Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

Introduction
It is pleasing to see that despite one of the toughest periods of trading that the industry has
experienced, Mace is still recognised as one of the 100 best companies to work for.
Though the Groups ranking has slipped to 87 it is worth noting that 963 companies participated
this year and 230,000 employees were surveyed, thats 30,000 more than last year. The Group is
competing against companies which range from 250 to 4,999 employees in all sectors from retail to
not-for-profit, some of which it is difficult to make a like for like comparison with.
Year

Ranking

02/03
03/04
04/05
06/07
07/08
08/09
09/10

50th
48th
26th
46th
55th
63rd
87th

The chart below shows our overall scores in two ways:

the height of the bar and left hand scale shows our performance in each factor on a scale of 1

to 7 where 1 indicates the most negative response, 4 is neutral and 7 is most positive

the pop up on each bar indicates our ranking against all of the companies which entered the

competition

Note: results for negatively phrased questions have been reversed so that their score indicates
disagreement with the statement rather than agreement.

Our highest scoring factor is My Company and our lowest scoring is Fair Deal. This is followed
closely by Giving Something Back and Wellbeing.
Our highest ranking factor was Personal Growth and our lowest was My Team.
Overall there is a slight reduction in all our scores compared to last year see next section.

Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

Year on year comparisons
The chart below shows the year on year change in each factor since our first entry in 02/03.
Compared to last year there has been a decrease in the scores of all eight factors.
The factors which have seen the largest decrease are Personal Growth (-5%), My Manager, Fair
Deal and Wellbeing (all down by 4%).

An analysis of each factor in turn follows.

Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

My Manager
The highest scoring question in this factor asked people whether they agree that their manager
talks openly and honestly with them this question scored 5.35 out of 7, although it was 2% down
compared to last year. The highest ranking question asked whether people have confidence in the
leadership skills of my manager.
The lowest scoring question asked whether people think their manager motivates them to give their
best every day. This scored 4.64 out of 7 and saw the biggest drop compared to last year. The
lowest ranking question, 178th out of all the companies which entered, asked whether managers
express their appreciation when employees do a good job.

Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

Leadership
The highest scoring question in this factor asks whether people have a great deal of faith in the
person leading this organisation. This scores 5.52 and has increased slightly compared to last
year. The highest ranking question asks about confidence in the leadership skills of the senior
team as a whole.
The lowest scoring question, achieving just 4.61, focuses on whether senior managers talk more
than they listen. This question saw the largest drop (of 5%) compared to last year.
Compared to last year questions about the leader scored more or less the same while questions
about senior management as a whole saw some reduction in scores.

Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

My Company
Once again this is our highest scoring factor with all questions scoring well above 5 out of 7.
We scored 5.77 out of 7 on whether our people feel proud to work for the organisation an
excellent result and the highest scoring question in the entire survey. The lowest score was to the
question which asked whether people love working for the organisation although this still scored
5.29 out of 7. This was also our lowest ranking question in this factor.
There has been little change in scores in this factor compared to last year.

Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

Personal Growth
As mentioned this factor ranks the highest compared to other organisations, however compared to
last year it has seen the largest drops in scoring.
The two highest scoring questions in this theme tell us that most people feel that the experience
they gain from their job is valuable for their future and that their job is good for their personal
growth. The former is also our highest ranking question in this factor.
Our lowest scoring and lowest ranking question in this factor asks whether training is of great
benefit to individuals personally. This scores 4.59 and has decreased by 8% compared to last
year.
Of particular concern when comparing our scores to the previous year is the question asking
whether there are opportunities to learn and grow within the organisation. 7% less people felt that
there are opportunities to learn and grow. This follows a drop of 6% in 2009 from the previous
year.

Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

My Team
Most respondents agreed that their team is fun to work with, that people in their team care for each
other and go out of their way to help each other. Compared to other companies however, this
factor overall ranks the lowest.
The lowest scoring question asked whether there is a strong sense of family in the team. This
scored 4% less than in 2009, along with the question asking whether work gives people a buzz.

Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

Giving Something Back
Scores in this factor are considerably lower than others and always have been. The Sunday Times
states that this factor had scored lowest throughout the history of the Best Companies list up until
2009 and since then scores have been increasing. They also point out that scores in this factor
also affect scores in My Company, My Manager and My Team, thus making a difference in this
area would have a positive knock-on effect on our overall ranking.
Our highest scoring and highest ranking question, scoring 5 out of 7, asked if people believe that
the organisation does enough to protect the environment. The lowest scoring and lowest ranking,
achieving just 4.26 asks whether the organisation should put more back into the local community.
The question asking whether profit is the only driver of the organisation saw the largest decrease in
score (-5%), perhaps a reflection of the economic difficulties of the time.

Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

Fair Deal
Once again scores in this factor were significantly lower than others. The highest scoring,
achieving 4.82, asked if people are happy with their pay and benefits. This has dropped by 3%
compared to last year.
Once again the lowest scoring and lowest ranking question asked people whether they think they
are paid fairly compared to others within the organisation. This has dropped by 6% since last year.

Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

Wellbeing
Scores in this factor were again lower compared to all others, with some questions only just
crossing the neutral point and one question scoring lower than neutral.
The highest scoring question however achieved 5.38 out of 7 and this asked whether respondents
think that their health is suffering because of their work. The second highest question asked
whether people have had stress related symptoms in the last 12 months because of work.
The highest ranking question, in 99th place asked whether people are under too much pressure at
work to perform well.
Our lowest scoring question indicates that most respondents said that they feel exhausted when
they go home from work this scored just 3.68 and dropped by 4% compared to last year.
The lowest ranking question asked people whether their work interferes with their responsibilities at
home.

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Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

Feedback Questions
The highest scoring question here asked people if they would leave the company tomorrow if they
had another job to go to - scoring 5.36 out of 7 and down by 5% compared to last year.
The lowest scoring question, not surprisingly, asked whether the economic climate makes people
feel worried about the organisations future.
Worryingly 6% less described their role as their dream job compared to 2009.

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Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 Results

Summary of areas for concern
>

All categories have seen a reduction in scores, and most individual questions have reduced
with just a few staying the same

>

The biggest drop in scores is in the Personal Growth, My Manager, Fair Deal and Wellbeing
categories

>

Individual questions with significantly reduced scores are as follows:

o
o
o

My Manager My manager motivates me to give my best every day (-7%)

My Manager My manager cares about how satisfied I am in my job (-6%)
My Manager My manager helps me to fulfil my potential (-6%)

Leadership Senior managers do a lot of telling and not much listening (-5%)

o
o

Personal Growth The training in this job is a great benefit to me (-8%)

Personal Growth There are limited opportunities for me to learn and grow (-7%)

Giving Something Back Profit/budget concerns are the only things driving this
organisation (-5%)

Fair Deal I am paid fairly for the work that I do relative to others in the
organisation (-6%) This is our lowest scoring question in the survey.

o
o

Wellbeing Sometimes I feel that this organisation takes advantage of me (-8%)

Wellbeing I am happy with the balance between my work and home life (-5%)

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