Research Studies

Great Workplaces Better Weather the Recession
GreatPlaceJobs.com compared the Fortune 100 Biggest companies to the magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For in four areas: layoffs, bankruptcies and government bailouts, revenue growth (Q3 2007 to Q3 2008), and change in share price throughout 2008.

Their findings in these four areas were as follows:

• The biggest Fortune companies had more than double the number of layoffs vs. their 100 Best companies
• 9 bankruptcies or bailouts in the 100 Biggest; none in the 100 Best
• Revenue growth at the 100 Biggest over the past year was less than 3%; it was almost 30% at the 100 Best
• While both groups' share prices dropped in 2008, the drop was nearly 10% more in the 100 Biggest

Source: GreatPlaceJobs.com, January 2009.

Investing in Employee Satisfaction Brings Financial Returns
Companies with high employee satisfaction generated returns of 14% a year, more than double the 6% return from a composite of the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq during the study period.

Source: Knowledge@Wharton, January 2008.

Engaged Employees Equal Increased Earnings
A 12-month study across 50 companies, companies with the highest percentage of engaged workers had a 19% increase in operating incomes and a 28% increase in earnings per share. On the other hand, over the same year period, companies with the lowest employee engagement rates showed a 33% decline in operating incomes and an 11% decline in earnings per share.

Source: "The Global Workforce Study" by Towers Perrin, October 2007.

100 Best Outperform the S&P 500
From the period of 1998 to 2006, the stock of the companies identified in FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” list outperformed that of the Standard and Poor’s 500 by over 230 percent.

Source: Russell Investment Group, 2007. Cited on Great Place to Work Institute, Inc.'s website. Accessed March 8, 2007.

Employee Satisfaction Impacts Customer Satisfaction in Public and Private Sectors
In one of the largest studies of the satisfaction link between contact center employees and customers, Manpower surveyed over 200,000 contact center callers and more than 18,000 contact center representatives. The group found that contact centers that have high employee satisfaction also have high customer satisfaction. Alternatively, contact centers with low employee satisfaction also have low customer satisfaction.

Source: "Contact Center Employee Satisfaction & Customer Satisfaction Link" by Mike Desmarais of SQM Group for Manpower, 2005.

Organizational Ethics Improve Employee Satisfaction and Commitment
Results obtained from data derived from a questionnaire survey of 237 managers in Singapore indicate significant and positive links between ethical culture constructs (ie. top management support for ethical behavior and the association between ethical behavior and career success within the organization) and job satisfaction. Further, there is a significant and positive link between job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Source: "Organisational ethics and employee satisfaction and commitment" by Hian Chye Koh and El'fred H.Y. Boo, Management Decision 42 (5) 677-693, June 2004.

Companies That Communicate Most Effectively Experience Greater ROI to Shareholders Versus Those That Communicate Least Effectively

Total Return to Shareholders: 1998 to 2002

Companies with the highest levels of effective communication experienced a 26 percent total return to shareholders from 1998 to 2002, compared to a -15 percent return experienced by firms that communicate least effectively. Also, organizations that communicate effectively were more likely to report employee turnover rates below or significantly below those of their industry peers. Source: Watson Wyatt 2003/2004 Communication ROI Study.