What do the best companies to work for in Argentina have in common? It may not be what you expect

For over 35 years, Great Place to Work® has been publishing the “Best Companies to Work for” lists in more than 50 countries around the world. Organizations that stand out for their policies and treatment of their employees, and that contribute to the development of people and society are recognized.

What was the path taken by the leading companies? What are the best practices that directly influence the wellbeing of the employee and that can be taken by companies that seek to become a great place to work?

In Argentina, the 2018 winning companies turned to technology to help shape their culture and drive the initiatives, and many of them specifically chose StarMeUp OS for their digital journey.

The best places to work for in Argentina

In Argentina 20 companies were recognized by Great Place to Work 2018 in large workplaces category (with more than 1000 employees). And the winners were:

Worldwide, in the ranking “The best workplaces in the world 2018”, Mercado Libre was also recognized in the 7th position.

For companies, beyond what it means in terms of reputation and as employer brand positioning strategy, to be included in the ranking “best companies to work for” it gives them an accurate and objective organizational culture evaluation done by employees, which brings additional key insights to help them to become “the best version” of themselves. What does being “Great Place to Work” mean? And what is the criteria to define a company as one of the top companies to work for?

Criteria for being a great place to work in 2018

The Great Place to Work award is mainly defined by the opinion of its employees, who according to GPTW evaluators “can evaluate the behaviors that characterize a trustworthy work environment, an essential factor in the creation building of an excellent workplace”.

So, how are the winning companies chosen? Great Place to Work assess “the employee’s voice” through an employee survey -Trust Index© – and assess “the leader’s vision” with a management questionnaire – Culture Audit© -. With these two evaluation tools, the company’s human resources policies (diversity, recruitment, training, work environment) are audited, as well as employees’ perception of the work experience and the effectiveness of practices that impact on the workplace culture.

In this way GPTW elaborates lists and rankings that identify, classify and define which are the great companies to work for.

Winning companies are often innovative and disruptive in terms of benefits, making significant differences compared to the others.

For example, Banco Galicia implemented the BetterMe platform, which “made it possible to make the new Performance Management model tangible, in which the competencies no longer have a numerical note; and enabled us to focus on our team’s development, the outcomes and enhance the culture of trust”, said Mariana Ageitos, Talent Management Coordinator of Banco Galicia.

Mercado Libre, supports their female employees who would like to extend their fertility cycle. They provide a benefit to fund egg preservation, supporting women during the family planning period of their lives.

Common characteristics of the best workplaces

So what distinguishes organizations that provide the best working experience? And what do good companies to work for GPTW have in common?

The top places to work are not created magically through a list of policies; they are continually evolving through best practices and relationships between employees and leaders.

Nowadays, we are seeing even more companies using technology to help them better executive these initiatives. Furthermore, in Argentina we saw that four of the top companies specifically use StarMeUP OS as a resource to create the best culture.

So what do companies that develop a successful cultural strategy have in common? What is it that helps them stand out from the rest? It’s recognition, communication, feedback and data/insights, all foundational factors of StarMeUP OS.

1. Recognition

Recognize individual contributions and give employees the opportunity to recognize their colleagues. A concept so simple and at the same time so important to encourage team work, respect and integration between peers. The winning companies seek to strengthen their corporate culture by being coherent between the values they support and their daily behavior.

“StarMeUp was very successful for the organization: it allowed us to leverage the 360 Values Program and shorten geographical distances”, said Florencia Bozzini, Banco Galicia Sr. Analyst of Communication and Culture.

The following table shows that peer to peer recognition is the corporate practice that grew the most in 2017, confirming its undeniable positive impact on the corporate culture.

2. Communication

The best companies to work for strive to have bi-directional, open, transparent and accessible communications with all members of the organization, at all times. If GPTW is based on the work environment employee’s perception of their own company, it is not surprising to realize that the good places to work are the ones that manage to place the employee’s voice at the center of their communication strategy.

3. Feedback

Linked to communication, another practice that shows maturity and business leadership is providing ongoing feedback to employees, a fundamental practice to lead successful teams, but also to help people improve, learn and identify career opportunities.

4. Technology

The ability of organizations to innovate is a key competitive advantage for their sustainability. This is why the best organizations invest in technologies that generate significant data and metrics to improve decision making. Leading companies begin the path of digital transformation by gathering data and using artificial intelligence for the well-being of their human resources. They expand spaces to motivate collaborators and to make them live the organizational values on a day-to-day basis.

With StarMeUp platform for example, employee interactions are captured providing important insights and metrics about the organizational culture, identifying influencers and empowers them to make an even greater impact. With StarMeUpOS, digital transformation becomes a cultural one!

The dilemma of the chicken and the egg in cultural transformation

Banco Galicia: Leaders team building meeting and presentation of BetterMe. The guests participated in an innovative feedback activity.

“The construction of a culture of trust, like the one we live at Banco Galicia, is enhanced through different practices, like recognition. We encourage conversations about development and performance, which are key to boost engagement and strength work teams. StarMeUp and BetterMe are the tools we chose to give digital support to our practices”, explains Mariana Ageitos, Talent Management specialist and Banco Galicia Organizational Development Manager.

Banco Galicia acquired StarMeUp in 2016 and since then the survey question about recognition “Everyone has the opportunity to receive a special recognition”, went from 72 to 81 points in The Trust Index ©.

The question is: What is the first step that an organization must take to build a culture of excellence? There isn’t any doubt that every transformation implies a process and an adaptation of the people involved. Is it enough to acquire technology recognition or performance platforms? No, the change must be part of a cultural strategy supported by the company’s leaders. Are good intentions for transformation enough? No, it is necessary to innovate and provide tools so that employees can become owners of the cultural change.

Transformation is a process that is fuel back and powered by the decision to improve the organizational culture, and is consolidated with tools that back up that decision.

And the key to success is …

Creating a trustworthy organizational culture is a fundamental competitive advantage to become a successful organizations. Companies that develop excellent cultural strategies generate the commitment and loyalty of their employees, key aspects of offering an outstanding and sustainable business performance. And then they use technology to help them bring their excellent vision into a even better reality.