Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022

Your browser does not support the video tag.Best Places to Work 2022Fifty companies doing a standout job. Ad Age examines workplace factors that separate the best from the restBy Bradley Johnson. Illustrations by Queenbe MonyeiPublished on January 24, 2022How do the best places work? You’ve got to pay to play: It all starts with good compensation and a solid benefits package.Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022 honors 50 companies that did a standout job last year as the ad business rebounded, the talent pool tightened and the specter of COVID-19 remained omnipresent at work, at home—and at work at home.The winning companies outranked other workplaces in factors ranging from pay and benefits to corporate culture and leadership.The winners—top companies with more than 200 employees and top companies with 200 or fewer employees—reflect the highest overall scores based on an analysis of questionnaires submitted by employers and survey responses from employees.What separates the best from the restPay and benefits are paramount.Employees at winning companies felt better about their overall compensation package than did employees at companies in the competition that didn’t make the ranking. For employees, the best places over-indexed on the survey’s two most basic statements on pay and benefits:“My pay is fair for the work I perform.”“Overall, I'm satisfied with this organization’s benefits package.”The winners outperformed on specific pay-and-perks points including:“I'm satisfied with the tuition reimbursement benefits”—the survey statement that had the biggest delta between winners and employers that didn’t make the ranking.“I’m satisfied with the retirement plan benefits”—the second-biggest delta on pay and benefits topics for the best versus the rest.The Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022 ranking was produced by Best Companies Group, a research firm specializing in identifying and recognizing great places to work. Ad Age partnered with Best Companies Group on some past Best Places reports, most recently in 2017.Best Companies Group conducted the surveys, analyzed the data and determined the winners.Who made the gradeThe 50 winners include a strong showing of digital agencies (14), ad tech ventures (13) and health care agencies (six)—three thriving disciplines that must compete in a tight labor market to retain and recruit the specialized talent needed to support their growth.The list also includes ad agencies (seven), media agencies (five), marketing agencies (two), a branding agency, an event/experiential marketing agency and a public relations agency.How employees rate their employersThe employee engagement and satisfaction survey included a set of statements that employees responded to (from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”) along with some open-ended and demographic questions. This made up 75% of the overall score.Beyond positive perceptions about pay and benefits, employees at winning workplaces gave their companies high marks on statements including:“Staffing levels are adequate to provide quality products/services.”“If I do good work, I will be rewarded.”“Deadlines at this organization are realistic.”“This organization provided as much initial training as I needed.”“I have a good understanding of how this organization is doing financially.”“This organization provides as much ongoing training as I need.”The employee survey covered pay and benefits and seven other core focus areas. The best companies did better than the rest in all of these areas.Pay and benefits were the biggest differentiators based on employee responses in those areas, with a nearly eight percentage point advantage in the percentage of positive responses for winners (92.5%) versus companies in the competition that didn’t make the ranking (84.8%).The best places outscored other workplaces by about five percentage points in five areas based on employee responses: training, development and resources; corporate culture and communications; leadership; role satisfaction; and overall engagement.The two remaining areas—work environment and relationship with supervisor—were comparatively small differentiators for the best companies versus others.How employers get the job doneThe employer questionnaire covered a company’s policies, practices, benefits and demographics. This made up 25% of the overall score.On this questionnaire, the winning companies outscored other entrants in such areas as:Pay and benefits:Allowing employees additional paid time off for community service activities or volunteer work.Matching employee contributions to an employee retirement plan.Tuition reimbursement.Recruitment, training and development:Recruitment and retention programs for veterans, older workers, employees of varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds and employees who may require accommodations for mental or physical limitations.Productivity or time management workshops, seminars or classes.Ongoing diversity training.Work/life balance:Paid sabbaticals.Financial education workshops, seminars or classes.Telecommuting (before the start of pandemic in March 2020). (Nearly all winning companies’ employees worked remotely during the pandemic in 2021.)Employer-sponsored employee assistance program (counseling for marital, parental or financial problems and/or assistance for specific conditions such as substance abuse, smoking and gambling).Fitness and/or wellness programs or practices within the workplace.On-site personal development and/or stress management workshops, seminars or classes.Allowing employees to work flexible hours or a compressed workweek.Family-friendly benefits:Adoption assistance, such as reimbursement of agency fees, travel fees, legal assistance and paid time off before or after adoption.Lactation facilities for breastfeeding mothers.About Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022The Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022 competition was open to agencies, ad tech firms, brand or corporate marketing departments or groups and in-house agencies of marketers.To be eligible, a company must have headquarters in North America, or have a North America headquarters or main office if world headquarters is outside of North America; a minimum of 15 full-time employees; and be in business a minimum of one year. Read More201+ EmployeesNo. 5: StackAdaptNo. 4: Basis TechnologiesNo. 3: HeartbeatNo. 2: PMGNo. 1: VideoAmpYour browser does not support the video tag.Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022: Top companies, 201+ employeesRankCompanyHeadquartersDisciplineWebTwitter1VideoAmpLos AngelesAd techvideoamp.com@Video_Amp2PMGFort Worth, TexasDigital agencypmg.com@pmgworldwide3HeartbeatNew YorkHealth care agencyweareheartbeat.com@heartbeatideas4Basis TechnologiesChicagoAd techbasis.net@basisglobaltech5StackAdaptTorontoAd techstackadapt.com@stackadapt6WpromoteEl Segundo, CaliforniaDigital agencywpromote.com@wpromote73Q DigitalChicagoDigital agency3qdigital.com@3qdigital8DemandbaseSan FranciscoAd techdemandbase.com@demandbase9GroundTruthNew YorkAd techgroundtruth.com@GroundTruthCo10Razorfish HealthPhiladelphiaHealth care agencyrazorfish.health11Goodway GroupNew YorkDigital agencygoodwaygroup.com@goodwaygroup12Morning ConsultWashingtonAd techmorningconsult.com@MorningConsult13TatariSan FranciscoAd techtatari.tv@tataritv14TinuitiNew YorkDigital agencytinuiti.com@Tinuiti15MuteSixCulver City, CaliforniaDigital agencymutesix.com@mutesix16RepriseNew YorkDigital agencyreprisedigital.com@RepriseDigital17CrossmediaNew YorkMedia agencyxmedia.com@crossmediaus18Harmelin MediaBala Cynwyd, PennsylvaniaMedia agencyharmelin.com@harmelinmedia19BounteousChicagoDigital agencybounteous.com@bounteous20FCB Health New YorkNew YorkHealth care agencyfcbhealthny.com@FCBHealth21Digitas HealthPhiladelphiaHealth care agencydigitashealth.com@Digitas_Health22Publicis Health MediaPhiladelphiaMedia agencypublicishealthmedia.com@tweetPHM23FingerpaintSaratoga Springs, New YorkHealth care agencyfingerpaint.com@fingerpainters24UMNew YorkMedia agencyumww.com@UMWorldwide25KeplerNew YorkMarketing agencykeplergrp.com@keplergrpSource: Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022. Ranking produced by Best Companies Group.Up to 200 employeesNo. 5: UndertoneNo. 4: Stella RisingNo. 3: High Wide & HandsomeNo. 2: OrganicNo. 1: ConfiantYour browser does not support the video tag.Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022: Top companies, up to 200 employeesRankCompanyHeadquartersDisciplineWebTwitter1ConfiantNew YorkAd techconfiant.com@weareconfiant2OrganicNew YorkDigital agencyorganic.com@organicinc3High Wide & HandsomeCulver City, CaliforniaAd agencyhighwidehandsome.com4Stella RisingWestport, ConnecticutMedia agencystellarising.com@thestellarising5UndertoneNew YorkAd techundertone.com@accessundertone6FirehouseDallasAd agencyfirehouse.agency@firehouseagency7InfoTrustBlue Ash, OhioDigital agencyinfotrust.com@InfoTrustLLC8ContentlyNew YorkAd techcontently.com@contently9Booyah AdvertisingDenverDigital agencybooyahadvertising.com@BooyahAgency10Marketing DoctorNorthampton, MassachusettsAd agencymymarketingdoctor.com@MarketingDocInc11Hanson DodgeMilwaukeeAd agencyhansondodge.com@hansondodge12Closed LoopRoseville, CaliforniaDigital agencyclosedloop.com@ClosedLoop13ReviveNashville, TennesseeHealth care agencyreviveagency.com@ThinkRevive14BlastmediaIndianapolisPublic relations agencyblastmedia.com@blastmedia15Beacon Media + MarketingAnchorage, AlaskaMarketing agencybeaconmm.com@beaconmm16VidMobNew YorkAd techvidmob.com@vidmob17Marcus ThomasClevelandAd agencymarcusthomasllc.com@MarcusThomasCle18MediavineBoca Raton, FloridaAd techmediavine.com@mediavine19Mojo SupermarketNew YorkAd agencymojosuper.market@MojoSupermarket20Adjective & Co.Jacksonville Beach, FloridaBranding agencyadjectiveandco.com@adjectiveandco21ShareThisPalo Alto, CaliforniaAd techsharethis.com@ShareThis22GrowNorfolk, VirginiaDigital agencythisisgrow.com@thisisgrow23Silverback StrategiesAlexandria, VirginiaDigital agencysilverbackstrategies.com@SilverbackStrat24Fortnight CollectiveBoulder, ColoradoAd agencyfortnightcollective.com@fortnightagency25MASBrooklyn, New YorkEvent/experiential marketing agencymoremas.com@maseventdesignSource: Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022. Ranking produced by Best Companies Group.Art direction by Tam Nguyen. Web production by Corey Holmes.

Ad Age Best Places to Work 2022

Featured Stories