James M. Berklan

Long-term care providers can start getting their own special recognition this fall in a customized Fortune magazine “Top Workplaces” list. It’s about time.

Everyone in the profession should benefit from the good vibes the list will generate. Fifty or more aging services groups could make the list when it’s issued in September. Be advised that applications are currently being collected and evaluations have begun.

It means that instead of being smeared by the bad deeds of providers they don’t know, this time providers around the profession could benefit from good pub generated by colleagues they don’t know.

The key to the “Top Workplaces” lists is employee feedback and perceptions. Therefore, good employers and managers can emerge from the shadows. By extension, the industry’s image gets a shot in the arm. Double victory.

On top of that, Fortune makes all of the larger list “winners” eligible for recognition on other, bigger lists. Who wouldn’t want to rub elbows with Google, Marriott, Cheesecake Factory and other highly regarded national employers?

“Over the last 25 years, Great Places To Work has focused on companies building high-trust cultures,” explained Jacquelyn Kung, Ph.D., the CEO of Activated Insights, which is helping coordinate the entry process.

Providers who don’t mind paying the administrative costs will have a random selection of their employees fill out the 54-question Trust Index™. It gauges how workers feel about pride, respect, credibility, fairness and camaraderie in their workplace.

The other part of the judging is a “culture brief,” which addresses how the company thinks it’s doing with its benefits and other human resources-related functions. Companies of all sizes have a good shot, I’ve been told.

“If you think ‘employee engagement,’ it’s employees who want to do more, speak up and contribute more to the company,” explained Amanda Breeden, the head of business development for Activated Insights. “To do that, you need to like where you’re working, and you need to trust that if you speak up, you’ll be listened to.”

The Great Place to Work Institute has shown that there is a correlation between engaged employees, customer satisfaction and overall business results, Breeden pointed out.

“This is engagement with a chance for national recognition,” she noted. “For our industry, it will be taking off the stigma a little bit, so it becomes, ‘Wow, this is an industry where you can build a career.’”