Since the Covid pandemic, employees are increasingly prioritising forward-thinking work environments. This goes beyond office perks like ping pong tables, free fruit and Christmas parties, and moves into the realms of value alignment, accessible leaders, maternity and paternity leave, closing salary gaps and more of the things progressive employers and workplaces are known for.
Online careers platform Escape the City has produced the Top 1% Employer Certification, a new benchmark that sets the bar for progressive organisations. It focuses on 15 often small but forward-thinking companies that are leading the way. Applicants are assessed across five criteria, from fair pay and inclusive policies to ‘leadership that listens’, including anonymous employee feedback.
Here, we profile four of the firms.
1. Snarky and George
Sharky & George started out as kids’ party planners back in 2007, and over the 18 years since has morphed into one of the UK’s top event companies. Its work spans corporate adventure days, out-there birthday bashes, car rallies and treasure hunts.
Creating and leading memorable parties hardly sounds like work and S&G describes itself as ‘nomad friendly’, meaning you could – in theory – clock in from that beach bar in Bali. It offers private healthcare, flexi hours and salary benchmarking into the mix
2. The Economist Educational Foundation
“Inspiring and incredibly fun” and “the chance to make a real difference”. These are just a taste of employees’ glowing praise for The Economist Educational Foundation (TEEF), a pioneering, female-led charity splicing educational expertise with journalistic insight.
TEEF provides a library of resources on big news events alongside bespoke teacher training, with the end goal of igniting classroom discussion and empowering kids with the ability to think critically about global issues. “It’s a place where purpose and people thrive together,” reckons Escape the City
3. Rare Recruitment
Identifying under-the-radar outperformers that others miss due to racial or social bias is at the heart of Rare’s mission. The recruitment firm uses cutting-edge human resources tech to help elite employers build workforces that are truly reflective of modern diversity.
And it seems to be working: around a fifth of trainees with the Magic Circle of top London law firms are Rare candidates.
Employees praise Rare’s inclusivity, friendliness and positivity. “Rare is changing people’s lives for the better, and bit by bit making our society fairer,” says one proud staff member. And get this: summer months mean 3pm Friday finishes for everyone, not just the boss
4. Unifrog
Sussing out those post-school next steps can be bewildering, which is where Unifrog comes in.
The platform brings together university courses, apprenticeships and further education opportunities in one online space, allowing students to explore their interests and craft compelling applications. Besides having a clear social mission, Unifrog says it’s committed to helping staff learn and grow and that’s reflected in the £500 annual training budget given to employees, to spend as they see fit.
Every staff member enjoys a stake in Unifrog’s success, too, via a share of a company-wide performance bonus.
Be part of the solution
Positive News is helping more people than ever to get a balanced and uplifting view of the world. While doom and gloom dominates other news outlets, our solutions journalism exists to support your wellbeing and empower you to make a difference towards a better future.
But our reporting has a cost and, as an independent, not-for-profit media organisation, we rely on the financial backing of our readers. If you value what we do and can afford to, please get behind our team with a regular or one-off contribution.
Give once from just £1, or join 1,500+ others who contribute an average of £3 or more per month. You’ll be directly funding the production and sharing of our stories – helping our solutions journalism to benefit many more people.
Join our community today, and together, we’ll change the news for good.
This article was originally published on Positive.news and was republished here, with permission, under a CC BY-ND 4.0 license.
See our third-party content disclaimer.
