What makes a Great Place to Work®

There is no doubt that being recognized as a Great Place to Work® is an honor, especially after receiving the certification for the third year in a row, as Virtualmind did this year! But what is behind all of this? Picture the iceberg analogy we probably all saw at least once in our life. The infographic I am talking about can be applied to multiple scenarios, including this one. The certification in this case acts as the tip of the iceberg, the prize. In general, the world is tempted to bring attention to that. However, this time I want the focus to be on what happens behind the scenes. Have you ever wondered what makes a Great Place to Work®?

Collaborators play a key role in the building of a wonderful work environment. As cheesy as it may sound they truly are the motor behind our company’s success. Without their willingness and commitment to work by the company’s values, and their motivation to achieve all together a common goal, the work culture would not be the one of a place that’s categorized as great. An organization can - and in fact, must - have a clear and identified set of values, an ideology, and a culture. This will help them choose the right professionals when recruiting. But truth be told, the collaborators are the ones who make the organizational culture with their daily actions.

With this on the table, it is crucial to highlight the importance of taking special care of them and listening to what they have to say. If we expect them to live by the company’s values and give their best to create the best possible culture, as a company we have to do our part as well. This is one of the several reasons why the certification is so meaningful to us. It gives us both the chance to listen to our Virtualminders’ thoughts and it acts as a reassurance that we are doing things right, all through an anonymous survey.

Nevertheless, this is a one-in-a-year thing so you have to make sure that you are creating other spaces also. An internal feedback process, 1:1 conversations, or even spontaneous talks would help you achieve this daily. Another thing we started doing a while ago, is giving Virtualminders the possibility to highlight their colleague’s work in our Q Meetings and give shout-outs for a specific awesome thing in our monthly newsletter.

These are a few examples to keep your team motivated and, as we learned in this article, they are the secret ingredient to accomplishing an excellent work environment; therefore, they can lead you to become a certified Great Place to Work®.