If you’re at a company with fewer than 100 employees, creating a network of employee resource groups might not immediately make sense for your organization.

However, Once Upon a Farm, one of the Fortune Best Small Workplaces in 2024, has adapted the employee resource group (ERG) concept to fit the needs of its 87 employees. Its Employee Engagement and Empowerment Committee, or E3, functions as the one resource group for all employees and offers an essential listening channel for the organization.

The E3 committee has 23 members, but only seven-to-10 of them join a monthly call to discuss upcoming activities and activations for employees. The group also has an active Slack channel, where more of the 23 members participate.

“It’s a cross-functional committee,” says Melissa Ninegar, senior director of people and culture at Once Upon a Farm. “The company is fully remote — and this is one of the ways that we can get everyone from different departments to collaborate and create some engagement opportunities that are informed by our cultural values.”

Learn employee resource group strategies in a one-of-a-kind ineractive environment at ERGx on April 8 in Las Vegas!

A crucial listening channel

Members of the group can share feedback on all aspects of their experience at the company.

“We get a lot of great feedback on the cultural health of the organization,” says Ninegar. “How are we doing as a remote company? How’s your relationship with your manager? How’s your faith or your confidence in the company? How are you doing with your team and how are you doing individually?”

Monthly meetings are a chance to share plans for upcoming events but also make sure everyone has a chance to share their perspective.

“You can’t just keep telling yourself that you’re doing a good job and assuming everything is going great,” says Honoria Hayes, people experience specialist at Once Upon a Farm and a manager of the E3 committee.

“We really want to hear what everyone thinks because that’s how you foster that culture where everyone feels like they can come to work and have a hand in building this environment,” Hayes says.

How can SMBs celebrate diversity and inclusion?

A core responsibility of the E3 committee is creating programming to honor awareness months and cultural holidays across the organization.

The committee might book a guest speaker or organize a donation to a nonprofit that supports a specific group. The committee has an annual budget of $30,000, which it allocates monthly with the ability to roll over funds month-to-month.

“If we want to go a little bit bigger one month, we have to keep in mind that we’ve got to be scrappy elsewhere,” Ninegar says.

For Pride Month, the committee brought in an external speaker to raise awareness about transgender people and their experiences.

For Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the committee partnered with an organization called Confetti, which curates a list of experts that can teach classes on a variety of topics. The result was a workshop for employees about the contributions of Asian and Pacific Islanders to American culture and their many achievements.

For Black History Month, the committee’s programming was careful to be educational but also joyful.

“We wanted to provide something that was focused less on the tragic parts of the Black experience and a little bit more on the joyful side, because we are happy people, too,” says Hayes. “We wanted to say, ‘Here’s something else that you can celebrate.’”

Hayes often presents several options to the committee, but choosing programming for a particular month or awareness day is a group effort. For Pride Month, the group wanted to make a donation as well as invite a guest speaker. To select a group for the donation, Hayes sent out a quick survey to the E3 committee to get feedback.

ERGs build belonging for remote teams

An ERG can play a crucial role in connecting remote workers as well.

At Once Upon a Farm, the E3 committee sponsored a “Nourish and Nurture” Slack challenge in response to employee feedback that remote employees felt unable to create a healthy work-life balance.

“People want to be responsive in a remote work environment,” says Ninegar. “Anytime an alert goes off, it’s really tempting just to respond to it — so we are always going to have to work that much harder to protect people’s boundaries.”

The Nourish and Nurture challenge asked employees to share a picture or share a post about how they are taking care of themselves.

Each post counts as one point — adding a picture counts as a second point, with a maximum of two-points earned per day. Points can then be used to redeem prizes at the end of the challenge.

“It was such a success that everyone asked, ‘Can we keep this open?’” Ninegar says. As sponsors of the challenge, the E3 committee was instrumental in getting buy-in for the effort and leading adoption of the program for employees.

Measuring success

How does Once Upon a Farm know if its E3 committee is having the desired impact? In a word: surveys.

“We do the big annual engagement at the end of the year,” Ninegar says. And after every meeting, Ninegar and Hayes ask for feedback. To confirm that people are sharing their genuine experience, Hayes looks carefully at engagement during the event.

“I’m always looking to see how many people are attending, what sort of comments are they dropping in the Zoom meeting.” Hayes says. “I trust that everyone’s going to always give their honest opinion, but actions speak so much louder than words.”

Tips for other SMBs

Hayes and Ninegar shared three tips for others trying to create their own resource group at a small- or medium-sized company:

1. Money helps — but it isn’t everything

“You just got to put the legwork in,” says Hayes. “Research, ask your network, see who knows who. There’s always going to be someone willing to help and to further your organization’s learning.”

2. Lean on your values

“Anytime you can invite your mission or your values into any space, it’s going to better inform the work that you’re doing,” Ninegar says.

At Once Upon a Farm, that means addressing sustainability and finding activities that connect with what employees care about.

“If we’re raffling off any kind of prizes, I try to support a smaller business, get something secondhand, or get a gift card that supports a business that’s woman-owned or API-owned,” Hayes says. “We always try to carry that through when it comes to our work.”

3. Stay curious

“One of the biggest hurdles in doing this kind of work is that you want to be able to lean on what you already know,” Hayes says. “That can be a great starting point, but you don't know everything.”

That often means relying on external partners or taking the time to research a topic before launching a program. “Be open to furthering your own knowledge first,” Hayes says.

It’s hard to create a workplace that employees believe to be fair. Promoting fairness in the workplace means ensuring that employees at all levels feel recognized, valued, and included in growth opportunities.

In a 2023 Great Place To Work® market survey of more than 4,400 workers, only 36% of employees at an average company said they believe they receive a fair share of their company’s profits. Only 51% said promotions were fairly awarded and just 45% said their manager avoids picking favorites.

It’s a different story at the 2023 Fortune Best Small and Medium Workplaces™ Lists.

At these companies, 86% of employees believe they get a fair share of profits — 136% higher than the typical U.S. company. A whopping 91% of employees believe their manager doesn’t pick favorites, 105% higher than a typical workplace.

Research from Great Place To Work, which produced this year’s list based on more than 242,000 individual survey responses from eligible companies, shows that fairness in the workplace has a profound impact on both employee well-being and business success.

“When employees believe the workplace is fair, they put their trust in leaders and in the organization,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. “Workers want to know that they will receive fair compensation for their work, be treated justly and impartially when considered for promotions, and given equal opportunities for growth.”

Fairness is a top driver for employees to give extra effort in their job, a key element for innovation and productivity.

“Fairness might sound like a fuzzy concept, but its presence or absence has real consequences for business performance,” says Bush. “When you crunch the data, employees who believe their workplace is fair are having a superior experience and delivering superior results compared to their industry peers.”

When employees believe people are paid fairly for their work, they are 36% more likely to say people give extra effort at their company. When they believe profits are shared fairly, they are 28% more likely.

As for the workers themselves, higher levels of fairness lead to more well-being. Employees are 2.8 times more likely to experience well-being when they say they receive a fair share of profits. When they believe promotions are fairly awarded, they are 1.3 times more likely to experience well-being.

How to improve fairness in the workplace

Here are some of the top ways to ensure your employees believe their workplace is fair:

1. Clear and transparent communication around pay

Just because your organization offers a competitive compensation package doesn’t mean your employees believe the offering is fair.

Do employees understand all the ways your benefits help them succeed? The best companies embrace pay transparency, offer financial education and well-being tools, and train managers to talk about total rewards.

And the business benefits, too. When workers say they receive a fair share of the profits, they are 28% more likely to say people give extra effort at their company and 46% more likely to stay with their company long-term.

2. Open and inclusive pathways for promotion

In the absence of information, employees often make false assumptions about decision-making that affects them. That’s why the best companies try to make the criteria behind promotions transparent.

It’s crucial to audit the “pathway to promotion.” What groups of employees are harder to find the higher you look in the organization?

When employees at small- and medium-sized workplaces believe they are being treated fairly, regardless of age, they are 1.8 times more likely to experience well-being. And when treated fairly regardless of race, they are 1.3 times more likely.

To help everyone find opportunities to advance, invest in mentorship and make criteria for senior roles explicit and available to all employees. Make sure all employees know when a job is open, and offer feedback when internal candidates don’t get selected.

3. Recognition for all employees, regardless of role.

Making sure your workers feel appreciated isn’t just good for morale; it’s good for business.

When employees say everyone has an opportunity for special recognition, they are 1.5 times more likely to say people give extra effort.

Employees at every level of the organization must feel seen and valued. When employees believe anyone can get recognition, they are 1.2 times more likely to believe their work is meaningful — a key driver of retention, innovation, and well-being across all companies and industries.

카지노 커뮤니티 랭킹 research shows that the best recognition programs are specific, timely, and connected to clear business goals. Make it easy for employees to get recognition from their managers and colleagues, and workers will reward you with top-level performance.

Make the list

To find out how your company can become Great Place To Work Certified™ and apply to our Best Workplaces™ lists, start here. 

Aug. 28, 2024 (Oakland, Calif.) — When looking at the 2024 Fortune Best Small & Medium Workplaces™, their ability to care for the needs of their people sets them apart.

“We see it clearly in the data: When people feel cared for, their full potential is unleashed, and even the smallest group of committed and empowered individuals becomes an unstoppable force,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work®. “When leaders genuinely care for their people, and we mean all their people, it transforms a company.”

To select this year’s lists, Great Place To Work analyzed more than 244,000 employee surveys from people working at Great Place To Work Certified™ companies eligible for either the Fortune Best Small Workplaces™ or Fortune Best Medium Workplaces™ Lists. 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 with between 10 and 99 employees were considered for the small workplaces list. 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 with between 100 and 999 employees competed for the medium workplaces list.

Nearly all employees (98%) at companies that made this year’s list report having a culture where people care about each other. Only 68% of employees say the same at your typical U.S. workplace, based on a market survey of 4,400 employees Great Placet To Work conducted.

For companies looking to increase productivity and improve performance, these experiences are crucial. When employees say that people care about each other at their organization, they are 1.7 times more likely to give extra effort. When employees believe people are willing to cooperate, they are 6.7 times more likely to give extra effort.

“Care, empathy, and compassion are tools that any leader can access, no matter how big their company, or how many people work in the HR department,” Bush says. “At the Best Small and Medium Workplaces, caring leadership becomes a superpower — and these businesses find they can compete with any organization for top talent.”

See how companies that made the list implement practices to foster collaboration and build trust: How Much Leaders Care Drives Employee Performance at Best Small and Medium Workplaces

Winning companies

Here are the top companies on the Best Medium Workplaces list:

1. WestPac Wealth Partners
2. Jobot
3. Paramount Software Solutions
4. Insmed
5. R4 Solutions Inc.

Here are the top companies on the Best Small Workplaces list:

1. Actualize Consulting
2. Tremendous
3. Aimpoint Digital
4. Pinger, Inc.
5. Abile Group

Visuals available:

About the Fortune Best Medium Workplaces List

Great Place To Work selected the Fortune Best Medium Workplaces List by surveying companies employing 8.2 million people in the U.S., with 1.3 million confidential responses received. Of those, more than 213,000 responses were received from employees at companies eligible for the Best Medium Workplaces list and this ranking is based on that feedback. Company scores are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place To Work Trust Index™ Survey. Eligible companies are those with 100 to 999 employees. Read the full methodology.

To get on this list next year, start here.

About the Fortune Best Small Workplaces List

Great Place To Work selected the Fortune Best Small Workplaces List by surveying companies employing 8.2 million people in the U.S., with 1.3 million confidential responses received. Of those, more than 31,000 responses were received from employees at companies eligible for the Best Small Workplaces list and this ranking is based on that feedback. Company scores are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place To Work Trust Index™ Survey. Eligible companies are those with 10 to 99 employees. Read the full methodology.

To get on this list next year, start here.

About Great Place To Work
As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Its proprietary platform and Great Place To Work Model help companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces™ List.

Follow Great Place To Work on , , and or visit myqiche.com and sign up for the newsletter to learn more.

About Fortune

Fortune upholds a legacy of award-winning writing and trusted reporting for executives who want to make business better. Independently owned, with a global perspective and digital agility, Fortune tells the stories of a new generation of innovators, builders, and risk takers. Online and in print, Fortune measures corporate performance through rigorous benchmarks, and holds companies accountable. Fortune creates communities by convening true thought leaders and iconoclasts — those who shape industry, commerce, and society — through powerful and prestigious lists, events, and conferences, such as the iconic Fortune 500, the , and Most Powerful Women. For more information, visit .

Media Contact:

Kim Peters

Great Place To Work

kpeters@myqiche.com

(415) 844-2574

In a 2023 Great Place To Work® market survey of 4,400 U.S. workers:

• Only 36%of employees say they receive a fair share of company profits
• Only 51%say promotions are fairly awarded
• Only 45%say their manager avoids picking favorites

For the 2023 Fortune Best Small and Medium Workplaces™, that changes:

• 86% of employeessay they receive a fair share of company profits
• 93%say promotions are fairly awarded
• 91%say managers avoid playing favorites

Great Place To Work produced this year’s lists by analyzing 242,000 individual survey responses from eligible companies using its proprietary platform. Small workplaces were those that have between 10 and 99 employees working in the U.S. and medium workplaces have between 100 and 999 U.S. employees.

“When employees believe the workplace is fair, they put their trust in leaders and in the organization,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. “Workers want to know that they will receive fair compensation for their work, be treated justly and impartially when considered for promotions, and given equal opportunities for growth.”

When employees believe people are paid fairly for their work, they are 36% more likely to say people give extra effort at their company. When they believe profits are shared fairly, they are 28% more likely to say people give extra effort.

For employees, when they report receiving a fair share of the profits, they are 2.8 times more likely to experience well-being (as defined by a 2022 study by Johns Hopkins University and Great Place To Work.)

“Fairness might sound like a fuzzy concept, but its presence or absence has real consequences for business performance,” says Bush. “When you crunch the data, employees who believe their workplace is fair are having a superior experience and delivering superior results compared to their industry peers.”

Winning companies

Here are the companies at the top of the Best Medium Workplaces List:

1. PeopleTec, Inc.
2. Roth Staffing 카지노 커뮤니티 추천, L.P.
3. Jobot
4. Invoca
5. Cribl

Here are the companies atop the Best Small Workplaces List:

1. Launch Potato
2. Mission Wealth
3. CodeSignal
4. Pinger, Inc.
5. Tagboard

How to increase fairness

Here are the top ways to ensure your employees believe their workplace is fair:

1. Clear and transparent communication around pay.
2. Open and inclusive pathways for promotion.
3. Recognition of all employees, regardless of role.

Visuals available: 

About the Fortune Best Medium Workplaces List

Great Place To Work selected the 2023 Fortune Best Medium Workplaces™ List by surveying companies employing 7.5 million people in the U.S., with 1.3 million confidential responses received. Of those, more than 210,000 responses were from employees at companies eligible for the Best Medium Workplaces list and this ranking is based on that feedback. Company scores are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place To Work Trust Index™ Survey. Read the full methodology.

About the Fortune Best Small Workplaces List

Great Place To Work selected the 2023 Fortune Best Small Workplaces™ List by surveying companies employing 7.5 million people in the U.S., with 1.3 million confidential responses received. Of those, more than 32,000 responses were from employees at companies eligible for the Best Small Workplaces list and this ranking is based on that feedback. Company scores are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place To Work Trust Index™ Survey. Read the full methodology.

About Great Place To Work
As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Their proprietary platform and For All™ Model help companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified™ or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces™ List.

Follow Great Place To Work on , , and  or visit myqiche.com and sign up for the newsletter to learn more.

Contact: Kim Peters: (415) 844-2574, kpeters@myqiche.com

Zapata Technologies sat down with us to discuss their experience as a small company earning Great Place To Work 카지노커뮤니티™ for the first time. 

As Christina Hall, CHRO says, getting Certified is, “in one word: easy. Maybe two: super easy!” Learn more from LaRissa Briggs, HR Specialist, about how the survey explained exactly what she wanted to know about Zapata’s culture and people.