As an organisation we found that the particular benefit of entry is benchmarking with internal and external partners, which highlighted the areas that we need to work on. In particular, access to team information and information between directorates, which is relevant to what the council is trying to transform.

Deborah Wynter-Blaney, Organisational Development Business Partner, Stoke-on-Trent City Council

 

This year is our third year of participation, we find the process useful to have an employee survey that benchmarks us with other public sector organisations and the ability to benchmark internally within our organisation. To make the list is just a bonus!

Ann Kiceluk, Head of People & Payroll, Aylesbury Vale District Council

 

We have participated in other surveys in the past, but with Best Companies, you get the added bonus of credibility from external assessment. The Sunday Times list is a well recognised survey which creates external recognition, this in turn, helps with recruitment.

Dee Young, HR & Customer Services Manager, Broadland District Council

 

Best Companies offered us the opportunity to accurately measure our staff’s perceptions. We know that this coming year will be particularly difficult for Public Sector organisations, but still hope to have improved workplace engagement within our organisation.

Paul Bridgewater, Vice Principal, Halesowen College

 

The Best Companies to work for survey was a well-supported, easy to follow process which resulted in clear conclusions showing us how we behave. The approach takes a complex set of issues around organising people and provides a simple and accessible way for staff, managers and leaders to engage.

Annette Gimbert, People Engagement Director, Bucks New University

 

The biggest benefit of taking part is to find out the real story from employees, where you can gain honest feedback. Best Companies offer excellent value for money, and the whole process with additional insight data was cheaper than running the survey ourselves.

Mark Buckley, People Development Manager, Northwards Housing

 

As we enter times of unprecedented change in the public sector, engagement with staff becomes more important than ever. Our workforce deserves excellence, and achieving Best Companies recognition would show that we are one step closer to achieving that.

Paul Taylor, Organisational Development Manager, NHS East of England

 

Taking part in the Best Companies accreditation process and nominating ourselves for one of the Best Places to Work in the Public Sector was an excellent way to benchmark ourselves nationally against similar companies. It allowed us to boast about our achievements and best practice and after the process look at areas for improvement and set ourselves a challenge to meet these.

Alexandra Latham, Learning and Development Manager, Blackpool Victoria Hospital

 

External recognition of this kind gives applicants an assurance of our culture and the benefits of working for us. For our employees, the award has been a source of considerable satisfaction and we look forward to entering the competition again this year.

Simon Bancroft-Rimmer, HR Director, Government Actuary's Department

 

There are about 9 million people working in the public sector and to be in ‘The Sunday Times Top 75’ was a major vote of confidence in Dorset Police by our employees. We are constantly striving to improve and taking part in the 2011 Project to help us do just that.

M Baker, Chief Constable, Dorset Police