2 June 2008
Microsoft: greatest place to work in Europe
Google second and Cisco third – technology gets the employee vote.
The Financial Times (FT) newspaper recently published its special report ranking the 50 best workplaces in Europe – where Microsoft and Google once again dominate the European league.
Europe’s top workplaces
- 1st place: Microsoft
- 2nd place: Google – also number 1 in the UK’s top 10 workplaces.
- 3rd place: Cisco
Microsoft’s a winner
US-based global software company, Microsoft, won first place in Europe by excelling in high satisfaction levels among its 7,526 employees working in 14 subsidiaries across Europe.
How does Microsoft achieve such high satisfaction? Apparently through a loose, informal, open culture that keeps employees aligned through core values. Employees at Microsoft Netherlands, for example, say:
Microsoft is keen to improve its employees’ working lives with company technology.
- “I can ask management any reasonable question and get a straight answer” (90%).
- “Management is approachable, easy to talk with” (95%).
- “Management genuinely seeks and responds to suggestions and ideas” (91%).
Microsoft is keen to improve its employees’ working lives with company technology. Staff at Microsoft Netherlands are taking part in “The New World of Work” – a pilot using mobile devices to increase work flexibility.
Having fun
Fun is a key element of working at Microsoft:
- “Happy Hour” every second Friday of the month – a management presentation usually kicks off the meeting, followed by time to eat together.
- Many offices have games rooms, lounges and equipment where employees can play Xbox video games and employees can also borrow Xboxes to take home.
Second place for Google
Internet company Google – number 2 in Europe, and also placed first in the UK – provides staff with free food, annual skiing trips and office games rooms. The philosophy behind these activities is to encourage staff to interact informally.
More examples of building teamwork at Google:
The philosophy behind these activities is to encourage staff to interact informally.
- competitions – everything from office decorating to dancing and football; and
- managers have a quarterly “celebratory fund” to reward success or build the team through social activities.
Google has fun too
Like Microsoft, Google believes fun in the workplace is an essential ingredient – but the company also believes the work itself makes for a great place to be.
- Fun in the workplace: massage chairs, table tennis tables, video games, lava lamps, hammocks, beanbags, bicycles, large rubber balls and couches.
- Paris: sales teams end each quarter with a celebratory outing.
- Italy: 90% of employees say, “people celebrate special events around here”.
Nick Creswell, Google’s university programs manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told the FT, “What makes Google a great workplace is that the nature of the work itself is very challenging and interesting.”
Winner – small organizations
The winner of this year’s 50 Best Workplaces in Europe small organizations with 50-500 employees, is the 90-employee software and technology consulting company Reaktor Innovations, Helsinki, Finland.
The company participated for the first time in the competition this year and received 96% across the Great Place to Work Trust Index – a measure of workplace satisfaction.
Human approach
Asta Rossi, chief executive of the Great Place to Work Institute Finland, told the FT that when the institute evaluated Reaktor’s Culture Audit, they found the company “live and breathe being a great workplace.”
Reaktor’s mission underlines Rossi’s point: “to combine cutting-edge technology with an uncomplicated, human approach.”
The firm’s trust-building activities include:
The company participated for the first time in the competition this year and received 96% across the Great Place to Work Trust Index.
- internal coaching, where teams can request a specialist from another team to work with them in building their skills; and
- weekend training camps on presentation skills and coding languages, for example.
Download your copy
Great Place to Work Institute has been compiling the list annually since 2003, using 15 national best workplace studies across Europe. The report defines a great place to work as “a place where the employees trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.”
Download a copy of the Best Workplaces report.
Have your say
How great is your employer at providing a motivating work environment? What do you think are the key features of “a great place to work”? What is the role of communication in being a great place to work – is there a danger of “all hype and no substance”... and could this lead to disappointed expectations?
Discuss these issues with other comms practitioners by joining the Internal Comms Hub members' group on the Communicators' Network.
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