The publication adds that the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024 Awards are open for organisations across South Africa to enter with the chance of being included within the prestigious list, which will help businesses attract and retain talent.

According to Sunday Times and WorkL, businesses entering will not only understand their own Flight Risk score but also understand their organisation's:
  • overall engagement score
  • Confidence in Management indicator
  • Diversity & Inclusion Indicator
  • NPS
  • Six Steps to Workplace Engagement Scores, and
  • have their data benchmarked against global and industry scores.
Those opting for the enhanced option will receive personalised:
  • Instant Action Planning
  • Action Plans around WorkL's Six Steps to Workplace Happiness
  • Heatmaps on all WorkL standard questions, and
  • the ability to filter results by several demographics such as age and length of service.
The survey, which entrants will send to their employees via a personalised link, features 35 questions centred around WorkL's widely approved employee engagement theory: Six Steps to Workplace Happiness, which includes Reward & Recognition, which are integral to retaining talent. 

According to Sunday Times and WorkL, the survey accurately monitors employee engagement and wellbeing in the workplace and was developed by:
  • behavioural scientists
  • data analysts
  • psychologists
  • business leaders
  • academics, and
  • other independent parties.
To achieve a high overall engagement score, a company must consistently perform well across its six-step framework, encompassing:
  • Reward and Recognition
  • Instilling Pride
  • Information Sharing
  • Empowerment
  • Wellbeing, and
  • Job Satisfaction.
Each of WorkL's Six Steps consists of between three and five key elements, which are measured on a 0-10 scale, according to Sunday Times.

The awards will recognise organisations with the highest levels of employee engagement, wellbeing and satisfaction and businesses will be recognised by company size and by the following categories as well:
  • Best Places to Work: Small Organisation (10-49 Employees)
  • Best Places to Work: Medium Organisation (50-249 Employees)
  • Best Places to Work: Big Organisation (250-1,999 Employees)
  • Best Places to Work: Very Big Organisation (2 000+ Employees)
  • Best Places to Work for Women
  • Best Places to Work for disabled employees
  • Best Places to Work for ethnic minority employees
  • Best Places to Work for LGBTQA+ employees
  • Best Places to Work for 16-34 year olds
  • Best Places to Work for 55+ year olds, and
  • Best Places to Work for employee wellbeing.

The Sunday Times says the deadline for entry is Friday, 4 October with results announced towards the end of 2024.

WorkL, which was launched in the United Kingdom, in 2017, already holds data on the state of work-life in over 2 000 organisations in South Africa, which shows that the overall engagement level amongst employees in South Africa is a strong 74% above the global average of 69%.

According to the data, managers are happier than non-managers in South Africa with a 10% difference in engagement score. Employees between the ages of 25-55 are more likely to be unhappier at work compared to those aged 18-24 and over 55.

The data also shows that the longer you are with an organisation in South Africa, the more engaged you are — employees who have worked at an organisation for less than a year have a 69% engagement score and those who have worked for more than 10 years have a 74% engagement score.

WorkL already powers a number of Best Places to Work Awards in:
  • the United Kingdom
  • Ireland
  • Australia, and
  • the United Arab Emirates.
To find out more visit WorkL's website. 

Lord Mark Price, founder of WorkL, says, "Launching these awards with The Sunday Times will help employers in South Africa to better understand their workforce as well as support employees looking for the best places to work. We are delighted to be in partnership with The Sunday Times in South Africa."

Lyndon Barends, managing director of partnerships from Arena, concludes, "Entering the awards gets an organisation recognition as a best place to work and also will help them understand opportunity areas within the business that need addressing to improve employee engagement and experience. We look forward to working with WorkL and seeing the results as well as recognising the winners."

For more information, visit www.timeslive.co.za. You can also follow the Sunday Times on Facebook, X or on Instagram. 

*Image courtesy of Canva