The key to keeping staff happy

According to the Sunday Times, the best company in the UK to work for this year is Asda.

Its staff turnover is an incredible two per cent despite the fact that a starting salary is typically only £8,833.

The supermarket, which was taken over by Wal-Mart last year, made the top spot because of its attitude towards staff.

Maintaining its second place spot for another year is Microsoft. If you haven't read Microserfs, by Douglas Coupland, you should. It does a good a job of capturing the Microsoft culture of 10 years ago. Very young, bright coders obsessing over the invisible but omnipresent Gates, spending 16 hours a days stuck in front of a monitor and eating junk food.

The culture now is very different. Wellbeing centres offer Indian head massages and dermatology consultations. There's a free gym, which is just as well because there is free ice cream in the summer.

There is also a strong emphasis on looking after employees' families - free health insurance, childcare and more than 16 weeks maternity leave.

It would be easy to say Microsoft has the money to lavish on employees. But from the information available, other companies with big sales figures don't always 'treat' their staff. Using the information presented by the Sunday Times, Intel appears to be one such company.

Compare the chip giant with building society Nationwide, for instance. They have similar staff turnover rates and roughly similar annual sales in the UK. Starting salaries, however, are quite different, with staff at Nationwide earning about half the £20,000 figure of Intel.
According to the survey, Nationwide's management is more than 40 per cent female, it has child care facilities, it gives more than 25 days holiday per year and it matches Intel in keeping more than 33 per cent of its staff for more than six years. It might not offer salaries in the region of Intel's but it recognises the factors that contribute to keeping staff happy.

Notably, 78 per cent of Asda staff feel there is no 'backstabbing' at the company. Older employees are also given the option of taking what is known as the 'Benidorm Break' in winter - three months' unpaid leave.

For fear of stating the obvious, not everyone is driven by salary - some people just want to feel relaxed at work. Others want both - the good pay and the goods perks. And that's why Microsoft has ranked so well. The small touches and a focus on supporting the family means that more than half of the employees want to stay with the company until they retire.

Do you feel that strongly about your employer? We'd love to hear your stories. Post a Reader Comment below or email editorial@silicon.com .