Anatomy of a Best Workplace: Insights From the 2013 Award Winning Companies

• And how about your turnover rate? Strive for 8.4% or lower.

Training and development opportunities

• Cross-train employees. A total of 89% of BWA winners had more than 80% of their staff trained across a range of areas.
• Create a succession plan for an aging workforce. Seventy-four percent of BWA firms  had succession plans for senior managers, 59% for key managers, and 56% for key non-managerial employees.

Recognition and rewards

• Incentivize employees. Well-designed plans will pay off and increase profitability and efficiency. (The 2013 Wage and Benefits Surveycompiles successful ideas from more than 500 companies.)
• Develop employee recognition programs. You can find customizable certificates here.

Workplace health and safety

• To keep your injury and illness rate low, you may want to institute a Safety Committee with a mix of hourly and managerial employees.
• If your company has persistent injuries and illnesses, address the issues with a targeted training program.
• By creating a written disaster plan in addition to maintaining a low injury and illness rate, your company can avoid OSHA citations. (Read more about OSHA citations for the printing industry here.)

Health and well-being programs

• Examine wage and benefit surveys annually through your local Printing Industries’ affiliate to ensure you’re competitive with company/employee health care premiums.
• Offer health-risk assessments to employees (and dependents).
• Other wellness program investments like workout rooms, smoking cessation programs and incentives, etc.
• Offer short- and long-term disability insurance.

Financial security

• Review competitive practices of your retirement plans and applicable profit sharing plans with wage/benefit surveys.
• For retirement planning, most BWA firms’ 401(k) contributions were around 6%, and they also provided financial advisors for employees (and their spouses).
• Provide credit union membership and life insurance.

Work-life balance

• Provide competitive employee time-off programs.
• Encourage employee involvement in community charitable organizations and events.

Read the full report, including a breakdown of the 2013 BWA Metric Averages here.