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HartfordBusiness.com | March 6, 2023 | Hartford Business Journal 3 Most workplaces in Connecticut and across the country have been impacted by workforce shortages. In fact, Connecticut companies reported over 100,000 job openings in the most recently available data. Things are so desperate for some industries that a state lawmaker recently proposed lowering the working age for certain grocery store and amusement park jobs. Talent attraction and retention have become the top issues facing many employers in recent years. And it's forced companies to rethink how they do business from the types of benefits they offer to the amount of flexibility afforded to workers. Today, we are revealing our 2023 Best Places to Work rankings, and if you read the winner profiles you'll better understand the company cultures, perks and benefits that engender employee loyalty and appreciation. Our winners this year were vetted and chosen by a new, first-year partner, Workforce Research Group, a third-party research firm led by President Peter Burke. You can read more about them below. In addition to choosing the winners, Workforce Research Group provided survey results that show some of the perks most commonly offered by the companies that made our Best Places to Work list. Of the 45 companies that qualified as honorees for this year's competition, the survey found: • 58% offer an employer match or other formal contribution to an employee's retirement savings plan account; • 96% have employees who work from home at least part of the time, and 65% of their overall employee population telecommutes; • 69% offer fitness and/or wellness programs within the workplace; • On average they cover 79% of the health insurance premium cost for employees and 62% for dependents. Beyond the perks, our Best Places to Work also have employees who prize their work environment. Of the employees surveyed from this year's winning companies: • 90% said they understand their company's long-term plan; • 89% said they are satisfied with where they work; • 85% said they have fun at work; • 91% believe in their company's leadership; • 88% said their company's benefits package is satisfactory. As much as this special section aims to celebrate this year's group of winners, it's also meant to be a training tool for other employers to learn new ways to create a loyal and engaged workforce. We hope you find it informative. Greg Bordonaro | Editor Meet CT's 2023 Best Places to Work in CT As we look back over the past several years, one thing has remained constant in Connecticut: The best employers did not waiver in their commitment to provide workplaces where employees love to come to work. It's easy to be a great place to work when things are going well. Throw a multiyear pandemic into the mix and you have one of the toughest challenges any of us as employers have ever faced. This marks the 17th annual list of the "Best Places to Work in Connecticut," which identified 45 winning employers doing the right things to keep employees interested, engaged and balanced. This year's evaluation brought some new changes and enhancements. Our firm, Workforce Research Group, was selected to be the new research partner for the program. We were very excited to introduce our new employee feedback survey to identify the winners. We wanted to know many of the traditional things that are used to determine engagement. However, we also wanted to introduce questions about work-life balance and diversity and inclusion into the process. Overall, the new assessment confirmed recognition for many companies that have been on the list in the past, while at the same time introducing relevant measurements that provided for meaningful and current evaluations. This year, 20% of the evaluation was based on what employers are doing for their employees. The other 80% of the evaluation came from the employee feedback survey. We use an 80-question survey to really understand the employee experience in each organization. Employee engagement, or what we call the "core employee experience" was 93% for this year's group of winners. That's amazing since the national average is right around 35%. As you read through these pages, please keep in mind that these winners are not here by accident. They have been very intentional and committed to their efforts to create great places to work. Congratulations again to all of the Best Places to Work in Connecticut for 2023! For more information about this year's program and to register for the 2024 program, please visit www.BestPlacesToWorkConnecticut.com. A message from Peter Burke, president of the Workforce Research Group S p e c i a l S e c t i o n Contents 4 Winner: CT Wealth Management 5 Small/medium companies: runner up 27 Small/medium companies: finalists list 19 Winner: Inspira Marketing Group 20 Large companies: runner up 27 Large companies: finalists list Small/Medium Companies Large Companies PRESENTED BY: EVENT SPONSORS: BEST PLACES TO WORK IN CONNECTICUT BEST PLACES TO WORK IN CONNECTICUT BEST PLACES TO WORK IN CONNECTICUT PHOTO | VASYL/STOCK.ADOBE.COM