We’re delighted to announce that Thirtyone:eight has been chosen as the overall winner of Third Sector’s Best Charities to Work For 2020.
The initiative, which is a joint effort by Third Sector and the Best Companies Group (BCG), an independent workplace excellence research firm, seeks to identify and recognise employers in the charity sector that have created ‘outstanding workplaces’. The programme is open to all UK-registered charities with more than 15 employees.
The research, compiled before the coronavirus hit, shows that the organisations that made the shortlist encouraged activities to create strong teams and foster good personal relationships. They also scored highly on leadership and strategic planning, with over 95 per cent of staff agreeing that they had confidence in their organisation’s leadership.
Steve Ball, joint-chief executive at Thirtyone:eight, says the key to the success of the charity has been creating a culture of care and compassion for all. He likens the charity to an extended family. “We genuinely care for each other and look after each other”.
Part one of the assessment consisted of the BCG Employer Questionnaire, which was used to collect information about each employer’s benefits, policies, practices and other general information. Part two of the assessment involved the confidential Employee Engagement & Satisfaction Survey, which was used to evaluate the employees’ workplace experience and culture.
The data allowed the experts at BCG to conduct an in-depth analysis of the strengths and challenges that exist in each organisation and to determine which organisations were good enough to make the list.
Jonny Gifford, senior adviser for organisational behaviour at the HR membership body the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, says, “meaningfulness of work, good managers, good work-life balance and whether you have a degree of control over the work you are doing are key factors in making an organisation a good place to work. “Relationships at work are generally very important,” he says.
Common among the top-performing charities was finding ways to support staff to advance their careers by offering mentorship or job shadowing opportunities.
Steve says, “We’re absolutely delighted to have been named the overall winner in this, the inaugural year of the Third Sector’s Best Charities to Work For awards. With such a high standard across the board, we’re so pleased to be recognised in this way alongside so many great causes. We believe our Christian values as an organisation are an integral part of the culture we strive to create here at Thirtyone:eight, and we’ve been so encouraged to see this acknowledged independently in this way.”