Yahoo Finance Best companies to work for in the UK revealed
Google has reclaimed its position as the best company to work for in the UK, beating fellow tech giants Facebook and Apple.
Job website Glassdoor’s 50 UK Best Places to Work in 2018 features employers from a range of industries spanning technology, retail, investment banking, insurance, consumer goods and telecommunications.
Google first ranked number one in the UK in 2015 and has been high on the list for four consecutive years.
The company was praised by employees for its sharing culture, collaboration between departments and benefits.
The findings are based on online reviews posted on Glassdoor by current and former employees.
In second place was water company Anglian Water, followed by housing association Bromford, social media site Facebook and cloud computing company Salesforce.
Peter Simpson, chief executive of Anglian Water, said the company focussed on encouraging employee wellbeing and “creating a culture driven by happier, healthier and safer staff”.
“Looking after our employees is at the heart of delivering great customer service, alongside the enthusiasm and dedication our staff have for their jobs,” he said.
Other firms on the list include Microsoft, American Express, Waitrose and easyJet.
Last year’s winner, Expedia, which is best known for its online travel deals, has dropped out of the top 10 to 14th position.
Patrick Woodman, head of research for the Chartered Management Institute, said the award revealed the best companies to work for knew how to motivate their workforce.
He said: “Glassdoor’s top 50 show what the best companies to work for do well to motivate employees, creating inclusive cultures, providing development opportunities and career progression, and building a sense of purpose.
“Happier and more engaged employees are ultimately more productive so this is about business performance not just employee satisfaction. Any manager looking to improve their organisation’s performance would do well to learn from these examples.”
Here is the top 10:
1. Google
Company rating: 4.5
“Culture – sharing culture where everyone in different departments will work collaboratively. People – excellent, bright, ambitious individuals to work with. Salary – good high salary. Benefits – this includes food, medical, dental, travel expenses, stock.” – Google partner marketing manager
“Exciting company, tons of opportunities and amazing people.” – Google employee
2. Anglian Water
Company rating: 4.4
“Anglian Water really does put its employees at the heart of what it does. If you are looking for job satisfaction, reward and enjoyment, this is an ideal company to work for.” – Anglian Water asset group manager
3. Bromford
Company rating: 4.4
“Colleagues with positive attitudes, development opportunities, flexible working approach, great systems and the right tools to do the job all in a supportive environment.” – Bromford employee
4. Facebook
Company rating: 4.4
“Everyone on the team is driven by an absolute ambition to make the world a better a place. The teams are collaborative, creative and welcoming to new ideas. The company is driven by impact and moving fast, so if you’ve got an idea you’ve got room to make a real impact.” – Facebook creative strategist
5. Salesforce
Company rating: 4.4
“Extremely flexible, challenging in a good way, extremely innovative. A great internal support structure, decent transparency for a large organisation. This is a group of very intelligent, very motivated people.” – Salesforce solutions engineer
6. Lookers
Company rating: 4.3
“They hire the right people, who are friendly and very proactive. The investment in their people is hard to rival and no two days are ever the same.” – Lookers employee
7. Rentokil Initial
Company rating: 4.3
“Excellent training programme for sales and service staff across all businesses under the Rentokil Initial umbrella. Opportunities for staff progression and promotion as part of the talent for tomorrow. Excellent incentives and staff recognition acknowledgements for outstanding achievements.” – Rentokil Initial administrative employee
8. Hiscox
Company rating: 4.3
“Engaging, intelligent people surrounding you and opportunities to develop yourself with driven, bright people that have been successful in their careers with Hiscox. Lots of autonomy, you are treated like an adult and trusted to get your job done.” – Hiscox employee
9. Apple
Company rating: 4.3
“Great HR team, they adapt to your own person very quickly and are very considerate in regards to help when you need it. Acknowledgement for achievements is second to none.” – Apple technical specialist
10. HomeServe UK
Company rating: 4.3
“I must admit I have never been so inspired by the way a company lives by its values and by how the culture totally reflects what the company praise itself for. The tone at the top is clearly spot on and is reflected all the way down to all employees.” – Senior finance manager
