Introduction
The research paper focuses on the best working culture within the companies that are listed in the Fortune 500 list in America. This magazine provides a list of 100 companies that are best to work with. There are three companies that are reviewed in terms of their culture and the environment of working. These companies are Google, Inc., Edward Jones and Wegmans Food Markets, that would be reviewed in this section and their work environment will be described.
Google, Inc.
Google, Inc. is the first ranker in the results of FORTUNE Magazine's annual ranking of America's “100 Best Companies to Work For.” It is formed with the goal of organising the information of the world in a manner that it is accessible and useful for anyone across the world. The company achieves the forts position because of its people who are smart, intellectual and intelligent in achieving the goals and visions of the company (Strickland, 2014). Ability of an employee is given priority even if the candidate does not have experience, which makes a pool of skilled and efficient employees in the company. Even though the employees belong to various cultures and speak different languages, they share a common goal and vision and serve a large customer base.
When the working hours are over the company makes its employees involve into various recreational activities that range from riding to beekeeping and Frisbee to certain dance forms. This acts as a motivational factor for employees as they come together and get involved in various activities, share their ideas and get rejuvenated (Google). This ultimately leads to an increase in the level of productivity and total output. The motivated and highly devoted employees are able to serve the large customer base in the best possible manner and maintain the goodwill and reputation of the company in the industry.
The open culture of working in Google aims at easy and simple sharing of ideas and thoughts of employees with their superiors. It provides a direct link of communication every week regarding the issues that are required to be discussed by the people of top management. This is another factor that motivates employees to feel that they are valued in the organisation so they put in their best efforts to meet the common goal (Hernandez, 2008). Another important fact that underlines the reason of being the top most company is the specially designed cafeterias where employees gather to communicate across the teams regarding the issues of work as well as other entertainment factors. This would help in developing and strengthening the interpersonal relations, giving them a feeling of togetherness, and cohesion within the organisation.
Edward Jones
Being a leader in the financial services industry, Edward Jones tends to follow its personalised approach in providing financial advice to the clients in accordance with their needs and requirements. The customers are provided with a face to face meeting with their individual financial advisors (Edward Jones, 2014). The company believes that developing a clear relationship between the clients and their individual financial advisors is one of the important aspects in providing the right investment decision to its clients. Employees at Edward Jones are devoted and work with full dedication to help their clients meet their needs by taking accurate financial decisions.
It is the aim of the company to help customers make such decisions that are in their best interest.The environment at Edward Jones comprises of highly devoted employees who come from diverse cultures and places but work with full enthusiasm (Tollefson,2012). They get immediate rewards on the basis of their extraordinary performance and this is what motivates them to perform even better. The company values its employees by believing that there is a unique contribution of each and every employee. Employees have the right and freedom to give their contribution by putting in their ideas, and thoughts. Employees get proper support from the top management in terms of all the resources and equipment so that they can accomplish their goals in a successful manner.
Employees are provided with such working culture in which they can give their thoughts and use their creative thinking ability in taking decisions for the company. This enhances motivation and infuses a feeling of togetherness and accord among the team as a whole, which further expands the level of output of the company (MCDonald, 2012).Regular training is provided to employees in order to polish them with their skills and abilities by providing them with the appropriate support. This helps them in enhancing their knowledge and achieving their professional objectives.
These factors help in creating and fostering cooperation and cohesion among the team as a whole. Employees get the feeling of togetherness and belongingness within the company as if the company needs them and they are an important part of the company (Prosek, 2012). A family oriented culture with its central focus of giving the right decision to the client is what makes Edward Jones to be the 8th ranker in the results of FORTUNE Magazine's annual ranking of America's “100 Best Companies to Work For.”
Wegmans
With a family oriented culture, Wegmans believe in provide a great working environment for working in which care and respect of employees is the top most priority. The company believes in working as a family where employees share a common vision, mission and goal. Each and every employee’s health and well-being and success are important for the company (Boyle, 2005). Employees are empowered and encouraged to take decisions so that they can enhance their level of productivity and give better output.
The reason behind the successful work culture is the belief of the company to understand and fulfil the needs of its employees (Wegmans). A major factor that infuses motivation in Wegmans is the flexible conditions of working and a supporting environment for its employees. The company has provided its employees with various scholarship programsthereby providing them adequate knowledge and training to enhance their productivity. An important aspect is the clear and transparent flow of information within the organisation among all employees making them feel valued.
The achievement of shared goals helps in enhancing cohesiveness among the group and help in developing the interpersonal relations among employees and their subordinates. This is shown by employees giving gifts to each other, writing cards (Smith, 2012). Employees are attached and they enjoy their work so much that they bring along their relatives to the work. In this manner, the training programs given to employees at regular intervals help in inducing and enhancing cohesiveness among group thereby improving motivation and cooperation to work towards the accomplishment of common goal in a successful manner.
Social gatherings and parties are held for employees to get their time off and interact and socialise with their subordinates and superiors (McDaniel, 2007). This makes them socialise and discuss various issues and topics of their interest. This facilitates greater interaction and participation of employees and motivates them to give their best and accomplish the shared goal of the company.
Conclusion
The analysis shows that in today’s scenario, it is more important for companies to provide a favourable and positive work culture to its employees that fosters cohesiveness, team work and enhance interpersonal relations among employees. This would ultimately result in better output and successful accomplishment of the goals of the organisation. References
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Google Company. Our Culture.Retrieved on: March 21, 2014, fromhttp://www.google.co.in/about/company/facts/culture/
Hernandez, C. (2008).The Organizational Culture that Exists Within Google.Retrieved on: March 21, 2014, from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-organizational-culture-exists-within-google-1657615.html?cat=3
McDaniel, C. (2007). The Future of Business: The Essentials. Cengage Learning.
MCDonald, S. (2012). Learning opportunities are central to the culture at Edward Jones. Retrieved on: March 21, 2014, from http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20120326/PRINTEDITION/303269971/learning-opportunities-are-central-to-the-culture-at-edward-jones
Prosek, J. (2012). Want to unlock employee potential? Culture is key. Retrieved on: March 21, 2014, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-managing/human-resources/want-to-unlock-employee-potential-culture-is-key/article4363550/
Smith, G.P. (2012). Employee Appreciation: The Wegman Way. Retrieved on: March 21, 2014, from http://www.chartcourse.com/appreciate-your-staff-the-wegman-way/
Strickland, J. (2014). How Google Works. Retrieved on: March 21, 2014, from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/google6.htm
Tollefson, R. (2012).Edwards Jones advisers handle much more than money.Retrieved on: March 21, 2014, from http://kpbj.com/special_report/banking_and_finance/2012-05-03/edwards_jones_advisers_handle_much_more_than_money
Wegmans.Our Values and culture.Retrieved on: March 21, 2014, from http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=758918&storeId=10052&langId=-1
