The 2005 Best Structural Engineering Firm To Work For Contest winners have been announced. This year, Structural Engineer honors 25 firms that have demonstrated the commitment and dedication to their staff worthy of such a title.

This year, firms were required to ask all or a portion of their employees to complete an Employee Satisfaction Survey, and we encouraged them to achieve at least a 20 percent response rate (which they all did).We assessed each firm's employee satisfaction level as part of our grading system, and it counted as 50 percent of the overall score.

The first question on the Employee Satisfaction Survey was “Do you believe that your firm is one of the best engineering firms to work for?” A resounding 93 percent of the 1,384 structural engineering firm employees who participated in the survey responded “yes” to this question. This tells me that the competition was stiff. Unlike some other rankings (such as the ones published for colleges), The Best Structural Engineering Firm To Work For Contest does not rank the same firms year after year. In fact, not all of the firms that participated last year did so again (because of various reasons, such as work load or timing), and many firms entered the competition for the first time.

The employee survey revealed much about what staff think about their employer.

For example, we were not surprised with the responses to the question, “Why do you stay at your firm?”Topping the list of reasons to remain at one's firm was “firm reputation, project record, and technical ability.” A close second reason for remaining at their jobs was “the type of work and projects available,” and tied for third were “firm culture” and “compensation.” Even among the best, there is always room for improvement. The two areas in which employee feedback indicates that firms should focus more attention are financial information sharing and mentoring/career development. Also, when asked to rate their satisfaction with their firm's maternity or paternity leave, 42 percent of the respondents checked “don't know or don't have.” I was surprised that 21 percent of employees checked “don't know or don't have” when asked to rank how much they agree with the statement, “My firm supports my efforts to earn professional development hours or continuing education units.” Either there is a need for improvement in the industry's offerings or a need for firms to communicate better what benefits and programs they are offering.

Two final accolades worth mentioning are that 87 percent of the employees surveyed said they would recommend their firm to a friend seeking a new job and that 86 percent of staff who responded are satisfied, overall, with their work experience with their current employer! Clearly, firms that believe they have a great workplace are entering the contest and their staff agree. Again, congratulations to all of the winners for creating such stellar work environments in which your staff can shine.

Jennifer Goupil, P.E.
editor@gostructural.com