Among key takeaways:

What’s most important to employees: Unsurprisingly, core employee benefits (fair pay, health insurance, paid time off) are must-haves.

What most affects the workplace ratings: Employee benefits alone don’t translate to a high workplace rating. Instead, company culture and a supportive environment are most likely to be associated with high marks.

Don’t overplay perks: Many employers offer a host of perks, such as providing free food or allocating space in the office for games and relaxation. But relative to other areas like employee development and engagement, perks matter less to employees.

What distinguishes top performers: Companies that invest in their employees both at work and beyond the office yield big dividends. Offering unique extras will improve workplace scores—from family leave and learning stipends to mentorship programs and time off to give back to the community.

The good news for employers is that most of the surveyed employees perceive their workplace positively and give their company high marks.

Company size matters. Companies with more than 200 employees are slightly less likely to earn a top rating across key areas, but especially when it comes to company culture, environment and employee engagement.

Employees at large companies are just as likely to enjoy their colleagues and feel their individual performance is strong. But they feel less valued and less excited about their career compared to employees at medium and smaller companies.

In-depth interviews conducted by Latitude with top-ranked companies show how much thought, planning and work goes into building the foundation for a top ranking in Ad Age Best Places to Work. Top-ranked companies invest significant time and effort in creating, writing and sharing company culture and visions to foster an atmosphere of support and caring for their employees.

The factors that most relate to high workplace ratings encompass feelings of support, encouragement, empowerment and purpose—areas where top-performing companies exceed expectations.

Leaders of top-ranked companies make a conscious effort to provide support and benefits to empower their employees—both as workers and as human beings who have a life. Investments in employee empowerment and supportive services result in happier, more productive employees.

Employees’ experiences at a top-rated company tend to be better across the board. Employees at top-performing companies feel differently about their relationships with their co-workers and management. They respect and have fun with their colleagues and feel there is opportunity for advancement.

Core benefits matter, but are only part of the equation. Employees value basics—fair pay, health coverage and time off. These factors drive a high employee benefits rating, but alone they don’t necessarily drive a high workplace rating.

Perks can add value but are not game changers. Companies tend to overdeliver on free food and happy hours but fall short on some other desirable extras, such as technology stipends. When all is said and done, employee perks have minimal impact on workplace ratings.

Policies and benefits are essential tools for communicating caring and demonstrating supportive management and leadership. However, top-ranked organizations don’t focus on benefits and perks themselves, but on how the company can use benefits and perks to take care of employees and remove barriers that hinder growth and success both professionally and personally.

Whether it’s parental leave, the ability to work remotely, unlimited vacation time, company retreats, free lunches or game rooms, everything is about signaling to the individual that the company wants the employee to succeed in work and out of work.

In this case, there is a clear quid quo pro: We expect a lot from you. And you can expect a lot from us in return.

That’s how the best places work.

See what works: Check out Ad Age’s 2020 Best Places to Work Industry Report. To learn more and purchase that report, visit AdAge.com/bptwreports.

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