How fun is your place of employment? Is it a place of ruin and despair ruled by a tyrant dictator that pretends he is running a great company? How about an oasis of entertainment and relaxation in which fluffy bunnies hop around and you ride from cubicle to cubicle on unicorns? Which would you rather have and how do you even measure this stuff? A lot of small businesses do not take the time to explore the realm of awards that are given out to great companies. Websites such as 101 Best and Brightest and Winning Workplaces offer very competitive awards to amazing places of employment. These are not just tiny awards. Companies must pay entrance fees in order to compete and have employees fill out surveys after the mountains of essays needed to even be eligible. Do these prestigious titles hold merit when candidates search for careers, and are they worth the effort and money to promote a company?

From a candidate’s perspective, it is a great way to build their trust and security with a company. Awards on company websites are usually shiny. Shiny things attract people’s attention. If said shiny objects are there because a company is voted as a great place to work, then the award did its purpose. Sure, other places might get the job done, but who really wants to sit in a stuffy office all day doing nothing but the task at hand? People crave interaction, and are likely to produce much more work of value if they are given freedom to do so.

I volunteer at a hospital once a week. In my position, I work with a nurse who loves to talk about her family. She has a daughter that is working now for an advertising firm. Her daughter is miserable there. Her hard work is done prior to deadlines and done well, yet her bosses shove it aside until the last minute and then come at her with corrections hours before it needs to be ready. People are just too focused on their own efforts to care about others. I mentioned that she might want to get in touch with one of our recruiters to find a position she would like.

After viewing the website and seeing that the company was voted as one of the 101 Best and Brightest to work for, she began to prod me for insight on the company’s work environment. I never realized how much it meant to people until then. I mentioned we socialize a lot, have frequent and fun meetings with prizes, and even work out together on lunch breaks while still managing to achieve our goals. She was excited to learn about my job, not because of monetary value, but by the value of the setting I was in. It also made me realize just how much I love going to work in the morning, and how much impact a friendly work environment can have. The only better option to me is to marry rich and not have to work!

I have been employed at several companies and can safely say that the surroundings have become the deciding factor over everything else. I remember walking into this office to interview for a position and seeing multiple awards on the wall stating that it was voted as one of the best and brightest companies to work for multiple times. It made me excited for the interview. I wanted to push the extra mile to sell myself to them.

 In today’s world, the best candidates are not always looking for employment opportunities. Because of this, companies need to learn to market themselves and boost their credibility just as much as the candidate has to with a resume. Awards are a nice touch to a resume, so I can only imagine just how much they add to the perks of a job posting and company integrity.

What do you think? Would awards like these push you to want to work for a company more? And as a company, do you take the time to promote a solid work environment with awards to back it up?

Resource is a team of passionate professionals dedicated to helping individuals and organizations elevate and enhance performance levels in the workplace. For over 35 years we have helped companies of all types and sizes solve their most critical talent challenges through advisory and delivery of smart, integrated and tailored performance based programs and solutions. From staffing and recruiting to training and development, we are all about supporting workplace environments where employees thrive!

 Our value proposition is simple: We help our clients increase employee retention and accelerate business performance.

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