Luminus named 'Best Company to Work For' in community housing sector

The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For: Community Housing Employer

1  Luminus   
2  New Charter Housing Trust
3  Calico   
4  Plus Dane Group   
5  Gentoo   
6  L&Q   
7  Chester & District Housing Trust   
8  Look Ahead Housing & Care   
9  Weaver Vale Housing Trust   
10 Great Places Housing Group   

 The most comprehensive survey of workplace opinion in Britain has revealed that Luminus is The Sunday Times Best Company to Work For in the community housing sector.

The firm was only bettered by one other company in the overall UK tables according to The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For list, published in a dedicated 80-page supplement with The Sunday Times on March 7.
 
The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For survey is compiled from results given by employees to 70 questions related to workplace culture, covering their company’s leadership; their personal wellbeing; career development; pay and benefits; their feelings towards colleagues, managers and the company as a whole; and giving something back to the community and environment.
 
The Huntingdon-based Luminus group are involved in all aspects of housing, from letting homes to tenants as a social landlord to the regeneration of neighbourhoods.

Staff find their work stimulating, giving an 83% positive score, while stating that the housing provider is run on strong principles (91% and the highest score for any company). Chief executive Chan Abraham (pictured), wins a special award for the outstanding quality of his leadership.

The company allocates an average of £509 per employee every year for training, covering everything from NVQs to personal development classes such as photography and the good food club. Staff find their training of great benefit (78%) and report that their jobs are good for personal growth (85%), for which the company ranks second out of all 100 companies on the mid-sized Best Companies list.
 
Olympic hopeful boxer Warren Baister certainly benefits from his position at Sunderland-based housing and social investment firm Gentoo, ranked fifth on the social landlords’ list and 32nd overall.

The joiner must train four days a week if his medal dreams are to become a reality, and to allow him this opportunity the company loosened his schedule, and colleagues and managers even gave up their spare flexitime and leave to cover for the 2012 hopeful.

The survey found high levels of satisfaction with work-life balance across the company with people saying that work does not get in the way of responsibilities at home, both earning 74% positive scores which rank Gentoo in the top 20 overall on these measures.
 
Chester and District Housing Trust have jumped up the tables (from an overall ranking of 88th last year to their current position of 44th Best Company to Work For in the UK). The registered social landlord aims to recruit at least half its workforce from the local communities in which it works, creating opportunities within areas of lower income and high unemployment.

As well as private healthcare, childcare vouchers, crucial illness cover and a wellness programme the organisation offers new mothers 18 weeks’ fully paid maternity leave. There is also a generous final pension scheme to which the trust contributes 17% of pay.
 
Overall, the best mid-sized company to work for is P3. This is the first year the social inclusion charity, which formerly topped the Best Small Companies to Work for list in 2007, has had enough staff to enter the competition for mid-sized organisations.
 
The charity aims to equip vulnerable and disadvantaged people with the skills and confidence they need to find a lasting route out of social exclusion. It does this by offering a wide variety of services in the Midlands and London — from two Ofsted-registered schools specifically for children who have been excluded, to schemes for those recovering from mental health problems and hostels for homeless people.
 
P3 achieves top results in six of the eight factors in which employees give their views on the staff survey. People are proud to work for the charity (giving a positive result of 90%), have confidence in the leadership skills of their manager (87%) and say colleagues go out of their way to help each other (also 87%), all top scores.
 
Nando’s, the restaurant chain famous for its spicy peri-peri chicken, is victorious in the contest for the Best Big Companies to Work For. Employees say they love working for the organisation, which has its head office in London, giving an 80% positive score in the staff survey.

They agree that there is a strong sense of family in their teams (81%) and that managers care about them as individuals (79%) and talk openly and honestly with them (82%). These are all top scores, beating the other 24 companies on the list.
 
Softcat, the Marlow-based IT sales firm founded in 1993, is the Best Small Company to Work for in the UK. “What Softcat has to offer to the market is not unique. So the only way we can differentiate ourselves is with customer service. It's as simple as that,” says managing director Martin Hellawell. “It's why we're successful. And we do that because we have staff who love Softcat.”
 
The company earns top scores in the My Manager, Personal Growth ad My Team categories of the employee survey. Staff believe the company provides an excellent service, giving a positive score of 98%. They find managers really supportive (94%) and say colleagues go out of their way to help each other (95%). All three scores beat every other company on the list.
 
Jonathan Austin, chief executive and founder of Best Companies Ltd, which conducted the research for The Sunday Times, praised the high-quality workplaces making this year’s lists.

“These awards highlight the achievements of organisations with good leadership and management which result in high levels of workplace engagement – factors that are even more important in these uncertain times.

"Companies that secured their place on The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work Forlists are among the very best employers in the country and we congratulate them on their achievement.”
 
Jackie Orme, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, sponsors of The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For, said: "Being a Best Company to Work For is not just for the good times. The past year has been testing for both employers and employees. The stresses, strains and pay freezes of the recession are beginning to tell.
 
“However as these companies have shown, that does not have to be an inevitability. Firms which have built trust and engagement and a shared sense of common purpose over time are reaping the reward in terms of motivated employees willing to go the extra mile, despite the tough environment.”
 
The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For is now in its tenth year of publication and is compiled using a methodology tailored specifically to the British workplace.

Full list available on www.timesonline.co.uk/best100companies from March 7.