We have seen an enormous increase in the amount and granularity of data companies report about their workforce over the past 4 years. However, almost all of this reporting remains voluntary—inconsistency makes normalizing for apples-to-apples hard, and many data gaps remain—most companies don’t report the cost of their workforce (compensation, training, etc.) or turnover metrics. Therefore benchmarking performance when it comes to how companies are managing their people and understanding where companies should be investing for long-term success remains a challenge.
There have been many studies showing that companies showing up in the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For (published since 1984) significantly outperform their peers. Similar studies looking at companies on Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work lists show similar outperformance, as well as studies linking increases in Glassdoor ratings with outperformance (and decreases in underperformance).
Driven by over a decade of proprietary research into what drives financial performance, behavioral economist Dan Ariely has created the ‘Human Capital Factor (HCF),’ based on company survey data and publicly available assessments, including reviews on recruitment sites. The measure comes from a combination of task satisfaction, feeling appreciated, psychological safety, and the degree to which companies provide the conditions where employees can align their own utility with that of the company and its stakeholders, and there are now 4 ETFs available based on the HCF.
Today, we are taking a look at how S&P 100 companies perform across a handful of measures of human capital we consider for benchmarking, and highlighting leaders and laggards.
Besides Glassdoor ratings, we are including:
- Indeed’s Work Wellbeing score, which is based on survey responses of employees based on 15 attributes across 4 categories: happiness, purpose, stress-free, and satisfaction
- Just Capital’s Workers score, which includes wages, health and safety, benefits, diversity, and training
- The American Opportunity Index (AOI), which measures how well America’s largest companies drive economic mobility and positive career outcomes for their employees
If we rank each company’s score from 1-100 across the 4 measures, it seems like there is not a lot of agreement—only 5 companies rank in the top quartile across all measures, and only 18 rank in the top half.
- Target ranks 7th in AOI but 73rd in Just Capital, 91st in Indeed, and 93rd in Glassdoor
- BNY Mellon ranks 9th in Just Capital, 66th in AOI, 87th in Glassdoor, and 91st in Indeed
- Qualcomm ranks 7th in Indeed, 41st in Glassdoor, 15th in Just Capital, and 85th in AOI
- Alphabet ranks 2nd in both Glassdoor and Indeed, but 49th in AOI and 58th in Just Capital
- Coca-Cola ranks 1st for AOI, 17th for Glassdoor, 79th for Indeed, and 67th for Just Capital
Here are the top 20 overall based on aggregate rank within the S&P 100:
Indeed, AOI, and Just Capital are just a few of the new datasets we have recently added to our coverage, and we are doing a lot of deep analysis into underlying data and changes over time to help our clients understand how to use this data and insights to evaluate companies and spot opportunities and trends. Stay tuned—in the next few weeks we will be rolling out a free interactive dashboard showing these metrics and more.
What we’re reading:
- It’s Time to Unbundle ESG (Harvard Business Review)
- Jamie Dimon Among Fortune 500 CEOs Defying Diversity Backlash (Bloomberg Law)
- US Investors Press on with Human Capital and DE&I Engagement Amid Backlash (Responsible Investor)
- 2024 LGBTQ+ Board Monitor Report Reveals Underrepresentation of LGBTQ+ Directors on F500 and NASDAQ Boards (LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors)
- The Little-Known Company That Gives Its Employees a Real Voice (Wall Street Journal)
- Major companies abandon an LGBTQ+ rights report card after facing anti-diversity backlash (AP News) and This anti-DEI activist is targeting an LGBTQ index. Major companies are listening. (USA Today) and LGBTQ+ adults would consider leaving employers that cut DEI, Human Rights Campaign says (HR Dive)
- Women in the Workplace 2024 (McKinsey & Co)
- Black and Latino directors think boardroom diversity is declining in a troubling sign for DEI at the top of the business world (Fortune)
- The stakeholder doctrine is flourishing despite attacks on ESG (Financial Times)
- Litigation Targeting Large Company DEI Programs on the Rise (Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance)