What companies where workers are happiest (and most loyal) have in common
The new “Best Workplaces Italy 2023” ranking identifies certain characteristics, such as meritocracy and fairness to employees. As well as policies for parents (there is one company that offers unlimited leave)
WORK
What companies where workers are happiest (and most loyal) have in common
The new “Best Workplaces Italy 2023” ranking identifies certain characteristics, such as meritocracy and fairness to employees. As well as policies for parents (there is one company that offers unlimited leave)
BY MONICA COVIELLO
APRIL 17, 2023
Companies where employees are happiest to work have a common characteristic: they shine in meritocracy and fairness to workers. This is demonstrated by the new “Best Workplaces Italy 2023” ranking compiled by Great Place to Work Italy, which includes 60 Italian companies based on the opinions expressed by more than 164,000 employees of 303 companies.

These virtuous workplaces recorded an average annual growth in turnover of 26% and a “Trust Index,” an index related to the trust of individual employees, of 89% (+2% compared to 87% in 2022). This year as many as 31 out of 60 companies (52%) in the ranking are Italian, while 10 years ago there were only 8 out of 35 (23%).

The ranking was divided into 4 categories, based on the number of employees: companies with more than 500 employees, between 150 and 499 employees, between 50 and 149 employees, and between 10 and 49 employees. The ranking of companies with more than 500 employees sees Hilton, a multinational hotel company, in first place. It is followed by Salesforce (2nd), information technology, and in third position American Express, a company active in financial and insurance services.

Among companies with between 150 and 499 employees, the podium is occupied by Bending Spoons, which undermined after 8 years Cisco Systems (2nd), while the new entry in the category podium is Unox SpA, an organization active in the manufacturing sector, which occupies the third position.

Among companies with between 50 and 149 workers, Biogen Italia Srl (biotechnology and pharmaceuticals) maintains first place, followed by Reverse SpA (professional services) and Skylabs Srl (information technology).

Finally, among companies with between 10 and 49 employees, Accuracy, which offers professional services, is in first place, Systematika Distribution srl (information technology) is in second place, and Cleafy, an IT company, is in third.

What does it take for an employee to be happy in their workplace? The companies that made it into the rankings have increased their workforce by an average of 15 percent over last year, have 95 percent confidence in their leadership, and manage to achieve significant results on difficult-to-address issues such as meritocracy (+23 percent compared to the panel of 303 companies analyzed) and fairness (+19 percent). And they pursue effective policies to support mothers and fathers, so that an excellent worker can also be a present parent.

Unlimited leave

Bending Spoons, one of the leading technology companies in Europe, ranked first among companies with between 150 and 499 employees, offers its employees, regardless of factors such as gender, marital status, and sexual orientation, flexible and unlimited leave with 100% pay when a child arrives (including adoption), a one-time budget of 10.000 for each collaborator who intends to have recourse to any medical procedure or treatment aimed at conceiving or welcoming a child (including egg freezing, fertility treatments, and adoption), and, again, an annual budget of 10,000 euros for each collaborator to help with the expenses of caring for a child (such as babysitting or schools).

“Our policy takes two important things into consideration,” explains Nicolle Wasserman, who leads People Operations at Bending Spoons. “Typically, women tend to take on most of the burden associated with childcare and, as a result, are the most at risk of having to sacrifice their professional success, at a huge cost to society as a whole. Moreover, it is usually easier and cheaper for a heterosexual, fertile, married couple to create a family than it is for those who do not fit this archetype. With our policy we would like to reduce this imbalance so that each of our employees has the best chance of realizing the dream of starting a family and advancing in their careers without being forced to make exaggerated sacrifices.” The policy is based on trust between the company and employees: instead of being subjected to prior approvals and checks, employees can decide for themselves which of the benefits to take advantage of, when and how