What Makes a Company a Great Place to Work

On the airplane ride back from the Workplace of Choice conference last month in San Diego, I was thinking what a shame it is that more companies dont seriously pursue the coveted status of being selected as one of Fortune magazines 100 greatest places to work.

The problem is lots of CEOs say they want their companies to be great employers, but do nothing to hold managers accountable for treating people right. Only 50 percent of employees say their companies are good places to work.

As the talent shortage heats up, well-intentioned CEOs and human resource professionals are easily seduced by lists in business magazines that pretend to reveal the top 20 employee retention strategies. These lists are invariably weighted toward tangible and short-term practices such as paid time off, telecommuting, flex hours, more generous health benefits, subsidized child care, tuition reimbursement, extended parent leave and so on.

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