If you’re wondering how to best climb the corporate ladder, then you might want to set your sights on a job at one of the companies on ‘The Top Employers Institute’ list of top employers in South Africa.

Sorry, creatives and writers, this one isn’t really for you, unless you want to sell your soul to corporate.

BusinessTech reports that annual research is conducted to identify and recognise employers that provide excellent employee conditions, nurture and develop talent throughout all levels of the organisation, and which strive to continuously optimise employment practices.

The companies are then evaluated across nine key areas: talent strategy, workforce planning, on-boarding, learning & development, performance management, leadership development, career & succession management, compensation & benefits, and culture.

It must be noted that the Top Employers certification is by application.

Bear that last line in mind, because this might be the kind of list that you can buy your way to the top of.

For the 2018/19 list, 99 companies were given South African certification. This is down from the 108 companies in 2017/18. In its 2016/17 certification process, 86 South African companies were given the award, up from 77 in 2015/16.

The company that came top in the country is Nestlé South Africa, followed by Accenture, Microsoft, EY South Africa and Unilever:

In the telecoms industry, Vodacom is the top employer, while Hollard takes the prize in the finance and insurance sectors. Here’s the full list of the top players in each sector:

According to the survey, these companies “indicated a fairly stable operational condition, despite the economic downturn and other stress factors”.

They indicated that:

• Revenue growth is stable (21%), slightly improved (22%) or strongly improved (38%).
• Market share is stable, (28%) slightly improved (30%) or strongly improved (23%).
• Profitability is stable (21%), slightly improved (26%), or strongly improved (31%).
• Customer satisfaction is stable (30%), slightly improved (19%) or strongly improved (34%).

The certification represents employers who demonstrate excellent employee conditions and put people first.

Nice idea – putting people first. Scary that it’s so rare that it has an award.

[source:businesstech]