Great Place to Work Institute

Jose Tolovi Neto

What is the Great Place to Work Institute?

Mission:
Build a better society by helping companies
transform their workplaces
Leader in Workplace Transformation

Worlds Largest Annual Workplace Survey:

46 Countries + China/Turkey/Singapore!
5,500+ organizations
2,500,000+ employees surveyed

Best Companies publishing partners include:

Fortune (US), Financial Times (UK), The Globe and Mail (CAN)
What is a Great Place to Work?

A Great Place to Work is where

You TRUST the people you work for

...have PRIDE in what you do

and ENJOY the people you work with.

Understanding great workplaces Two lenses

Trust Index Survey Culture Audit

Employees opinion of workplace Managements policies & practices

Trust Index - Employee perspective
Culture Audit - Management Perspective
Increase Increase
Collaboration Productivity

9 Key
Management
Practices

Increase
Innovation

6
 What is the difference between a
GOOD Workplace
and a
GREAT Workplace?

7
Commodity vs Giftwork Interactions
What is the opportunity?
Performance

Employees
operating in
high-trust
environments
produce top
performance.

Time
Dynamics of a Giftwork Culture

Management
offers a Gift

Management Employees
accepts Giftwork accept Gift

Employees
offer
Giftwork
Example: Hiring

Focus is on hiring for potential and

character of the person, rather than
primarily on skill set.
New employees are welcomed and
assimilated into the team with orientation
programs, personal sponsorships, and the
like.
Example: Hiring

What are the characteristics you seek in prospective employees, aside from the skills
needed to do their jobs? Please describe your hiring process, including how these practices
ensure that job candidates will fit into your culture.

Lookforpeoplewithgifts
andtalentswhocangrow
withtheorganization
Lookforpeoplewith
therightjobskills
Screenforculturalfitto
andexperience
ensurenewcomersshare
companysvalues

Extensivehiringprocess
Example: Hiring

Giftwork Cultures

LookforTalents/Gifts ScreenforCulturalFit ExtensiveHiring

Process
Recruit from non- Interview questions Involve peers, direct
traditional sources are related to reports in interviews
Focus interviews on companys values Cross-functional
aspirations, character, Introduce candidates interviews
values to companys Employee referral
Hire for attitude, train products, history programs
for skills philosophy
Example: Hiring

The Offer Resignation Package

Zappos.com
Because having the right person in all positions is important, Zappos.com
will make what is called the The Offer during the four-week Customer
Loyalty Training. At the end of the second week of training, which all new
hires go through, employees are given the option to resign and get a
$2,000 resignation package. Zappos.com does not want people to feel they
have to stay in a position due to financial reasons; they want people to
work there because they love it. By offering a resignation package of
$2,000 in addition to the time spent in training up to that point,
they hope that the new hires will evaluate whether or not Zappos.com is
truly right for them.
Alignment of management and employee
perspectives
 Best Workplaces in Canada
100
Culture Audit Score

50

0
50 75 100

Trust Index Results

Four Seasons Night Own Breakfast
Toensureallemployeeshaveregularaccesstoinformation,FourSeasons
HotelsandResortsregularlyhostaquarterlygroupmeetingknownasNight
OwlBreakfast.Thiseventisheldspecificallyforovernightstafftoprovidea
directtouchpointwiththeoperationsteam.Allovernightemployees
receiveaformalinvitationtothesegatheringscompletewiththemeand
agenda.Astheyenjoyamealbanquetstyleinoneofthehotelbanquet
rooms,thePlanningCommitteeupdatesthemonvarioushoteltopics.
Employeesareencouragedtoaskquestions,aswellasprovidesuggestionsto
challengesthatmayexistintheirdepartment.Often,thegatheringsareheld
inconjunctionwithotherhoteleventssuchastheHealthandSafetyFairthat
beginsearlyinthemorningsotheytoocanattend.
Banff Lodging Company Lifestyle Focus
Banff Lodging Company offers many unique perks to help their
employees enjoy a good lifestyle while working and living in Banff.
One such program is the Canoe/Kayak Pass program. Banff Lodging
Company has partnered with a local canoe and kayak rental
company to offer free 2-hour rental passes to employees. Employees
can use this benefit as often as they like. .
 Delta Hotels and Resorts
Employee Service Guarantee
Hotels and Resorts promises to be a good partner to employees,
and ensures that each team member receives feedback on
performance and behaviour on a regular basis. Through
their Employee Service Guarantee, the company has made a
commitment to all employees that formal feedback will be
provided within a specified period of time prior to or following
the employee anniversary date - or the employee will
receive one weeks salary.
 Accor Holland - Innovaccor
Innovaccor is an online suggestion box. It also contains a
worldwide ideas database. Employees submit ideas to the
hotel director, and employees receive Innovaccor points for
good ideas. Because ideas go directly to management,
employees who may find it difficult to talk to management have
a way to communicate their ideas. Everything is reported on the
website, which allows for both parties to know the status of an
idea. When an idea is not only valuable for the hotel the
employee works for, but also for the whole network, the idea
can be proposed as a ?best practice.? In these cases, the idea
is evaluated by the board of directors and the employee is
eligible for an extra reward.
G Adventures Video
 Sounds nice, but whats the
business impact?

22
Got it, but what drives the results?
BusinessBenefits

Productivity Costs

Caliber of Employees Turnover Costs

Quality Products Resistance to Change
& Services
Health-Care Costs
Innovation
& Risk-Taking

Result
Increased Customer Loyalty
and Profitability

27
How would you respond to the following?

If we can be a great place to work, thats

fine, but thats not the objective.
The objective is to be a great business.

28
At the best workplaces you will find:

StrongcommitmentfromCEOandseniormanagement
Highlevelsoftrustbetweenemployeesandmanagement
A genuinebelief thatpeopleareindispensabletothesuccess
ofthebusiness
Agreaterconsistencyofexperienceacrossgroups
Activecommunicationforums betweenemployeesand
management
Perceptionofaspecialanduniqueculture:wearenotlike
others
Thank You!

Jose Tolovi Neto

jtolovineto@greatplacetowork.ca

@gptw_canada
www.greatplacetowork.ca