Boots Opticians has been voted the best company to work for by a Sunday Times workforce satisfaction survey among over 270,000 workers.
The research, conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, puts Boots Opticians clearly at the top of the big companies' listing with first place ranking throughout a series of performance indicators.
Boots Opticians' 5,300 staff voted it top in the wellbeing, manager and team sections of the survey. Boots Opticians performed particularly well for work and home life balance with a score 12.7 per cent higher than average. Feedback from the workforce showed a great sense of family in their teams, trust in managers and senior managers living the company values. Boots Opticians' staff have the most fun among any workforce in the UK, said the survey report.
Other areas in which the firm scored highly included management leadership, the organisation's principles and being inspired by managers. Staff also reported feeling they could make a difference and special mention was also made of managers' efforts to reward staff. This included its new instant recognition programme which allows managers to reward staff with vouchers and Boots Advantage card points.
Andy Ferguson, managing director of Boots Opticians, said he was delighted with the result. 'Our success is down to our people. We're really proud that they have confirmed their support for our new business. We're also very pleased to have received an award for 'innovation in engagement' in recognition of the work that our Boots Opticians Forum does to create a channel of communication from everyone in the business, direct to our Operating Committee. Our colleagues remain at the heart of our business and are key to our success, and we want to make Boots Opticians the best possible place to work.'
Ferguson said the results were even more inspiring in light of the merger with Dollond & Aitchison, and added that the result was good for the wider profession.
'At a time when we know the number of people applying to study optometry is falling, this survey has told us that colleagues at Boots Opticians go out of their way to provide great service to customers. In addition, 81 per cent feel that their job provides them with opportunity for personal growth, and 87 per cent have the most fun of all firms on the list. This can only be good news for the profession, as well as for the customers who benefit from the high standards of service the industry provides.'