What Makes A Business The Best?

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Created on Friday, 19 April 2013 17:12
Written by Joseph Peters

bestplacestoworkAROUND THE NEK - Twenty-one businesses were named Vermont's best places to work by Vermont Business Magazine. Of those, only two were based in the Northeast Kingdom: Wells River Savings Bank and Edward Jones Investments.

 

Wells River Savings Bank appears frequently atop these rankings. This year, they placed second among small- and medium-sized businesses in the state. Fraink Tilghman, the bank's CEO, said that the rankings have a positive impact on other aspects of the business.

"They think it's a best place to work," Tilghman said. "Therefore, if it's the best place to work, for our customers, it would be the best place to bank."

"If we don't have happy employees, then we're not gonna have happy clients," said Larry Cipollone, a financial advisor with Edward Jones Investments. That company ranked second among large businesses in Vermont. "We seriously look at this feedback. It's a feedback mechanism on how we should run our company."

Some have wondered why there weren't more Northeast Kingdom businesses on the list. John Boutin, who publishes Vermont Business Magazine, said the reason is a simple one.

"You have to apply," Boutin said. "There's a fee to apply. Best Companies Group charges a fee to do the survey. It's very, very inexpensive, and from everybody I've talked to, it's very well worth it."

That fee may serve as a deterrent for some Northeast Kingdom businesses, but time is another factor. There are two parts to the application process. The first part is an employee questionnaire, which contains questions about company policies, practices, and demographics. The second part is the employee engagement and satisfaction survey, a 72-question behemoth asking individual employees about their experience with the company. These two surveys take time.

"It's perceived as maybe being time-consuming and also a cost factor," said Darcie McCann, the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce. "I think that's one of the reasons why some of our Northeast Kingdom businesses are not participating in this survey."