If employees could vote for their favorite company, they’d pick …

by Christopher Elliott on September 13, 2010

Southwest Airlines, Mary Kay and Facebook.

Glass Door conducted an anonymous employee survey, and those companies came out on top.

Why does it matter to you? Well, if you’ve watched Michael Moore’s new documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story, you’ll know that generally speaking, there’s no love lost between employees and their employers.

(In fact, Moore claims America has become a plutocracy, where the wealthy rule. He cites an internal memo from Citigroup that I find highly troubling.)

Given all that, it’s worth asking how employees feel about their employers. Why? Because happy employees are exceedingly rare. And I know from personal experience that happy customers deliver superior service.

Here’s who won, along with their approval rating out of a possible 5 points. (Note: These ratings change often, as new votes are added.)

1. Southwest Airlines (4.6)
2. Mary Kay (4.5)
3. Facebook (4.4)
4. Bain and Company (4.3)
5. Slalom Consulting (4.3)
6. General Mills (4.3)
7. Zillow (4.3)
8. Brigham Young University (4.2)
9. Tiny Prints (4.2)
10. TWG Insurance (4.1)

And here are the worst, according to Glassdoor:

1. Assisted Living Concepts (1.2)
2. Critigen (1.4)
3. Brookdale Senior Living (1.4)
4. Blinkx (1.5)
5. Union Switch & Signal (1.6)
6. Timegate Studios (1.6)
7. Comodo (1.6)
8. Valtech (1.7)
9. Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (1.7)
10. Kana (1.7)

What does that mean to you?

Well, good — and bad — companies come in all shapes and sizes. If you’re about to make a purchase, consulting the Glassdoor survey might be a prudent move. If you’re thinking of going to work for one of these companies, it’s definitely worth looking at these lists.

(Photo: k manohar/Flickr Creative Commons)

Tagged as: Employee, Facebook, Mary Kay, Service, Southwest Airlines

  • http://www.sanibel-rentals.net Sylvia

    Interesting post. Could it be the seemingly unknown companies named as worst places are unknown because employees are unhappy? I do find it equally troubling that two elder care organizations are in the ranks of unhappiest employees. Makes me wonder why.

  • atlmom

    Seriously, I think part of the reason for the way that employees and employers treat each other is govt policy. it works well for them, no? When they make the companies the enemy ,then, they can come in and say: there, there, we’re from the govt, we’re here to help.

    And they do a lousy job, but apparently, we don’t care.

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  • Elizabethradley

    Assisted Living Concepts is a very bad company to work for.  They have meetings that train their employees to lie to the public and families of the elderly.  They do this to get the elderly moved in and then they do not offer what they say and will charge them more for their care.  Their is also a non-refundable deposit at the time of move in which is in the thousands.  If the employee refuses to lie, they fire them and call them trouble makers and liars.  On an average, Resident Directors the run each individual house is fired and replaced on an average of every six months.  Most of the houses have a lot of empty rooms.  They are now hiring caregivers and med aides that they can pay minimum wage and chased all the good and qualified employees that they were paying more.  These new employees do not even have a GED and have no experience.  These new employees will also follow suit with what the company wants because they are desperate for a job due to prior drug convictions and child endangerment.  These new employees will keep quite and do what they want because they need a job and the company knows this.  They are also not aware of State laws that they continuosly brake.  When they State visits these facilities, the employees are warned and told what to say.  The company likes to use the fear tactic with the employees.

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