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Employees in this year’s 71 Top Workplaces winners overwhelmingly expressed happiness and satisfaction with their jobs and employers. Energage’s survey system allowed employees to give anonymous, insightful feedback to the question: “Why do you love your job?” It should come as no surprise that, across every industry, and every size of business, the most common answers were “benefits packages” and “a lot of PTO.” 

In hundreds of comments from workers who responded to the survey, what stood out was how family-minded they were. From one employee of a large business: “I am able to do what I love with coworkers that I love and a company that cares about prioritizing family time with a lot of PTO.” Time and time again, employees mentioned their appreciation for “a flexible schedule because (company) knows I have a young kid,” and “the freedom to take care of my children & being able to work from home if need be.”

Top Workplaces help facilitate the lives and livelihoods of their workers, through means equally monetary and personal. Another common theme was the satisfaction of workers who felt their job made a difference in their community. Said one small business employee: “(T)here is a clear relationship to tangible economies and future workers everywhere that we have a footprint. I get to contribute to this on a daily basis.” Impact comes in many forms, and other workers praised the fact that “at the end of every day I truly feel like I've made a difference in the lives of my patients and their families.”

Invariably, employees said they appreciate that their input, opinions, and viewpoints matter to their companies. “(Workplace) is united in our diversity, and we welcome every individual. With us you are seen, you are heard, and you are valued,” said one employee of a midsize business. The Top Workplaces on this list valued diversity to keep their ideas fresh and sourced from a wide knowledge-pool, which keeps their businesses competitive in the marketplace. 

Teamwork and positive company culture entwined with financial incentives were top of mind for many workers as well. “The incentive structure includes all associates. Given that all associates are also shareholders, we all want to do what's best for the firm, which should result in higher stock value. This also improves personal net worth,” praised a worker from a large business.

Across the board, no matter the size of the company or type of service, workers at these Top Workplaces emphasized how important it was that their employers took into account their individualized needs. Whether from an understanding of extenuating circumstances translating to flexible hours for family emergencies, to company cultures of family-first work-second, to robust PTO plans or company-funded maternity leave programs, Top Workplaces demonstrated that they knew the importance of their employees through action. To quote a recurring phrase across the profiles of these winning businesses, these companies knew their “biggest asset (was their) employees.”