What makes a company a great place to work for?

I want to explore the factors that make a company a great place to work and delve into the factors that ultimately determine whether an employee will stay with the organization long-term.

Many factors control a candidate’s overarching decision to accept a job offer. Some of these factors are superficial things like fancy offices, new laptops, flexibility to work at home, and social events, but several factors go deeper than this. I feel these other factors influence an individual's decision-making when it comes to committing to an offer, and I will explore these in more detail below:

Culture & Values - A great company culture makes for a stronger company overall. A strong organizational culture is closely correlated with employee engagement, retention, and innovation. Too often, company culture is presented as flashy perks: free lunches, unlimited time off, and dog-friendly offices, but the substance of a strong culture lies not in these amenities, but rather in how employees are valued, trusted, and encouraged to develop both professionally and personally.

Communication - Communication stems from higher-level management and stakeholders of the business’ growth and strategy. Communication also incorporates employee feedback on aspects of the business and the work undertaken to implement change. An employee needs to feel valued and included!

Effectively communicating performance standards, how they are measured, and how areas of opportunity can be improved is essential to the personal growth of your employees. When employees receive feedback, suggestions for improvement, and advice on how they can make improvements, they grow as productive and satisfied members of your team.

Empowerment - Especially within accountancy and finance there is a focus on the employees' ability to manage their time. This can be particularly related to the strict deadlines associated with month and year-end.

Growth opportunities - By providing ample opportunities for employees to learn, develop, and grow in multiple areas. This allows them to develop their careers. Organizations that embrace an environment of continuous learning benefit as a whole.

Respect & Trust - people need and deserve respect and mutual respect breeds productivity. An employee needs to feel trusted by their employer, and this provides integrity within a company and increases motivation and engagement.

Work-life balance - Companies that promote work/life balance without supporting a flexible culture will find that they lose top talent.

Diversity - Acknowledging that each employee brings with them a set of unique experiences and thus an individual worldview is essential to making sure each employee feels their contribution is valued.

So overall, I would say that it is a mixture of factors, more so than others, that make a company a great place to work for and it involves both the company and the employee to be invested in the culture & values and be transparent with communication and trust in order to carry out your job role, feel valued whilst also progressing your skills and career.