Top Workplaces: How to become a Top Workplace for Southeastern Wisconsin

Employers have been forced to focus harder than ever to retain and attract talent amid the disruption of the business environment during the COVID pandemic. Top Workplaces celebrates the employers that are getting it right.

The heart of the Top Workplaces program is an employee survey. The 24-question survey collects feedback from those who know organizations the best: the people who work there. Employee feedback is the sole basis for determining which employers make the Top Workplaces list.

This is the 13th year employee survey company Energage has partnered with the Journal Sentinel to identify outstanding workplaces in southeastern Wisconsin.

“The employee experience needs to be on the mission-critical list,” said Eric Rubino, CEO of Energage. “By giving employees a voice and showcasing an authentic culture, organizations can attract those job seekers who complement their culture. Culture drives performance.”

For 2022, 147 employers made the winners list. Energage invited 2,162 organizations to participate, and they were eligible provided they had 50 or more employees in the region. Most of the surveying was done between September and December 2021.

Surveys went out to 61,960 employees in the region and 39,755 responded.

Employers were divided based on the number of employees in the region, in order to compare feedback of similar-size groups. Organizations that exceeded benchmark scores for each size group made the winners list. Within those groupings, organizations are ranked by the aggregate score based on the employee feedback; the more positive the employee responses, the higher the score, the higher the rank.

Energage also determines special award winners for some employers who have standout scores in certain areas of the survey, such as leadership, values, direction, communication, meaningfulness and benefits.

Why isn’t a particular company on the list? Perhaps it did not participate, had too few employees to qualify or did not score high enough in the survey process. Each year, Energage also disqualifies a small number of participants based on irregularities in the employee survey responses, including if employees say they were pressured into answering positively.

To nominate a company for next year’s program, go to jsonline.com/nominate.

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director for Energage, an employee survey company based in suburban Philadelphia.