Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • March 9, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal BPTW 3 A cheat sheet to retaining top talent A s Connecticut companies fight over a limited talent pool, offering a quality work environment with good perks and benefits and a path toward advancement is becom- ing more important than ever. Indeed, talent attraction and retention isn't just be- coming part of companies' strategic plans, it's become a primary focus. If you're an employer looking for new ways to attract top talent, we've got a cheat sheet for you. Today, we are revealing our 2020 Best Places to Work rankings, and if you read winners' company profiles you'll better understand the culture and types of benefits and perks that engender employee loyalty and ap- preciation. Our winners are vetted and chosen by the Best Companies Group, a third- party research firm based out of Harrisburg, Penn. You can read more about them below, but each year, along with the list of win- ners, they provide survey results that show some of the perks most commonly offered by the companies that make our Best Places to Work list. Of the 41 companies that qualified for this year's competition, the survey found: • 88% match employee contributions to an employee's retirement savings plan account; • 68% pay at least 75 per- cent of their employ- ees' health insurance premiums; • 71% allow employees additional paid time off for com- munity service activities/volunteer work; • 78% offer telecommuting options while 60% off flex- ible hours or a compressed work week: • 76% provide fitness and/or wellness programs or benefits. Beyond the perks, our Best Places to Work also had employees who prized their work environment. Of the employees surveyed from this year's winning companies: • 91% said they understand their companies' long-term strategy and have confidence in their organizations' leadership; • 95% said they like the work they do; • 89% said they look forward to going to work each day; • 77% said they receive fair pay for the work they perform; • 78% said there was room for advancement at their company. So, after reading that, how does your company stack up? As much as this special section aims to celebrate this year's group of winners (which we did recently at Farmington Gardens in Farmington), it's also meant to be a training tool for other employers, to learn new ways to create an engaged workforce. At the end of the day, no matter what industry you're in, workers are the most important asset to any company. The employ- er's challenge is to retain the best and brightest, and as you read the profiles in the pages that follow, competition for talent is intense. Greg Bordonaro , Editor How the ranking process works: The Best Places to Work in Connecticut program was created by the Hartford Business Journal and Best Companies Group to identify and recognize best places to work in the state of Connecticut. The program is managed by Best Companies Group, a third-party research firm that manages similar programs all over the United States and in Canada. The Best Places to Work in Connecticut program was open to all public or privately-held organizations, either for-profit or not-for-profit. To be eligible for consideration, companies must have had a total of 15 or more employees working in the state of Connecticut. Companies with headquarters in another state, but with 15 or more employees working in Connecticut, were also eligible. Participation in this program required organizations to go through a workplace assessment process, which included surveying their employees, as well as taking an inventory of the company benefits, policies and offerings. The information was processed and analyzed by Best Companies Group and then used to determine the Best Places to Work in Connecticut. All participating companies went through a two- part workplace assessment process. Part one of the assessment (worth 25 percent of the evaluation) consisted of an employer questionnaire about benefits, policies, practices, and other general information. Part two of the assessment (75 percent of the evaluation) consisted of a 72-question, confidential employee engagement and satisfaction survey. This comprehensive, two-part assessment allowed the workplace experts at Best Companies Group to perform an in-depth analysis of each company's strengths and weaknesses and ultimately determine which companies deserved to make the list. Companies received the in-depth employee feedback report, which showed the percent of positive responses for each of the 72 questions, along with the percent of positive responses within seven demographic categories (gender, age, ethnicity, duration of employment, full- or part-time status, job role, and department). Companies received state benchmarking reports in which they could compare themselves against list- making companies and all participating companies. More information about Best Companies Group is available at www.BestCompaniesGroup.com. Information on the Best Places to Work in Connecticut program can be found at www. bestplacestoworkinct.com. BEST PLACES TO WORK IN CONNECTICUT Special Section Contents Small/Medium Companies BPTW 4 Winner: Cooperative Systems BPTW 5 2nd Place: Saisystems International BPTW 6 Runners-up BPTW 14 Small/Medium Companies Finalists Large Companies BPTW 16 Winner: Consigli Construction Co., Inc. BPTW 17 2nd Place: Edward Jones BPTW 17 Runners-up BPTW 22 Large Companies Finalists Greg Bordonaro

• Cover