Dubai, UAE, 28 April 2018:  Great Place to Work® - a global research, training and consultancy firm that recognizes the best workplaces in over 50 countries worldwide - has revealed its eighth annual list of ‘Best Workplaces’ in the UAE. The 2017-2018 UAE list is the largest yet for Great Place to Work and recognizes the country’s top employers with outstanding workplace cultures.

 

Climbing from fourth place on last year’s list to become this year’s winner was THE One. The made-in-the-UAE retail company has featured on every UAE best companies list since it launched in 2011. Committed to delivering the best experience for its employees, THE One makes sure to raise its own bar by learning from best HR and CSR practices around the world. THE One’s unique culture is rooted in the company’s core purpose of ‘Changing the World Together’ through various CSR activities, including hiring challenged employees. This collaborative spirit is carried through into every aspect of the working environment, where employees feel they each make a difference as part of their daily job. Employees working in THE One have well-planned career paths - many of the leadership team started in junior positions and were supported enough to grow within the organization. This results in highly engaged staff, while reinforcing the company’s supportive family culture.

 

Great Place to Work® also named Thomas Lundgren, CEO of THE One, ‘Leader of the Year for 2017-2018’ for his efforts in keeping THE One among the top five Best Workplaces list for seven consecutive years and for achieving the highest Trust scores from direct reports amongst all leaders in the program. His efforts to continuously improve THE One’s workplace experience have elevated employees’ perception of management and supported the company’s expansion plan and its financial performance.

 

Runner-up on this year’s Best Workplaces list was DHL, which moved down one spot from last year, followed by Omnicom Media Group, which also moved down one spot to take third place. In fourth place was Splash, while Hyatt came in fifth climbing seven places from last year’s list.

 

Ranking from sixth to 10th place on the list were Weber Shandwick, Hilton, Hilti, Cisco and FedEx respectively. Rounding out the final 15 positions on the list were Philips, Iconic, WSP, Apparel, Leminar Air Conditioning Company, Danube, UAE Exchange, Smith & Nephew, Danone, Leminar Air Conditioning Industries, PizzaExpress, NMC Healthcare, Redington, Delta Partners, and Centrepoint.

 

In addition to its awards for overall workplace excellence, Great Place to Work® gave special recognition to Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) for its outstanding workplace culture, various happiness programs and efforts in taking care of its employees at all times. DAFZA has become the first Dubai Government Authority to be recognized by the global firm.  

 

“Despite a challenging year and noticeable changes in market trends towards digitalization of work activities, organizations still managed to keep the human element and made sure to enrich employee relationships with high levels of trust. There is a lot of thoughtful energy that goes into building a great workplace culture. Every organization that made it onto the list should be proud of themselves considering the high level of participation we had this year and the number of new companies entering the list,” said Maha Zaatari, Managing Director of Great Place to Work in the UAE.

 

With the UAE aiming to be ranked among the top five happiest countries in the world by 2021, Great Place to Work says organizations play a very important part in achieving this goal.

 

“Creating an innovative, positive and happy workplace is at the top of the agenda for the Best Workplaces in the UAE. And this has a profoundly positive knock-on effect. Great workplaces foster inspiration and happiness in society. Happy people produce more, live longer and drive better economic development in their communities and countries,” said Maha Zaatari.

 

The Best Workplaces annual benchmarking study assesses the level of credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie within an organization, and forms part of the world’s largest employee survey. Two-thirds of a company’s score is based on the confidential feedback of their employees while the remaining score is attained from an audit of management and HR practices.

 

The ‘Best 25 Workplaces in the UAE’ are represented by a diverse number of industries including logistics, technology, finance, media, retail, fashion, FMCG, hospitality, healthcare and manufacturing. New list makers include Cisco, Centrepoint, Smith & Nephew, Danone Nutricia, Danube, Iconic, Apparel Group, Leminar Air Conditioning Industries and Pizza Express.

 

The ‘Best 25 Workplaces in the UAE’ are:
Rank	Company Name	Fast Facts
1	The One	Retail
2	DHL	Logistics
3	Omnicom Media Group	Media
4	Splash	Fashion
5	Hyatt	Hospitality
6	Weber Shandwick	Communications
7	Hilton	Hospitality
8	Hilti	Technology
9	Cisco	Technology
10	FedEx	Logistics
11	Philips	Technology
12	Iconic	Fashion
13	WSP	Engineering, professional services
14	Apparel	Retail
15	Leminar Air Conditioning Company	Industrial
16	Danube	FMCG
17	UAE Exchange	Finance
18	Smith & Nephew	Healthcare
19	Danone	F&B
20	Leminar Air Conditioning Industries	Industrial
21	PizzaExpress	F&B
22	NMC Healthcare	Health Care
23	Redington	Supply Chain
24	Delta Partners	Management Consulting
25	Centrepoint	Fashion