The Best Places to Work in IT Awards 2009
were celebrated in London on 22 May. Here we profile the winning
workplaces.
In Photos: Best places to work in IT 2009
Denplan
Best of the best (>200
employees)
Category winner: Business
and professional services
IT staff at dental payment plan firm Denplan rated
it highly in achieving its formal goals of treating employees
fairly and encouraging teamwork.
The firm achieved top scores in both the business
and professional services category and overall among organisations
with 200 or more employees.
According to Denplan, the staff survey is one of
the most important benefits of taking part in the Computer Weekly
Best Places to Work in IT competition.
Staff feedback is clearly important to the firm,
which conducts its own survey each year to ensure it is doing all
it can to keep employees happy.
This internal survey has led to all sorts of
changes, from toasters in the kitchens, and hand cream in the loos,
to extra holiday, the firm says.
The holiday benefits are indeed generous, with 28
days’ leave after five years’ service and five additional days on
the fifth, tenth and fifteenth anniversaries.
Staff praised the "excellent" benefits and
incentives, but it is the encouraging and challenging working
environment they value most.
Management support in a culture of openness and
honesty with fair treatment and flexible working featured
prominently in the questionnaires completed by staff.
The focus on quality of projects rather than
delivery and the culture of goal-oriented collaboration were also
highlighted.
Most felt there was nothing or very little that
could be done to make Denplan a better place to work.
However, it seems that space and resources are
sometimes an issue, with one employee commenting, "The department
is growing but the building is not."
IDIS
Best of the best (<199
employees)
Category winner: Health,
social care, not for profit
Weybridge-based IDIS sources and supplies medicines
to UK hospitals and pharmacies. With customers in over 60 countries
worldwide, it supplies 600 different medicines a month to medical
professionals.
The company encourages staff by awarding "Bright
Stars" to recognise outstanding performance or commitment from
individuals and teams. Half of the IT team members have been
recognised in this way.
"We work hard and at the same time know how to
enjoy ourselves. We have a social committee dedicated to organising
regular events, from go-karting, to theatre trips, to day trips to
Brussels," the company says.
Its staff agree, saying they value
the friendly
environment, stimulating projects and freedom the company
offers.
One employee said, "The work is interesting and
varied; I feel I add value to the business. The people are very
pleasant, full of enthusiasm, professional and cooperative at all
levels of the business."
Another said staff are given "clear direction on
what has to be achieved by when and why" and the workplace offers a
"relaxed and friendly environment where you can express your
feelings and opinions knowing they will be valued".
Happy Computers
Category winner: IT service
suppliers
London-based computer training company Happy
Computers believes that learning should be fun.
The company describes work/life balance as "Life
Balance" and makes it integral to the culture and ethos of
Happy.
"Life Balance is part of our induction process,
part of our appraisal system and part of our company-wide feedback
system. It is a key reason why staff externally are attracted to
apply for jobs with us and one of the key reasons that staff give
us for staying at Happy."
More than half (65%) of its staff rate flexibility
and life balance policies as one of the main reasons they stay at
the company.
Commenting on work/life balance at Happy, one
employe said, "I am able to support my children in school and work
away from the office. We are trusted and given freedom to do things
the way we want. We are judged on results, not on time spent doing
[the job]."
Network Rail
Category winner: Government
and public services
Network Rail information management carries out
some 150 IT projects every year. It provides services to over
35,000 people and over 20 different train and freight operating
companies.
The organisation prides itself on offering flexible
working. There are opportunities for job sharing, part-time work,
and compressed hours through a nine-day fortnight. Staff can also
apply for sabbaticals and paternity leave.
Network Rail encourages mobile working. This year
it has bought 1,100 data cards for staff across the company, and 50
for the information management team.
The company makes rooms available for prayer
meetings and offers weekly yoga classes on site. There is a stress
awareness page on its intranet offering advice for managing stress
at work.
Staff say that working in the organisation offers
great scope for variety.
"The organisation is large enough to be able to
take up employment in convenient locations and obtain a variety of
career moves in different departments," said one employee.
"There are so many challenges to get stuck into,
and the company is doing all the right things to escape from its
under-achieving past," said another.
There are also the benefits of "great work
colleagues" and a "sense of being part of an organisation that is
delivering significantly important solutions for the UK".
Data Connection
Category winner: IT software
and hardware suppliers
Data Connection, the network protocols software
division of MetaSwitch, came out on top in the fiercely contested
IT software and hardware suppliers category. It triumphed in this
category in 2007, and its in-house IT Support team won in the SME
category in 2003 and in the "more than 250 employees" category in
2005.
The company, founded in 1981, has a slightly
unusual ownership structure. It is privately held by investment
firms Francisco Partners and Sequoia Capital, as well as an
Employee Benefit Trust (EBT), which distributes a share of the
profit to all employees, rewarding them for
their contribution and
encouraging long-term commitment.
It has four offices in the UK, and two in the US.
Its revenue in 2007-2008 was $118m, and profit was $22m.
Data Connection says it is out to make money, but
distribute it equitably, do difficult things well, develop people,
have fun and evolve. This message is communicated to all new
starters and is published on its internal "Knowledge Base".
It said, "At Data Connection the emphasis is on the
individual. From involvement in major company decisions, personal
tailored training and development, sharing in the company’s success
to supportive management, it is all about developing and rewarding
employees… Work/life balance at Data Connection is a reality, not a
slogan. Employees work hard, but within a supportive and positive
environment."
Its employees echo this. "There is an open
management style, no bureaucracy, intelligent and capable
colleagues," said one.
Another said, "There is a good team atmosphere,
everyone contributes to the team effort. We have lots of varied
work, and the opportunity to offer feedback and be listened
to."
Asked what could be better, another said, "Not a
great deal. It seems to be a lot better than where I worked
previously. If anything, it has improved in my 11-year term".
Sainsbury’s
Category winner: Retail,
wholesale and logistics
Sainsbury’s, one of the big four supermarket chains
in the UK, runs over 500 supermarkets and 270 convenience stores.
It was the winner in the retail category last year too.
Communications is one of the company’s strengths.
"We have weekly huddles and newsletters to share business updates,
project news and successes," the company says. "These are supported
by quarterly conference events. Feedback is encouraged and is
formalised annually with a colleague survey."
Sainsbury’s encourages IT staff to develop retail
skills to understand the wider business and impact of IT. They can
adopt a store or work at one during peak time at Christmas, for
example. The company recognises success and rewards staff with
"duvet days" and vouchers.
The IT department organises an annual IT showcase
for the business to demonstrate the role IT plays within
retailing.
Staff say they value Sainsbury’s openness and its
relaxed and supportive environment.
"I have the freedom to influence and change things
around me that I feel hold us back as an organisation. To be
empowered like this makes me feel as if I, as an individual, can
really make a difference," said one staff member.
"The office and location are superb and there are
no barriers between management and senior management. Our board
director is extremely friendly and approachable and known to all,"
said another.
Britannia Building Society
Category winner: Banking and
financial services
Britannia Building Society is a mutual which puts
treating its customers at the forefront of its values.
It also values its IT staff, which is vital because
offering mortgages, savings accounts, investment services, loans
and insurance requires state-of-the-art IT systems, as well as
dedicated teams to support it.
The company introduced a scheme called Mutual
Preferences, which enables flexible working for its staff. These
include flexi-time and compressed working, which is full-time hours
compressed into fewer than five days a week.
Many members of IT staff praised the flexible
working as something that made it a good place to work. But the
company’s values and the work environment were also seen as major
contributors to workers’ content.
When asked what makes the company a good place to
work, one employee said that being part of a successful IT team is
important. "Good environment and a good track record on delivering
IT projects using internal staff to both manage and deliver. We
have a good working relationship between all IT support teams."
IT staff are also happy with their future career
development opportunities at Britannia. "It gives me a clear career
path and training as wanted. It cares about its staff and I am more
than a number," said one employee in the IT department.
Shepherd Construction
Category winner:
Manufacturing, engineering, construction, utilities
York-based Shepherd Construction came out on top in
this category. Among its current projects are those at City Point
in Leeds, Walsall College of Arts & Technology, and the Centre
for Tropical and Infectious Diseases at Liverpool School of
Tropical Medicine.
The company’s values are commitment, honesty and
integrity, innovation, customer focus, openness, safety and
teamwork and leadership.
Shepherd Construction said, "Working for our
in-house team gives the opportunity to get closer to the business
and see the effect of the technology on the users. You can feel
part of helping the company to achieve its vision.
"We use a variety of technologies, and there is
always scope for innovation. The team is small enough to ensure
that people get the opportunity to be involved in varied
activities, but large enough to give a progression path.
"All members of our team have the opportunity to
interact with users at all levels within the business on a regular
basis, not only providing support, but also helping them establish
the requirements for software we write ourselves, or for solutions
that we buy in from outside. No day is ever the same, and there is
always the opportunity to learn something new."
One employee said, "You always get the feeling that
people in the company want their colleagues to be successful rather
than being in competition with them. This works across departments
as well as within."
Another said, "There is an excellent working
atmosphere among immediate colleagues and those of other
departments. Management are supportive and progressive."