Is your company one of D-FW’s Top Workplaces? Nominations open today

Today, The Dallas Morning News launches our 15th year of honoring outstanding places where employees actually enjoy going to work.

But we’ve decided to shake things up a bit.

It’s no longer the Top 100 Places to Work. Our 2023 competition is now Top Workplaces D-FW.

Last year, a record number of companies and organizations entered our competition. We noticed many worthy stalwarts, as well as new entrants, didn’t quite make the standout cut and were listed as one of our National Standard Winners.

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Because our competition is so stiff, organizations on this list would have been a Top 100 in any of the other 60 markets where our research partner Energage conducts its surveys for media partners that include The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune. It collected responses from more than 2 million employees at over 8,000 organizations in 2022.

So this year, we’re expanding those deemed to be the best of the best in Dallas-Fort Worth to include 150 public, private, nonprofit and government organizations.

To balance out the number of organizations being honored, we’re also reducing our slate of National Standard Winners in half to 50.

Since its inception in 2009, our competition has highlighted local employers who raise the bar of workplace excellence throughout North Texas.

Once again, we’re looking for organizations that give their employees a sense of purpose and show them love and respect on a daily basis. Workers have confidence that their leaders have a vision for success and a game plan to get there.

The pipeline officially opens today.

Perhaps the most important reason for entering our competition is that the North Texas economy is still in a hiring mode. That means bringing new talent on board, while hanging on to your tried-and-true.

I promise you’ll learn something

Winning shows your associates that you really care about them, says Energage CEO Eric Rubino, adding that it is more important than ever to create a culture that makes employee appreciation and recognition a top priority.

“Top Workplaces D-FW allows employers to get a read on areas that they should be celebrating and areas they should be focusing on,” Rubino said. “You have to acknowledge employees genuinely and consistently.”

As our publisher and CEO Grant Moise puts it: “Businesses survive or thrive on the foundation of their employees. By expanding our winners list to 150, we will be able to highlight more organizations that are raising the bar of excellence for others to emulate and have cultures that make their employees feel like they are a part of something special.”

Last year, 383 organizations with 113,586 employees agreed to put themselves under the cultural microscope. Nearly 40% of those that entered were recognized as either a Top 100 or National Standard organization.

But don’t think that entering is a shoe-in.

Mediocre companies don’t want to put themselves on the line — even though they could learn valuable internal information if they did.

And we don’t list companies that don’t make either list.

Each entrant gets a summary of its survey results from Energage, which outlines areas where it is exceeding expectations and those where it has work to do.

We’ve had several companies use that information to shore up their shortcomings to make the grade the following year.

Free, but with strings attached

So here’s the nitty-gritty.

Any organization — publicly held, privately owned, nonprofit or government agency with at least 50 employees can enter. Companies in Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, Collin, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall and Wise counties are eligible.

Most nominations come from inside the companies, usually from human resources departments. But anyone can go online and nominate a company they feel is going above and beyond. Maybe you’re a supplier or customer who’s spotted such a business and wants it to get a public shoutout.

We have three size categories so there’s some parity among the competitors.

Your company doesn’t have to be based here. Smaller units of big corporations are eligible as long as they have 50 or more workers in North Texas.

Energage invites nominated companies to participate. If they agree to the challenge, their employees will be surveyed this month through May.

It’s absolutely free and provides authentic feedback. But it comes with strings attached.

Companies have to give us email access to every employee or agree to distribute paper surveys with return envelopes. At least 35% of your employees must respond, and you can’t strong-arm, play Big Brother or serve them pizza to do so.

We’ve booted entries when such transgressions came to light. And believe me, we do hear about these things.

Quick and easy

Employees rank 24 statements on a 7-point scale, ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree.”

These statements include:

• My job makes me feel like I am part of something meaningful.
• New ideas are encouraged at this company.
• I have the flexibility I need to balance my work and personal life.
• And I have confidence in the leader of this company.

The survey takes about five minutes to complete. The responses are anonymous so workers can freely dish out criticism. And they do.

The highest-scoring companies will be announced in November.

So it’s game on. And we sincerely hope that you want to show that your organization is a game changer.

Rules of engagement

Who can nominate: Anyone

What it costs: Nothing

Who can enter: Any organization — public, private, nonprofit or government — with at least 50 employees in the North Texas counties of Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, Collin, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall and Wise.

Size bands: large, 500 or more employees; medium, 150-499 employees; small 50-149 employees.

What’s in the survey: 24 short questions that can be answered by employees in about five minutes. Companies will be surveyed during March through June.

Early nomination deadline: April 14

Final nomination deadline: May 19

To nominate, go to dallasnews.com/nominate or call 214-550-8155.