Based on anonymous reviews by employees, the awards rank companies based on key workplace attributes, including: career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, diversity and inclusion, opinion of senior management, and work/life balance.
Recruitment & retention:
Cover story: Great Resignation vs staff shortages: HR tackles the UK's talent paradox
Complex hiring processes are losing talent
Strong D&I strategy keeps employees engaged and motivated
Topping the list this year was software developer ServiceNow. One of eight newcomers to the UK rankings, the company holds a rating of 4.6/5.
Jill Cotton, career trends expert at Glassdoor, told HR Magazine that this marks a record year for employee satisfaction.
She said: “This year’s top three ranked best places to work (ServiceNow, AND Digital, and Salesforce) each had an average employee rating of 4.6 over the awards period – a score that is higher than any other in the awards history and well above Glassdoor’s average rating of 3.7.”
She added: “The pandemic has shown that the best-in-class leaders are those embracing change, ripping up the corporate rule book and putting their people first.
“These are the companies we are seeing on the 2022 Best Places to Work list.”
For 2022 ServiceNow knocks 2021's Salesforce off the top spot.
Salesforce, however, has maintained a strong position, ranking third for 2022 and becoming one of only four companies to feature in all five country lists, which comprise the UK, France, Germany, Canada, US SMEs and US large companies.
Microsoft (#14 in the UK, with a 4.6 average), Google (#18, with 4.4), and SAP (#19, 4.4) make up the other three – all of which are tech companies.
Continuing 2021's trend, tech companies have dominated the top rankings this year, with 19 places in the UK’s top 50, up from 13 in 2021.
Tech's dominance of the list is no longer a surprise said Cotton, given their flexible approach.
She said: “The tech industry’s ability to adapt during the pandemic has enabled companies to be leading innovators of the employee experience. Plus, many have offered flexible working environments and greater benefits for several years.”
Manufacturing and finance were tied for second-best representation, with five companies in each sector making the list.
Cotton added: "What has changed in 2022 is the companies who are going above and beyond when it comes to employee experience.
"Half of the companies featured in the Best Places to Work list are newcomers to the awards, including #1 ranked ServiceNow alongside Mastercard (#14), The Gyn Group (#25) and Octopus Energy (#27).
"Each is excelling in the areas that matter to employees - transparent and high-quality leadership, opportunities for development within the organisation and an employee-first culture."
The top ten companies were:
- ServiceNow (4.6/5)
- AND Digital (4.6/5)
- Salesforce (4.6/5)
- Immediate Media Company (4.5/5)
- Abcam (4.5/5)
- McKinsey & Company (4.5/5)
- Adobe (4.5/5)
- VMWare (4.5/5)
- Arm (4.5/5)
- Meta (F.K.A Facebook, 4.5/5)
A complete list of results are available here.
