Regional List Methodology And Eligibility
The data from the b-Heard survey defines an organisation's accreditation status and eligibility for the Best Companies lists. This is based exclusively on employees' responses, which contribute to factor scores within the survey.
Regional List Methodology
A group of statistical techniques referred to as ‘Factor Analysis’ were performed to identify the underlying factors of workplace engagement, and to determine which statements are related to each factor. The number of statements does vary between factors in order to ensure we satisfactorily measure each of the eight factors. Each statement only relates to one of the factors.
Each statement within our survey is measured on a seven-point scale which ranges from strongly disagree through to strongly agree. We include both positively and negatively phrased statements within our survey. For all positively phrased statements, a score of 1 represents strongly disagree and a score of 7 represents strongly agree. For all negatively phrased statements, we reverse-code the scores so that a 7 represents strongly disagree and score of 1 represents strongly agree. Alternatively expressed, the most favourable response for the organisation is a score of 7, and the least favourable response a score of 1.
We then average the scores for each statement for a particular group of respondents (whether that be at company level, job grade level, employment group level, etc.) and we headcount adjust these scores. This means, we remove the influence of each organisation’s headcount on that score, which enables organisations to compare their scores against any other organisation that surveys with us. This article explains more, What Is Headcount Adjusted Scoring?
Next, we calculate factor scores by calculating the mean (average) of the statements measuring the factor. Once these scores are generated, a weighted mean is taken across each of the factors. This ensures that each factor has an equal influence on the overall engagement score. Finally, we convert this score onto a scale that runs from 1-1000 to provide you with the Best Companies Index (BCI).
The calculation of the regional score (RBCI) is performed using the same method. However, for each organisation, only the survey responses from the given region are used in the calculation. We determine the region based on the workplace postcode provided in the Employee Upload. List positions for each region are then generated by a simple ranking of the RBCI from eligible organisations.
Regional List Eligibility
When an organisation registers for national lists at registration, they effectively enrol onto our regional and sector lists too. The listed regions are; London (one list per size category), East of England, North East, North West, East Midlands, West Midlands, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, South East, South West and Yorkshire and the Humber.
An organisation will be considered across all regions and cannot select which individual lists they would like to enter.
The organisation is required to meet the eligibility criteria in order to be in with a chance of achieving a place on one of the regional lists. The minimum response rate required per region depend on the overall headcount of the organisation. The organisation must obtain the response rate percentage per region based on their national headcount, as shown in the table below. For example, if an organisation had 3,000 employees nationally, they would need 40% response rate to be eligible for the national list (1,200 responses). For a regional list, the organisation would still need 40% of responses from whatever the number of sent surveys within that region was. If there were 400 surveys sent to a region, then to be eligible, an organisation would need 160 responses (40% return rate).
Headcount |
Responses Required |
| 25-49 | 75% (Or 20 surveys if greater) |
| 50-74 | 60% (Or 20 surveys if greater) |
| 75-249 | 50% (Or 20 surveys if greater) |
| 250+ | 40% (Or 20 surveys if greater) |
If an organisation achieves a regional response rate that meets the above thresholds, then they are eligible to go forward for a regional list. As minimum, there must be more than 20 responses from one region and the RBCI must be at least 600 for that region to be in with a chance of appearing on one of the lists.
Please note, an organisation is NOT required to reach a minimum BCI score nationally to enter regionally. Also, the organisation does not need to meet the eligibility requirements nationally to be considered regionally.
If successfully listed regionally, the organisation will receive an RBCI and a published list position for that regional list. They do not receive a regional accreditation status.
These articles provide more information around What Makes An Employee Eligible? and What Makes An Organisation Eligible For Best Companies Accreditation And Lists?
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