“Extraordinary” Churchill Retirement Living is 25th Best Small Company to work for in the UK

Churchill Retirement Living, the UK’s fastest growing privately owned retirement house builder, has been named as the 25th Best Small Company to work for in the UK by the Sunday Times.  The newspaper announced the list of its annual 100 Best Companies to Work For at a gala dinner in London last week.

The Top 100 Best Companies listing for Churchill follows from last month’s award of "extraordinary” status, the highest possible, from the 2010 Best Companies Accreditation Scheme. Only fifty companies in the UK achieved the "extraordinary” 3 Star rating in 2010.

(L-R) Clinton McCarthy, Jonathan Austin, Founder and CEO of Best Companies and Spencer McCarthy

Judging for the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work For is stringent and indeed the newspaper praises every company that takes the decision to enter and subject their organisation to such scrutiny.

Surveys are sent to all staff and at least 40% of these have to be returned for a company to be eligible. The survey contained 66 questions, measuring eight equally weighted workplace "factors” that have been identified from extensive research within the UK.

This research clearly demonstrates that a person’s experience of their workplace is a result of their perceptions in the following areas: Leadership, My Manager, Personal, Wellbeing (balancing work-life issues); My Team, Giving Something Back, My Company and Fair Deal (pay and benefits). These elements were used to determine the final company rankings.

In addition to the staff survey each company is judged on policies (pay; maternity; benefits; healthcare etc); processes (recognition; promotion; recruitment; communication etc); and facilities (sports; training; catering; concierge etc). The marks gained from the employee and company inputs were combined to produce an overall ranking.

In their report the judges showed that the 127 people who work at Churchill felt very happy with the balance of home and work life (79%) and don’t feel that they are being taken advantage of at work (78%). The company’s extensive training and mentoring programmes and open approach to the difficult market conditions faced in the last year gave Churchill very high scores on sharing important information (83%) and on listening to staff (88%). The company was ranked overall 5th best in the list for WellBeing and 11th overall for My Manager, leading to the judges summary that the company was a "private, family-run business that exudes cosy goodwill”.  Spencer McCarthy, Churchill Retirement Living Chairman and Group Managing Director, is delighted with the recognition that the company has gained:

"To once again be recognised as one of the UK’s top 100 companies to work for is a fantastic accolade for every single member of Churchill Retirement Living.  As Chairman, I am particularly proud of this award. The culture of any company is its lifeblood, for our employees to be so supportive of our management and motivational culture is a major factor in the company being able to continue to grow and indeed for every individual who works at Churchill to grow with us. To have attained the "extraordinary” 3 Star Status in the Best Companies Accreditation, in addition to the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work For list, in a year when times have been so tough is quite incredible and goes to show just what a fantastic team we have at Churchill.”

Lee McArthur, who is a Project Surveyor at Churchill, is not surprised by the recognition that the company has received:

"Churchill is a great place to work. You really feel an important part of the company and that your views and opinions will always be listened to. I couldn’t recommend the company high enough to anyone considering applying for a job here. It is a great team.”

Unlike the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For list, Star Status standards in the Best Companies Accreditation scheme are fixed and any organisation achieving the required BCI score will always be accredited.  Organisations receive a Best Companies index score which will determine their star rating - where one star is "first class”, two stars are "outstanding”, and three stars are "extraordinary”.

For Churchill Retirement Living and its sister companies, Millstream Management Services and Planning Issues, to have gained 3 Star Status, nine in ten of their staff must agree that their manager cares about their job satisfaction. Of the 2010 3 Star companies 89 per cent of staff also said their manager motivates them to give their best. Among companies that did not achieve any accreditation, these scores are just 64 per cent and 56 per cent respectively.
 
Jonathan Austin, Founder and CEO of Best Companies, was fulsome in his praise for Churchill:

"We would like to congratulate Churchill Retirement Living on their outstanding achievement. An engaged workforce is essential as organisations move out of the recession and into a more stable economic situation. Organisations such as Churchill that have kept on engaging their staff and making sure they are involved in the business will be in a good position for the future and should be congratulated for their efforts”.