Jack Welch Photo courtesy of Jack Welch

LinkedIn - September 15, 2015

Six Ways to Tell if You Work for a Really Great Company

By Jack and Suzy Welch

A company where people really want to work has one of the most powerful competitive advantages in the game: the ability to hire and field the best team.

Building that advantage can often take years - decades or more.
That’s just the way it is with employer reputations.

They’re built career by career, annual report by annual report, crisis by crisis (because every company has one or two of them), and recovery by recovery.

In today’s media-saturated world, however, there is a major exception to the generally slow pace of reputation-building.

Jack Welch Photo courtesy of Jack Welch

Companies can become preferred employers virtually overnight thanks to the “buzz factor,” which is as potent as it is fast-acting.

In a technology-based company, buzz usually comes with an exciting breakthrough or paradigm-altering product or service.
Google, Amazon, and Twitter are perfect examples.

Buzz can also come from having a glamorous or prestigious brand, like Chanel or Ferrari.

But across all of these magnetic companies, there are a few big common denominators.

So how does your employer stack up?
Do you work for a great company?

Jack Welch Photo courtesy of Jack Welch

Here’s how to tell…

1. Great companies demonstrate a real commitment to continuous learning.
No lip service. These companies invest in the development of their people through classes, training programs, and off-site experiences, all sending the message that the organization is eager to facilitate a steady path to personal growth.

2. Great companies are meritocracies. Pay and promotions are tightly linked to performance, and rigorous appraisal systems consistently make people aware of where they stand. As at every company, the people you know and the school you went to might help get you in the door. But after that, it’s all about results. People with brains, self-confidence, and competitive spirit are always attracted to such environments.

3. Great companies not only allow people to take risks but also celebrate those who do. And they don’t shoot those who try but fail. As with meritocracies, a culture of risk-taking attracts exactly the kind of creative, bold employees companies want and need in a global marketplace where innovation is the single best defense against unrelenting cost competition.

4. Great companies understand that what is good for society is also good for business. Gender, race, and nationality are never limitations; everyone’s ideas matter. Preferred employers are diverse and global in their outlook and environmentally sensitive in their practices. They offer flexibility in work schedules to those who earn it with performance. In a word, great companies are enlightened.

5. Great companies keep their hiring standards tight. They make candidates work hard to join the ranks by meeting strict criteria that center around intelligence and previous experience and by undergoing an arduous interview process. Talent has an uncanny way of attracting other talent.

6. Great companies are profitable and growing. A rising stock price is a hiring and retention magnet. But beyond that, only thriving companies can promise you a future with career mobility and the potential of increased financial rewards. Indeed, one of the most intoxicating things a company can say to you, as a potential employee, is: “Join us for the ride of your life.”

And that launches a virtuous cycle.
The best team attracts the best team, and winning often leads to more winning.
It’s a ride that you and your people will never want to get off.


Jack and Suzy Welch


Jack is Executive Chairman of the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University.
Through its online MBA program, the Jack Welch Management Institute provides students and organizations with the proven methodologies, immediately actionable practices, and respected credentials needed to win in business.

Photo courtesy of Jack Welch

https://jackwelch.strayer.edu/  

Suzy is a best-selling author, television commentator, and noted business journalist.
She is the former editor of the Harvard Business Review, and she spent several years at Bain & Company, the management consulting firm.

Photo courtesy of Jack Welch

Jack and Suzy are co-authors of the new book, The Real-Life MBA - Your No-BS Guide to Winning the Game, Building a Team, and Growing Your Career, which debuted as a #1 Wall Street Journal and Washington Post best-seller.

Photo courtesy of Jack Welch

Source: LinkedIn Pulse

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/  


Jack Welch

Jack Welch is one of the world's most respected and celebrated CEOs, known for his unmatched track record of success, enormous love of people, fierce passion for winning, and unbridled desire to change the world for the better using his unique management practices, which are collectively called The Welch Way.

Jack Welch Photo courtesy of Jack Welch

Born to a working class family in Salem, Massachusetts, Jack attended the University of Massachusetts, and received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois.

He joined GE at age 24, worked his way up through many divisions, and was named its CEO in 1981 at the age of 45.

In his 21 years as CEO, Jack transformed GE into the world's most admired and successful company with his innovative management techniques.

Revenues grew five-fold from $25 billion to $130 billion, income grew ten-fold, from $1.5 billion to $15 billion, and the company's market capitalization had a 30-fold increase of more than $400 billion.

His achievements are considered epic, and as a result, thousands of companies around the world have adopted the Welch Way.

After retiring from GE in 2001, Jack Welch has only become more active in business.

He has written three best-selling business books, Jack: Straight from the Gut, Winning and The Real-Life MBA.

He actively participates in managing numerous companies as part of a private equity group, and for four years wrote an immensely popular weekly column for BusinessWeek magazine.

He is a fixture on TV as a popular business commentator.

Photo courtesy of Strayer / Jack Welch

Source: Strayer

https://jackwelch.strayer.edu/  



ASTROMAN Magazine - 2015.09.07

Professor Barry Schwartz: Why We're So Unhappy With Work - And How to Fix It

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1957  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2015.09.04

Sir Richard Branson: You Can't Fake Personality, Passion or Purpose

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1954  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2015.08.15

Geoff Colvin: What Really Makes Teams Work

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1948  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2015.02.08

Richard Branson: My top 10 quotes on change

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1868  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2014.06.20

Richard Branson: 8 tips to evolve a start-up into a successful company

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1736  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2014.01.01

Big Idea 2014 By Jeff Immelt: The Age of Gas

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1624  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2014.01.01

Big Idea 2014 By Jim Kim: Invest in People

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1623  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2014.01.01

Big Idea 2014 By Michael Andrew: A Global Glimpse Into the Future

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1622  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2014.01.01

Big Idea 2014: When A Big Idea is The Big Idea…

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1621  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2014.01.01

Big Ideas 2014 By Richard Branson: The Year of the Entrepreneur

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1620  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.12.29

2013 Business School Dean of the Year

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1619  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.10.01

Sir Richard Branson on how he judges personality. How I Hire: Focus On Personality

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1566  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.08.26

Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO at GE: How to Differentiate Great Leaders from Good Leaders

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1530  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.07.16

John Donahoe: To Beat the Chaos, Take a Thinking Day

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1500  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.06.13

Bill Gates: Three Things I've Learned From Warren Buffett

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1482  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.06.13

LinkedIn Influencer: The One Conference You Want to Attend

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1481  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.05.10

LinkedIn Celebrating 10 Years of "Relationships Matter"

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1460  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.04.02

Sir Richard Branson: Smart Phone? I Prefer a Brilliant Assistant

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1436  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.02.11

LinkedIn reaches 200 million members worldwide

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1410  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.01.04

Richard Branson: Top 10 tips for making lists

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1378