José Tolovi Neto
Managing Partner
Great Place To Work Institute Canada

People and Profits

The Best Workplaces in Canada, and around the world, prove that investing in workplace culture makes good business sense. Employees with consistently positive experiences in the workplace are more likely to stay with the organization, experience less burnout, give higher levels of effort, and drive faster rates of innovation.

With the current economic uncertainty, business leaders across the economy are facing increasing pressure to innovate

and grow the bottom line, while taking a hard look at their costs, profit margins and operating expenses. Many executives are likely asking whether they can afford to be a great workplace and questioning whether they need to pull back on their culture work.

In this environment, HR leaders must become champions of workplace culture! Here’s the business case, based on 30 years of data:

Great workplaces have higher retention rates. Even in a cooling economy, turnover is expensive. Companies that earn a spot on our Best Workplaces list experience half the turnover of their peers, and their employees are six times more likely to recommend their employer to others.

Great workplaces have lower levels of burnout. While only 16 per cent of workers at a typical Canadian workplace are thriving, at the Best Workplaces, 58 per cent of employees report a high state of well-being. Employees experiencing burnout are 2.6 times as likely to actively seek a different job, 63 per cent more likely to take a sick day, and 23 per cent more likely visit the emergency room.

Great workplaces innovate faster. When employees trust their employer, they work harder, contribute more and drive higher levels of innovation and productivity. In Great Place To Work research, the highest levels of innovation occur when every employee is empowered to participate – “Innovation By All.” Organizations in the top quartile for an inclusive innovation experience achieve 5.5 times the median year-over-year revenue growth, compared to those in the bottom quartile.

Great workplaces rebound faster from a recession. While almost every organization struggled to meet the demands of the global crisis that began in 2020, companies with high-trust cultures rebounded the fastest. The Best Workplaces outperformed the broader market by 16.5 per cent in 2020, returning 37.4 per cent compared to a 20.9 per cent return from the average stock market index.

Great workplaces have higher stock returns. All stakeholders benefit when workers thrive. Based on 25 years of financial performance metrics, the Best Workplaces typically outperform the market by an impressive factor of 3.33!

Treating employees well doesn’t just correlate with higher stock returns, it predicts future performance. Profits don’t create great workplaces. It’s the other way around.

I am proud to personally congratulate each and every one of the inspiring leaders at the 2023 Best Workplaces in Canada. You are indeed making the world a better place by creating great places to work for all.

To view this report on The Globe's website, visit globeandmail.com

To view the full report as it appeared in The Globe's print edition: Canada’s Best
Workplaces 2023

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