And the winner is ..... it doesn't really matter.

I am seeing more and more surveys, headlines and posts about charity employer league tables and awards and its starting to bother me.

One thing I have always thought differentiates the charity sector from the commercial sector is that we leverage the collaborative advantage rather than the competitive advantage. It's what makes truly collaborative charities so great, especially when they are operating in the same solution space.

So, when I see league tables that (intentionally or unintentionally) pitch charities against each other I feel uncomfortable. This is especially true in the people and workforce space. I have seen first-hand how flawed and misleading these reports can be. I know of at least 2 charity leaders who 'suggested' that all their staff voted their charity as the best place to work so that they could win the accolade - and they won lovely shiny awards as a result.

But there are other problems too:

·????? The pool of charities considered hardly ever includes small, grass roots organisations which can often be the most fulfilling places to work.

·????? I'm never sure whether the voices of volunteers are considered (just because they don't get paid doesn't mean that they don't work for their charity).

·????? If reports are compiled during a particularly difficult time (restructures and redundancies), the responses will be a snapshot in time and not an accurate reflection of the more typical, steady state.

·????? Telling charity employees that their employer is the best is, of course wonderful. But consider the impact on the employees who appear at the bottom of the list, or not on the list at all.?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for celebrating success and shining a light on happy employees at high-performing charities. But can we please congratulate responsibly and get rid of the flawed league tables and divisive competitions about which charities are the best employers, and which charities are (by default) not.

So, if you find yourself tempted by the click bait headlines to see if your charity has made the list please think again. The more we click and amplify this practice the more it will continue. Recruiting, keeping and supporting charity sector workers is challenging. Let’s not make it any harder than it needs to be. Lets work together for all employees and volunteers in this sector rather than trying to beat our competitors into first place.

After almost 35 years in the charity sector, I have learned this. All my charity employers have had strengths and challenges. Some I would work with again, others I wouldn’t. But my reasons are varied, complex and dynamic, and are just as much about me as about my employers. I count myself lucky to have built a career in this wonderful sector, and no matter which charities I have worked for I am grateful for the opportunity. I won't be rating them on a league table.