Great Place To Work Certification is a valuable step in your organization’s journey, but it’s not the destination. Here’s how to make sure all the hard work you’ve put in continues for years to come.
You’ve put in the work, measured the data, and achieved your goal of obtaining Great Place To Work® Certification™.
Firstly, congratulations! This is an incredible achievement that shows your organization is deeply committed to a positive employee experience.
But now what? Once the celebrations have subsided, how do you keep this important momentum from fading?
1. Know that Certification isn’t an endpoint
The first mistake too many HR teams make is thinking of Certification as the endpoint.
Certification represents that your culture is great because you listen to your people and work hard to support them.
And as great leaders know, listening — a key behavior in high-trust leadership — is ongoing.
If you just got Certified, you just also got a treasure trove of Trust Index™ Survey data that can tell you what your people need from you to be even better by your next cycle.
2. Share the data
Data matters. It’s the difference between doing something because it matters to you and because it matters to everyone in your organization.
Don’t let this valuable data sit untouched. Share an overview of your results with the leaders in your organization who can influence them.
A lot of great leaders and great companies are “unintentionally great.” This isn’t a bad thing, usually, it means that you have wonderful people at your company who made your workplace great just because they care.
But to maximize your culture, you need an intentional listening strategy that’s based on data. Having leaders who care about being great and work hard at it will take you far, but you'll go a lot farther if you can channel that energy strategically.
A robust data-based listening strategy is what informs those strategic decisions.
3. Set your action plan, but make it manageable
As important as data is, it can also be overwhelming. The Trust Index is packed with information that’s useful for many different parts of your business — so one of the easiest things to do is to share the data with those other teams.
Start with your company’s Certification profile. This is a public-facing page that highlights some key strengths of your organization. Your HR team will get to reinforce the best qualities of the company’s culture, while your marketing team can publicize those strengths.
You can also dig deeper into the data. For example, you could share with the internal communications team what the data shows on understanding of business strategy. This way, they have valuable insight into how their initiatives are tracking.
Or you could share with HR the data on employees’ intent to stay long-term, so HR can consider their staffing plans.
Above all, keep it simple. Any action plan should be something that can be quickly summarized at a high level.
If you’re trying to do too much, you’ll get pulled in too many directions, and it’ll be harder to do anything. If you feel like you have too much to say, it’s likely you need to pare down what you’re doing.
A good rule of thumb is to have three main culture goals that you’re working on each year.
4. Communicate, collaborate, and continue
When the data is in, don’t isolate it to the HR team or C-suite. Involve direct managers.
It’s really leaders who shape their employees’ experience at work, and employees know that. Managers must show their employees that they see their part in whether it's a great workplace or not.
Encourage managers to communicate to their team members that they understand this role and are personally committed to making it better.
Ask leaders to solicit feedback on how they’re doing every three to six months. If you have a formal action plan or goals that were shared with employees when you first got Certified, it can be helpful to refer back to that.
If your organization is new to doing this, it will likely be difficult at first, and people may need support and guidance. The goal is to train your leaders’ listening skills — if they can listen well, and their employees feel safe to share feedback, it’s much easier to figure out what to do next.
This follow-up is what tells employees that you are not just great, you are committed to continuing to be great.
It’s like a sports team after a win. The players take the time to celebrate with each other, but by the post-game interview, they’re already talking about how they can win their next game. Their fans aren’t rooting for them because they won one game, after all — their fans are rooting for them because they try to win the game every week.
5. Never stop learning
No matter whether it’s your first time or tenth time earning Certification, keep the momentum going with regular data collection. The Trust Index isn’t a test — it’s a tool you can use to continuously assess and improve.
If it’s your first time getting Certified, you can start simply by incorporating your Certification badge and profile into your recruitment efforts. And then keep track of how that’s influencing the quality and quantity of your applicants.
If you’ve been Certified before, the metrics you’ll want to track are more likely internal than external. For example, if you’ve identified better communication as an area of focus, you could run a follow-up pulse survey in Emprising to see how you're tracking on those statements a few months later.
Having opportunities to course correct throughout the year is a great way to keep from being surprised when next year’s Certification survey comes.
Culture is continuous
The most important thing to recognize about Certification is that it isn’t a one-and-done.
Creating an exceptional employee experience is a continuous effort. More than just a box-ticking exercise, it is a long-term business strategy that leads to better retention, better recruitment, and better performance.
Getting Certified is a valuable step in that journey, but it’s not the destination. Don’t let the momentum slip away.
Keep the momentum going — activate your culture goals
Don’t let the energy fade after Certification. Whether it’s sharing insights with your teams, aligning on three core culture goals, or training managers to lead with trust — now’s the time to act. Let’s turn your recognition into results.
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to align on your top priorities
- Get the Action Planning Guide to help you focus and follow through
- Survey admins: Access the post-survey communications guide in the customer Knowledge Base to ensure seamless follow-up.
