West Michigan Best Companies to Work For

I have recently semi-retired. In my final decade of permanent employment I was privileged to work for companies that in that time frame were selected as one of the 101 Best Companies to Work For in West Michigan. They ranged from 6 employees to 150 employees; from a single office to a company with four locations. They had one thing in common. They understood their people were their greatest resource.

Around 2002 I was introduced to the West Michigan Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. The owner that I was working for at that time wanted a way to determine how well we measured in employee satisfaction against other Grand Rapids area employers. When we were introduced to the West Michigan Best and Brightest concept we were excited and submitted our first application.

We had looked at other measurement programs, but they did not require information from both the management and the employees. We wanted in-depth, detailed information on what we did well and what we could improve upon. The survey measured ten or more areas of employee satisfaction. Management answered a survey with multiple questions about each area. After that, a survey was sent to random employees and summarized anonymously.

The results were tabulated with management and employee answers weighted 50 -50. The overall scores showed us how our employees felt about each area compared to what management perceived. Sometimes we were right on the mark. Other times we found out we had work to do in a given area. If employees didn’t feel the way we thought they did, we formed teams to improve the area.

Also we were able to receive a rating against other West Michigan area companies. It was a great bench-mark and allowed us to determine trends we were currently not aware of. There was enough detail in the information to allow us to look deeply into an area and determine if we wanted to try to improve the area or if it was beyond our reach at the time.

I would highly recommend the program to any company looking for a great measuring tool for employee satisfaction and area employment competition. In this ever tightening talent market I don’t believe we want to find out why an employee is unhappy at their exit interview. This process allows you information to “Re-Recruit” your employees and become an “Employer of Choice”.

If you have any questions about the program, I would be glad to try to answer them or connect you to someone who can. Let’s all continue to strive to make West Michigan the Best Place to Work and Live.