Last week the best workplaces in Belgium were announced – and EASI and Torfs lead the top ten Best Workplaces in Belgium in 2017 for the third and fourth year in a row respectively.

Best Workplaces are organisations where people trust their management, are proud of their jobs and enjoy being at work. The study is conducted annually by the Great Place to Work® Institute Belgium in partnership with Vlerick Business School and media partner Jobat/Mark Magazine.

Great Place to Work® examines businesses from two perspectives. The Trust Index© survey (employee questionnaire) investigates how staff experience trust, pride and team spirit at their company. In addition, the Culture Audit© question list (HR questionnaire) evaluates the employer’s policy at the organisations. What is unique about this approach is that the evaluation by the employees takes precedence. In fact, two thirds of the final score is determined by the results from the company’s own staff.

BEST WORKPLACES IN BELGIUM IN 2017

Organisations < 500 employees
1 EASI
2 AE
3 thuiszorg vleminckveld
4 Protime
5 Secretary Plus
6 ORMIT
7 House of Talents
8 Solvus
9 AbbVie
10 Actief Interim

Organisations > 500 employees
1 Torfs
2 McDonald’s Belgium
3 Accent Jobs
4 Start People
5 Adecco
6 KBC
7 IBA
8 Carglass
9 Media Markt
10 EY

Great Place to Work® affirms that these organisations are top employers with a people-oriented organisational culture. Besides the top ten ranking, a new feature this year is that certificates are awarded to those organisations that achieve a certain minimum level in both questionnaires.

The following organisations – models of people-oriented, high-quality staff policy – have earned the certificate:

CERTIFIED GREAT PLACE TO WORK*

• Axxes
• Bewire
• CTG Belgium
• Durabrik
• InSites Consulting
• Mars Belgium
• Planet Group
• SAP Belgium
• Unleashed

*In alphabetical order

What sets these ‘Best Workplaces’ apart from other companies?

• Their talent management
• The family environment, identification with the organisation
• The way they reward and acknowledge staff

A couple of interesting facts about the Best Workplaces 2017:

• At 14 of these 20 leading organisations, the company’s own employees played leading roles in the recruitment campaign as ambassadors for the company
• 92% of staff at these Best Workplaces stated that special occasions are celebrated at their organisation
• 50% of Best Workplaces give their employees a healthy lunch
• Last year, eight of the 20 organisations did team-building activities abroad, from Ibiza to Iceland and Rio de Janeiro to Nepal.

Ongoing investment in your people is rewarded

First place, for both small and large organisations, is once again awarded to EASI and Torfs respectively. Getting good results is one thing. Doing it year after year is an even more impressive achievement.

“People are central at EASI,” explains Dirk Buyens (Professor of Human Resources Management at Vlerick Business School). “This really is a business 2.0 where staff can make a difference for themselves and their customers. They are stimulated to take on responsibilities and come up with new proposals. It is striking that employees can even become shareholders in time. Moreover, great attention is paid to having fun at work. Happy employees mean happy customers.”

Torfs has been committed to satisfied employees for years. Its focus is ‘360° care’, as they call it. Dirk Buyens: “There is attention to suppliers and shareholders as well as staff and customers. Torfs aims to create a community in which all the stakeholders feel valued. The company’s values are partly determined by the employees themselves. There is also a strong HR policy. Staff are genuine ambassadors for their company culture.”

Special Awards for 3 exceptional business cases

Wellbeing – thuiszorg vleminckveld

Thuiszorg vleminckveld pays a huge amount of attention to its employees’ wellbeing. For instance, they have developed ‘my pathway’, a user-friendly tool that helps give staff a clear picture of the responsibilities and workload in their job.

Employee involvement – Protime

Various initiatives at Protime facilitate a high level of staff participation and involvement. Working groups such as ‘The Newbies’ and ‘The Old Hands’ attend to the needs of specific target groups in the organisation. And initiatives such as the CAPRI club offer a format for all employees to discuss their ideas and suggestions for improvements.

Innovative hiring practices – Accent Jobs

Accent Jobs understands all too well why it is important for a company and employee to click. That is why the company has developed a widget for its website to improve the match between candidates and vacancies. A short questionnaire tells you right away whether you will fit into Accent Jobs’ company culture.

Source: Vlerick Business School