New Employment Study Shows which Companies Have Best Work Cultures

Many employers will be surprised to see their best and brightest executives leave for better opportunities after the pandemic, according to a new study of 1,000 companies by Radiant Forest, LLC. This study is the first to create a standardized rating of the best and worst employers based on employee ratings.

“With more employers supporting remote work arrangements, the best employees will refuse to return to poor cultures,” said Ben Lichtenwalner, employment turnover expert, founder of Radiant Forest, and author of the study. “Candidates and employees who are unhappy with their current employer will value these employee ratings as candid insight to cultural realities. Now, for the first time, they can compare how each company ranks among their peers.”

The study compiled 17 unique data points for each employer, across top websites including Glassdoor, Indeed, and LinkedIn. Each company was then given a standardized score, called their Digital Leadership Culture Index™ (DLCI). Using a proprietary formula, Radiant Forest ranked all Fortune 500 and the top 500 of the INC 5000 companies. The result included many surprises.

“It’s shocking how little some employers value these platforms. They are a wealth of insight into organizational leadership and culture. This data can be neon signs – scaring away or welcoming ideal candidates,” Lichtenwalner said. “With the standardized DLCI score, employers now know where they stand among their peers. Employees see this as well. It is the next level in transparency.”

Companies in the top quartile, with high or very high confidence data, included Adobe, Microsoft, Intuit, American Express, Costco Wholesale, Cisco Systems, Clorox, and more.

“These companies are setting high standards for leadership development and employee engagement,” he said. “In contrast, some employers with the lowest quartile scores included Norfolk Southern, NGL Energy Partners, Dollar General, Global Partners, and Frontier Communications.”

Any company with a low DLCI is at risk of losing their best employees. After all, every company in the top quartile is currently hiring. Employers in middle or low quartiles should act quickly to improve leadership development and employee engagement scores, he said. The report includes suggestions for these employers, as well as ideas for candidates, employees, and educational institutions.

The study also revealed some interesting surprises, including:

• Leadership quality decreases as locations increase
• States with more post-secondary leadership programs were 69% more likely to have better employers

Download the full report, for free, at https://radiantforest.com/dlci/

Radiant Forest, LLC is the premiere service provider for reducing employee turnover while increasing productivity through application of SERVANT-Leadership principles. Based on a decade of research, encompassing dozens of leading models and hundreds of leadership best practices, Radiant Forest’s proprietary solutions drive real results for companies focused on real change.

Ben Lichtenwalner is the founder and lead consultant at Radiant Forest, LLC. In this role, Ben helps executives and teams identify leadership gaps and fix cultural problems. His thought leadership has been adopted and applied at Fortune 500, INC 500, non-profits, and academic institutions in many countries.

Lichtenwalner is the author of the critically acclaimed book, “Paradigm Flip: Leading People, Teams, and Organizations Beyond the Social Media Revolution.” In addition, his blog, ModernServantLeader.com is ranked in the Top 30 Leadership Blogs, according to BlogRank. Ben is a graduate of Penn State University and holds an MBA from Lehigh University. In his writing, training, speaking, and consulting work, Ben is passionate about changing people’s lives by improving organizational leadership.