Why the “100 Best Places to Work” list at Fortune is tainted

Jonathan Berr and Douglas McIntyre write for 24/7WallSt.com that the “100 Best Places to Work” list published in Fortune is tainted because the company that compiles the list, the Great Place to Work Institute, has financial relationships with many of the companies on the list, among other reasons.

Berr writes, “24/7 Wall St. spent six weeks looking that Great Place and its practices both inside and outside the US. and found them to be lacking.

“Unlike polls such as those done by Gallup,  ‘Best Companies’ is not scientific, not by a long shot.  Companies interested in being on the list must apply to the Institute, which despite its academic-sounding name is a for-profit institution.  To be eligible, companies must meet a list of criteria including  having 1,000 or more U.S. employees and having been in operation for seven years.

“The 100 ‘Best’ are only the best of the 311 that applied, one large national polling firm  which does not compete with Great Place, told 24/7 Wall St.  In addition, Fortune tells the winners 24 hours before the list is published while the Institute informs the losers.

“‘… our methodology for selecting the best is rigorous and considers the results of an employee survey and an extensive questionnaire,’ the Institute says on its website.

“The surveys, though, are done at the office where employees may feel intimidated about sharing their true feelings, an independent polling firm not involved in employee evaluations told us.  Firms interested in finding out if their employees are happy can also chose to be bench-marked against other firms in their field for a fee of $3,000 or  $12,000 depending on the level of complexity involved.”