What Makes A Great Workplace, See How Your Job Measures Up

In a Gallup Poll research of what makes a great place to work the answer seem to boil down to people. Here is the story:

A few years ago when, The Gallup Organization decided to initiate a multi-year research project to try and define a great workplace. The first task was to define what "great" was. They decided that while a great workplace should be one where employees are satisfied with their jobs, it could not be considered "great" if it was not producing positive business outcomes.So they studied workplaces with an eye on four key outcome variables: employee retention, customer satisfaction, productivity and profitable. Based on this research, they have made a number of key discoveries.

Discovery #1: There are no great companies. There are only great workgroups.
Discovery # 2: There appear to be 12 dimensions that consistently describe great workgroups.

• Item 1: "I know what is expected of me at work."
• Item 2: "I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right."
• Item 3: "At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day."
• Item 4: "In the last 7 days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work."
• Item 5: "My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person."
• Item 6: "There is someone at work who encourages my development."
• Item 7: "At work, my opinions seem to count."
• Item 8: "The mission/purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important."
• Item 9: "My associates (fellow employees) are committed to doing quality work."
• Item 10: "I have a best friend at work."
• Item 11: "In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress."
• Item 12: "This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow."