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Know the FAQs: Participating in the GPTW Certification Process

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1 September 2020

What do the Great Place to Work® logos represent?

Our Certification™ and Best Workplaces™ logos signify outstanding employers who are characterised by a high-trust, ‘people first’ workplace cultures their employees love. 

This includes values ​​such as credibility, fairness, respect, camaraderie, honesty and pride. 

In addition, Best Workplaces have an effective management culture that focuses on the individual, their strengths and potential. All of this promotes innovation in the company and their associated economic success.

What does participation in the Certification process look like?

Participation in our Great Place to Work Certified™ benchmark study takes the form of an employee survey (called the Trust Index™) and a Culture Brief™ submission by the HR team, which provides details about your organisation’s people programmes and practices

Organisations that have 10+ employees will be Great Place to Work-Certified when their overall Trust Index results are 65% or higher.

The Certification process will provide important information about the current state of your workplace culture, enabling HR teams to measure, understand and develop their culture further.

Certification is also the first step to becoming a UK’s Best Workplace. Once an organisation is Certified, and provided they meet the specific Best Workplaces Trust Index requirements for their size category, they will receive Best Workplaces recognition.

 

 

Which companies can sign up for Certification?

All UK-based and multinational organisations with a UK branch which have 10+ employees are eligible to become Great Place to Work Certified.

 

 

The Best Workplaces Journey

 

 

Participating companies utilise our innovative employee survey platform. Easily administer employee engagement surveys and see your results, analysis and actionable insights using our Emprising™ platform.

 

 

How much impact does the survey have on our staff time and workload?

Employee surveys take approximately 12 minutes to complete.

Minimal administrative effort is required by any employee(s) appointed to work with one of our dedicated Customer Success Project Managers, who will manage and support you on all aspects of the project. 

 

 

What's the difference between the two logos?

GPTW_Box_Logo_Social_Circle-02Great Place to Work-Certified Badge: 

This badge is presented to the organisation immediately after a positive evaluation and can be used for employer branding.

Recognition as a Great Place to Work-Certified organisation is valid for 12 months.

All Certified companies receive feedback from their employees, benchmarking for comparison, and access to unique Certification marketing resources.

Read our blog on the 12 Benefits of Being Great Place to Work-Certified™.

 

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UK’s Best Workplaces™ logo: 

All Certified companies in the respective competition year who enter the Best Workplaces Programme are automatically entered into our prestigious UK’s Best Workplaces ™ list.

There are higher thresholds for achieving Best Workplace recognition than for Certification. As our Best Workplace Lists are announced publicly once per year, organisations will receive their logo a few weeks before the big announcement.

As with the Certification badge, the Best Workplaces logo is valid for 12 months.

Unlike Certification, Best Workplaces are also featured in The Guardian (available in England, Scotland and Wales) and The Telegraph (distributed across the UK), and given special access to specific marketing resources and bespoke advertising opportunities not available to Certified companies.

 

 

Does it make sense to conduct an employee survey during a crisis or periods of change within the business?

Absolutely! Postponing surveys can erode trust, exacerbate employee anxiety, and bar opportunities for building a stronger workplace culture.

It might seem like now is an unstable time to survey your people, but the reality is that employee surveys are an essential listening tool right now, while the change or crisis is affecting how your organisation operates.

 

 

What if my company is “not ready yet”?

Companies can start the programme at any time and do not have to make any preparations.

It’s fair to say that the results of your employee survey may be surprising and do not only start when or because you expect positive feedback. It is important to continuously measure your workplace culture and work on it over the long term.

This is especially important is you’re expecting your organisation will soon be experiencing culture change. Without knowing the status quo, how will your team know you’re leading the business in the right direction?

Many companies use the survey for their ongoing cultural development and take part every year. In 2020, we saw both Admiral Group and Gowling WLG LLP earning Best Workplaces™ recognition for the 20th year in a row!

 

 

What happens if you do not meet the minimum criteria for Certification?

Participation in the programme is confidential and there is no public announcement of organisations who do not reach Certification status.

Every organisation is on a constant journey from good to great – and sustaining a great culture isn’t easy either! It’s important that companies only take part in the process when there is commitment to take steps afterwards – no matter what the result. Learn more about what your next steps should be in this blog post.

Our Consulting Team can also provide post-survey support to help you along the way. This could take the form of:

 

How long is my award valid?

Both the Certification and Best Workplaces logos are each valid for 12 months. The relevant 12-month period is indicated on the logo itself and both can be used at the same time.

 


What other lists do you have?
Our other Great Place to Work® national and global recognition lists include:

We recently carried out an internal employee survey in our company. Can we use these results to participate in your Great Place to Work® programme?

Our Trust Index employee survey is required for both Certification and Best Workplaces recognition.

You can use an impact analysis to compare the results of your last employee survey in preparation for participating in the benchmark study. 

In addition, relevant questions can be added to the Great Place to Work® questionnaire. So if there are certain questions that should be asked, these can also be integrated.

 

What does participation cost?

The costs depends on several factors. These include, among other things:

  • the size of the organisation (number of employees);
  • whether it is a purely national or international survey (such as a co-survey with locations in other countries);
  • what unique needs your organisation may have in relation to the survey and follow-up process.

 

Speak to one of our Great Place to Work® experts to obtain a quote.

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