First-Round
Success for "Best Companies to Work" Application
When your company is a great place to work, you want everyone to know.
People at a Connecticut-based medium-sized manufacturer were proud of
their work policies and environment. What better way to tell the world
than through a listing in "Best Small and Medium Companies to Work for
in America"?
Applying for the Best Companies list is a two-part process. The first
step includes an essay from the candidate company telling the Great
Place to Work® Institute, which produces the list, why the company
should be considered. If the Institute likes what it reads in the essay,
it invites the applicant to participate in a more rigorous process that
ultimately decides which names go on the list.
Challenge
The client's vice president of communications asked Access Consulting to
help with the essay. She sent us volumes of data on the company's
programs and practices. The information totaled tens of thousands of
words. The essay, however, had a 1,000-word limit.
Solution
We distilled areas to focus on and devised a document plan. Sifting
through the data and zeroing in on relevant facts, we turned in an essay
of 994 words.
Results
On the strength of their submission, the client was selected to go on to
the second round.
In addition, because they made the first cut, the client did not need to
write a new essay for the following year's application. Instead, the
Institute invited them to participate directly in the second round.
# # #
