What Makes a Great Place to Work?

A recent article in USA Today asks and then answers the question: What makes a place to work a great place to work?

The answer to this question comes from aptly named institute, The Great Place to Work Institute.This institute has identified three crucial factors that make a workplace great:

Firms that rank high on the consulting and research group’s lists of great employers have three traits in common, he says: employee trust in management, pride in the company and camaraderie with colleagues. [my emphasis]

“At the best companies, even the lowest-level employees know they are part of the team,” Tolovi says. “They know that they have a common goal.”

But what about pay? Isn’t this a factor in the greatness of the workplace? Yes, it is, to a point, says one researcher:

“If pay is way out of line (with industry norms), it can be de-motivating,” he says. “But pay really hasn’t been a big driver of employee motivation.”

In fact:

“Most workers say that being treated with respect is most important, followed by work/life balance, type of work, quality of co-workers and quality of leadership. For U.S. respondents, pay ranks below all of those items.”

So what about your workplace? What makes it good to work there? What drives you crazy? What can you do to make your workplace a more positive environment?