But when economic times are good and unemployment is low, like it is today, the best workers are in demand, so it’s more important than ever for bosses to excel.

What do you think makes a great boss? Leave your comment below

But what makes a great boss? Leadership Management Australasia, a training company, asked 3000 employees late last year to name their ideal characteristics in a manager. Here’s the top ten list.

Coming in at number one is a boss that’s ‘trustworthy and open in approach’. In his book, The Speed of Trust, Stephen Covey describes trust as being a combination of character and competence. The character component includes integrity, motive, and intent, while the competence part is about capabilities, skills, results, and track record. “You might think a person is sincere, even honest,” he writes, “but you won’t trust that person fully if he or she doesn’t get results.”

At number two is a manager that ‘clearly communicates where we are going’. Trouble arises with how people define the word ‘communication’. For example, to email isn’t to communicate. Often, that’s just spam. The ultimate definition of communication is the exchange of understanding, which is best served when employees are engaged in a conversation rather than as victims of a monologue.

In third place is a boss that ‘gives me the space to do my work, but supports me’, which is another way of saying ‘back off but be there’. Micromanagement makes insecure bosses feel better, but it makes capable employees feel overwhelmed and stifled.

Fourth is a manager that ‘listens to and respects my input into decisions’. Running random staff surveys doesn’t count. What employees are stating with this characteristic is their wish to be consulted when matters of significance occur in the workplace. This one action alone will make them more receptive to change and less likely to resist it.

Taking the fifth spot is a boss that ‘gives regular and honest feedback on how I am going’. The annual performance appraisal isn’t enough, which human resource professionals (if they were truthful) would admit is almost always a waste of time. Instead, immediate feedback provided amiably is a winner.

At number six is a manager that’s ‘fair and even-handed and makes reasonable demands’. The antithesis of this is captured in the character of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada when she asks her assistant to get her a copy of the new Harry Potter book. The assistant responds by saying she’ll go to the store right away. Rolling her eyes, Miranda snaps: “Did you fall down and smack your little head on the pavement?” Not that I can recall, replies the assistant, before realising with dread her boss is after the unpublished manuscript.

In seventh place is a boss that ‘provides the resources I need to do my job’. On the one hand, it includes simple stuff like stationery, training material, and client information. On the other, it includes more substantial objects like fast computers and functional technology. For an extreme reaction to a deficiency in the latter, check out this guy.

At number eight is a manager that ‘recognises me for extra efforts and results’. I’m surprised this isn’t higher up on the list. In December, the Australian Institute of Management surveyed 3000 people. A third of those are planning on resigning this year. A big reason is this: 40 per cent of respondents don’t feel appreciated by their employer.

In ninth spot is a boss that ‘coaches and develops me’. There was another poll conducted last year by Towers Perrin, one in which Australian managers fared better than other countries on how they led their employees during the global financial crisis. However, in the same analysis, 66 per cent of employees said they want the opportunity to develop their skills at work, but only 40 per cent are given the chance.

And lastly in tenth place: a manager that ‘trusts me with challenging work’. There’s that word again. Trust. It’s a theme weaving in and out of this top ten list. It’s a lack of trust turning bosses into micromanagers and it’s a lack of trust making them refrain from seeking feedback. There’s a greater eventual consequence for managers, though, if they hold back on trusting their employees.

As the late Frank Crane, an American clergyman, said: “You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you do not trust enough.”

Source: The Age

Trying to develop a better work-life balance for employees? Consider taking a cue from any of the top 25 companies rated best for work and life balance, which include Nestlé Purina Petcare in the number one spot, Morningstar, Intuit and Southwest Airlines.

The employee-rated list, created by career website Glassdoor, is based on survey results from more than 150,000 employees at 36,000 companies. Employees rated how satisfied they were with the work-life balance offered at their companies.

Facebook, the No. 7 company, is popular for offering perks such as on-site laundry, food services and child care. These employee perks benefit the company, too. “Companies that have a strong work-life balance are optimized for long-term success,” said Glassdoor CEO Robert Hohman. “Those companies tend to keep employers longer, and those employees tend to be happier. And I would argue, in turn, those employees tend to be more productive over the long term.”

An accommodating schedule also helps companies retain their best employees. Offering flexible scheduling is the most effective way of improving employee retention rates, says Dick Finnegan, a former human-resources director and CEO of C-Suite Analytics, which helps companies decrease employee turnover.

But not all employees are psyched about good retention rates. “People never leave, so there’s not a lot of opportunity to grow or move around,” said one Nestle Purina employee on Glassdoor.

So why is Nestlé Purina No. 1? One reason could be the pet-friendly atmosphere. Employees are allowed to bring pets to work, and having pets around “make everyone happier,” wrote one employee on Glassdoor.

One employee at the SAS Institute, the third-ranked company, wrote, “The commitment to work/life balance comes from the top down and they believe in it. As a result, employees treat each other fairly and well. There is a tremendous sense of camaraderie.”

Over at Morningstar, the eighth-ranked company, employees also praise the flexible schedule. “It provides a perfect working environment and flexible working time. In addition, it encouraged you to pursue your ideal career path (take CFA exam or take MBA courses),” wrote one employee. Another cited “lots of time off” and “flexible schedule” as pros for working there.

The 25 companies rated as having the best work-life balance are:

1. Nestlé Purina Petcare Company

2. MITRE

3. SAS Institute

4. FactSet

5. United Space Alliance

6. Slalom Consulting

7. Facebook

8. Morningstar

9. Susquehanna International Group

10. Colgate-Palmolive

11. Mentor Graphics

12. Autodesk

13. Sheetz

14. Agilent Technologies

15. Turner Broadcasting

16. Dupont

17. Southwest Airlines

18. General Mills

19. Biogen Idec

20. Scottrade

21. Chevron

22. Synopsys

23. MTV Networks

24. Intuit

25. National Instruments

Source: Benefits Pro

How does a company create culture change? What steps does one take to become an employer of choice? Here’s a strategy for creating a flexible, supportive work environment, one that will be comprehensive and lasting, one that will transform your culture and serve the dual agenda – the needs of both company and employee.

Steps to increase the chances of success

There’s no one-size-fits-all plan to ensure success; any effort has to be tailored to a company’s needs and culture. But we believe there are steps that will increase the chances of success. Here’s what we suggest:

Get buy-in from top management;

Create a representative task force to help you with the job;

Benchmark your competition;

Collect internal data by looking at policies, surveying employees and conducting focus groups;

Explore all your resources, both in your organization and in your community;

Analyze your data and make recommendations; and

Present your conclusions to a gathering of management.

Get buy-in and be clear about management’s goals

Even if you’ve been handed a directive from top management to work toward the transformation of your culture and create a work-life effort, it’s wise to invest time, energy and research into building a solid base of support for your efforts. In order to do so, you will have to link them to the company’s goals. Take the time to interview leaders in every area of the company to get clear about their goals and what they believe it will take from the workforce to achieve them. Do they believe the current level of talent is sufficient? Do they see employees as fully engaged and willing to go the extra mile?

What do they think could be done to increase that level of engagement? What’s being done currently and how do they think it’s working? What would they need to know in order to approve new budget items, programs and practices? Most important, what’s keeping them up at night?

Create a task force

A representative task force will help solicit buy-in, add credibility to your recommendations, divide the work and give more people a sense of responsibility for the outcome. We suggest keeping it to 12, including some people with influence (research skills will be helpful) and making sure unions are represented as well as management and non-management employees. Their job: devise questions and participate in management interviews, help create and administer an employee survey, run employee focus groups, benchmark, explore community resources, analyze data, determine needs and solutions, put together a business case and create recommendations.

Benchmark

It’s a good time to be collecting information about best practices. A Google search using the keywords “best practices work-life” or “best companies to work for” produces – literally – several million opportunities for research. Your management will want to know what those in your own industry are doing, particularly those companies seen as competitive for both customers and talent, and the information will be an important part of the business case.

Analyze current internal conditions

Ask yourselves if you believe your organization’s policies treat employees as responsible, trusted adults. Which programs are and are not fulfilling expectations? Is the goal simply to cut costs or to recruit, retain and motivate employees? What would they like to see done differently? An employee survey will determine what’s keeping employees from being fully committed and engaged, and what would make a difference. It can explore sources of stress and distraction from work, level of commitment and engagement, awareness of and alignment with the mission, supervisory relationships, awareness, use and satisfaction with current offerings, and the need for future offerings. Results can be cross-tabulated so as to determine the experience of employees who are highly committed and engaged, and compare them with those who are not.

Focus groups for managers can be mutually educational, not only exploring what may be keeping them from accomplishing their organization’s goals, but focusing their attention on what the company could do to make its employees more loyal and committed. Employee groups can answer the same question from their perspective, and consider what would motivate them to put themselves out for the organization.

Explore resources, analyze data

Use the task force to investigate community resources (or national and international resources if your organization has global employees) and establish connections with those that may be able to help your workforce with everyday issues. Build a “resource bank” of services that can be valuable both in the creation and implementation of your recommendations. Then make a list of the goals you’ve gathered from senior leaders, begin to isolate the issues and needs that have emerged from your study, and list them. Now look at each need and decide whether its presence could be impeding your company’s progress toward any of its goals, or if alleviating that need could hasten progress.

Brainstorm solutions

Then brainstorm solutions, using your benchmarking data for suggestions. Is supervision inconsistently supportive? Suggest manager training, regular employee assessment of manager supportiveness, performance evaluations that include the results, and rewards for success. Is a lack of backup childcare causing absenteeism? Company-wide implementation of emergency telecommuting is one low-cost solution and a subsidized in-home backup care pro-gram is another.

with a proven payoff. Is work over-load a problem? Work redesign may be the solution. Seminars on time and stress management may help, along with serious implementation of flexible work arrangements. Other possibilities: more health and wellness initiatives; financial and retirement counselling; mentoring, dependent care resource and referral; services of a geriatric care manager.

Link recommendations to goals, concerns

In your final report, stress the link between the data gathered, including senior management goals and concerns, and your recommendations. You might create a long-term and short-term plan, including the “slam-dunks” in the short-term plan and the more drastic measures to be implemented gradually, after some management training and preparation. Suggest a pilot project for anything that may seem too radical or threatening. You can treat it as an experiment, control the size, set goals and regularly monitor and report progress. If the program isn’t cost-effective, doesn’t fulfil its goals or simply isn’t liked by a majority of those involved, it can be tweaked or discarded.

Presenting recommendations

Meet with as many senior leaders as you can gather together, and involve the entire task force, if possible, empowering each member to answer specific questions. Learn about your audience and tailor your presentation to what has worked with them in the past. Offer concrete facts about goals, solutions, proof, dollars and productivity; use visual aids, but rehearse with a non-presenter who will handle the machinery. Remember, these are human beings; compliment them on the positives that emerged from your study. You’re a salesperson with a remarkable product: “Employer of choice” status, a workplace that will foster loyalty, commitment, engagement, focus and even creativity, and timing that couldn’t be better.

Source WFC Resources