Great Place To Work Frequently Asked Questions
Great Place To Work® enables businesses to enhance their reputation, attract and retain talented employees, boost productivity, and receive valuable insights into their workplace culture. Discover the fundamentals of participating in the Great Place To Work ™ Certification and being selected for inclusion on the prestigious Best Workplaces ™ Lists.
General FAQs
Who is Great Place To Work®?
Great Place To Work® is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience and leadership behaviors proven to deliver enhanced revenue and boosted innovation. We help companies around the world survey their employees, benchmark their results, recognize gaps, and develop their culture. We are the only national recognition program based on a comprehensive methodology and accurate employee feedback.
What is the difference between being Great Place To Work® Certified™ and a Best Workplace™ ?
Becoming Great Place To Work® Certified™ is the first milestone in our recognition process. An organization that has completed the employee survey process can receive Certification™ at any point in the year, once they have met the minimum 64.5% Trust Index employee survey threshold, and submitted their Culture Brief telling us about their organization. Then, through our Best Workplaces™ Awards, we determine the best from the pool of Certified™ organizations via a rigorous assessment process that is based on the outcome of both your Trust Index™ survey and other factors.
What are the criteria for an organization wanting to participate in your Certification™ and Best Workplaces™ Lists?
To be Certified™ as a Great Place To Work®, an organization must have a minimum Trust Index survey score of 64.5% or above. To qualify for our Best Workplaces™ Lists, you must first obtain Certification™ and pass our culture experts’ assessment of your company’s workplace culture.
How does Great Place To Work® compare with other recognition providers?
Multiple categories are recognized by Great Place To Work® in annual lists that are released throughout the year.
We measure an organizations’ culture differently than anybody else. We have the advantage of being able to benchmark policies and people practices with Best Workplaces™ that are similar in size and industry. There isn’t another survey on employee experience that combines what managers believe they are providing with what workers are experiencing.
Additionally, we provide outstanding organizations with recognition in other countries (Best Workplaces in Asia™️) and other continents (Global Best Workplaces™) where they have offices.
If we choose to partner with Great Place To Work®, will we lose our existing employee data from previous surveys?
You won’t lose your previous data. We have extensive expertise to ensure that the transition from an old survey to our Trust Index© employees survey goes well. Being able to track ‘trend’ comparisons on individual questions across time is a crucial requirement if you already have employee data from your current survey. This is true for many of our clients, who have an established survey that has been used for several years. Customization of our Trust Index™ format allows you to track and compare data on bespoke historic engagement questions.
Is there a cost for your services?
Yes. Our costs are based on your specific needs. We provide you with solutions that are relevant to your company’s situation. Speak with one of our Great Place To Work® experts to discuss your requirements.
Certification FAQs
What is Great Place To Work® Certification?
Employers who provide excellent employee experiences are recognized through our Great Place To Work® certification. The certification process consists of two parts: surveying your employees and filling in a short Culture Brief questionnaire about your organization.
What does participation in the Certification process look like?
To take part in our Great Place To Work® Certification™ process, your organization’s HR department must complete the Culture Brief, a brief survey on the background and structure of your workplace, along with an employee survey known as the Trust Index.
When an organization’s Trust Index score is 64.5% or above, they are eligible to become Great Place To Work® Certified™.
The Certification process will provide important information about the current state of your workplace culture, enabling your leaders to measure, understand, and develop your culture further.
Certification is also the first step to becoming a Best Workplace™. Once an organization is Certified™, and provided they meet the specific Best Workplaces™ Trust assessment requirements for their size category, they will receive Best Workplaces™ recognition.
How do I get Great Place To Work® Certified™?
To become Certified™, you must first survey your staff and then answer a brief questionnaire about your work history and demographics. As soon as the survey closes, you will receive your official Certification™ digital badge, which is valid for a year, if you completed your Culture Brief questionnaire and received a complete survey score of 64.5% or higher.
What does Great Place To Work® Certification™ mean?
Great Place To Work® Certification™ lets the world know that your workplace has a great work culture where employees feel supported and appreciated for their work. It shows that your company has created an atmosphere at work that fosters credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie.
How much does Great Place To Work® Certification™ cost?
At Great Place To Work®, we provide three comprehensive packages: Assess™, Analyse™, and Accelerate™, all based around our employee survey. Each package offers different levels of data analysis and guidance, along with the opportunity to achieve Certification™ and earn recognition as one of the Best Workplaces™. The pricing for these packages is determined by various factors, including the organization’s size, whether it requires a national or international survey, and any specific requirements your organization may have for the survey and follow-up process. Read more about our packages here.
How long does the Great Place To Work® Certification™ process take?
We typically suggest a 2-week window to launch your survey – and with our survey platform, you’re able to view and analyze the results of your survey as soon as the survey closes. Shortly after the survey has closed and provided you have submitted your Culture Brief questionnaire and earned an overall survey score of 64.5% or higher, you will receive your official Certification™ digital badge, valid for 12 months.
What are the benefits of the Great Place To Work® Certification™?
Being a Certified™ great workplace has several benefits for an organization. It serves as a valuable external validation of your company’s commitment to its employees which, in turn, will enhance your reputation as an employer of choice. It can also attract and retain high-quality talent, improve employee engagement and satisfaction, and contribute to overall business success.
Get Certified™ today to attract top talent, build your employer brand and deliver business results.
Best Workplaces™️ FAQs
How do we become a Best Workplace™?
To be featured on the Best Workplaces™ lists, an organization must first become Certified™ as a great workplace. Through the Certification process, we gather insightful employee feedback and statistics utilizing our anonymous, research-driven Trust Index™ survey, in addition to company-provided details on your organization’s background and composition. To become an official Best Workplace, a company must be among the top-performing Certified™ firms and pass an in-depth assessment conducted by our culture specialists.
How are Best Workplaces™ selected?
We assess our group of Certified™ great workplaces using our For All ™ Model and Methodology. As Best Workplaces™, the honor only goes to the most achieving Certified™ businesses who successfully complete a demanding evaluation of their workplace culture and employee experience. Companies who would like to become Certified™ must conduct our flagship assessment, the Trust Index survey, to their employees and have them complete a Culture Brief, which is a questionnaire on their working environment.
Who’s eligible for Great Place To Work®’s Best Workplaces™ Lists?
To be eligible for our Best Workplaces™ lists, you will need to be Great Place To Work® Certified™ and pass the rigorous assessment of your organization’s workplace culture by our culture experts. All eligibility criteria for each Best Workplaces™ Lists can be found on our upcoming lists calendar.
What happens if we don’t make the list?
Ranking on our Best Workplaces™ lists is no mean feat! We never disclose the names or results of any company which does not receive this recognition, but rather offer to support these organizations to improve their employee experience and achieve better results in the future.
Our mission is to create a better world by helping organizations become great workplaces for all. Certification™, which organizations will receive if they hit the 64.5% Trust Index™ employee survey threshold and submit their Culture Brief™ questionnaire, allows you to signal to the world that you are on the journey to building a better workplace culture.
And our services go beyond recognition, too! We provide bespoke culture coaching services which enable individual organizations to make continuous improvements based on key data and insights that target their unique set of needs at any given time.
What are the Best Workplaces™ list deadlines?
Check our upcoming Best Workplaces™ deadlines on our List Application Deadlines 2024 page.
What's the difference between the Culture Brief and Culture Audit?
The Culture Brief is a short questionnaire that allows us to build a profile of your company’s history and demographics. The information you submit in the Culture Brief will be used to determine your Best Workplaces™ List eligibility and must be completed for your organization to become a Certified™ great workplace.
The Culture Audit is required for companies who want to be considered for Best Workplaces™ recognition (not required for Certification). The Culture Audit contains required essay questions that allow us to evaluate your company’s people practices against our For All™ model.
Employee Survey FAQs
Is the Great Place To Work® survey anonymous?
Yes. We take our ethical obligation to survey takers very seriously. Employees can rest assured that their participation is completely confidential and voluntary. Survey responses come directly to Great Place To Work®. Employers cannot see who has or who has not completed the survey while the survey is live. We remove unique identifiers once the survey closes.
For employers, company participation in the Certification process and the survey results are completely confidential. We do not publish the details of any organizations who do not achieve Certification™ or Best Workplaces™ recognition.
Is assessment limited to taking place annually only?
You can begin the process of making your workplace better for everyone now, without waiting to be recognized on the annual list!
Some organizations work with us annually, adding extra pulse surveys to the core measures to estimate their progress throughout the year. Some clients check their pulse frequently, perhaps once a month or once every three months.
How many questions are on the Great Place To Work® survey?
Employees respond to 59 statements across a five-point consistency scale and two open-ended questions. Employees generally take 15 minutes to complete the survey.
Can we ask our own questions on the Great Place To Work® employee survey?
Certain subscription tiers allow you to add custom questions. To be considered for the Great Place To Work® Certification and our awards, our essential Trust Index statements must stay as they are. However, we have various membership levels that let you add your own demographic questions, open-ended questions, and survey statements. You can gather any additional survey responses that you believe are most relevant to your company without thinking about how they will impact your certification outcome. These remarks will not be considered for our awards if they are not necessary for a particular Best Workplaces™ List.
Do we get to see our scores from the employee survey?
Yes. Once your survey is closed, you’ll immediately get (at minimum) an overview of your scores so you can see how your employee experience measures against our key evaluation areas, and how you stack up against our Best Workplaces™ benchmarks.
Is the survey compatible with mobile?
Yes. Our Trust Index is extremely user-friendly and compatible across all devices (laptop/pc, tablet, and mobile).
What are the specific advantages of the Great Place To Work® Employee Survey when compared to other employee surveys?
Some of the advantages of the Great Place To Work® Employee Survey are:
-Strong focus on Culture: the survey is specifically designed to measure aspects that contribute to a positive workplace culture.
-Data-Driven Insights: Great Place to Work® uses a validated framework and methodology to collect data. This ensures consistent results and allows for benchmarking your company against similar organizations in similar industries.
-Actionable Feedback: the survey provides not just a score, but also open-ended comments from employees. This allows you to understand the “why” behind the numbers and identify specific areas of improvement.
-Specific Feedback: it enables you to slice and dice results with heatmaps, demographics and statement breakouts, employee comment analysis and more.