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Best workplaces for DE&I 2024

Businesses, Champions of Diversity and Inclusion 2024

The Great Place to Work ranking analysed the answers of 288 companies with at least 50 employees to questions related to diversity, equity and inclusion and identified the top 20 companies

by Silvia Pasqualotto

10 July 2024

Introvabile un milione di addetti, le aziende arrancano

6' min read

Key points

Listed companies
The survey methodology
Performance of award-winning companies
Differences with companies excluded from ranking

6' min read

They are innovative, growing financially and, above all, capable of ensuring positive and fair development for all. This is the identikit of the 20 companies included in the classification Best workplaces for diversity, equity and inclusion 2024, realised by Great Place to work, a company that deals with corporate climate analysis and employer branding. The ranking, now in its third edition, is based on the DE&I Index, which seeks to determine how far companies are ahead on three fronts: diversity, equity and inclusion.

Diversity refers to the ability to represent multiple identities, differences and perspectives within the same workplace. Fairness refers to whether or not there is fair treatment and equal access to opportunities, information and resources for all in that company. Finally, inclusion investigates the extent to which in that work environment all individuals feel respected, accepted, supported and valued.

Companies in the rankings

The companies that made it into the rankings are only 7% of those competing (288) and what earned them a place in the top 20 was the fact that most of their employees are convinced that there is an inclusive working environment and a fair corporate culture in these companies. In particular, the employees of the award-winning companies agreed with this statement on average 87% of the time, compared to 61% of the companies excluded from the ranking.

In order, the top twenty companies in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion are: Teleperformance, GalileoPro, Cisco, Bending Spoons, Skylabs, Storeis, Hilton, American Express, Biogen Italia Srl, Agile Lab, Unifix SWG Srl, ServiceNow, ConTe.it, Fiscozen, DHL Express, AbbVie, IoInvesto, Webranking, Mondelez, Vianova. For the most part, these are names that have already won awards in previous editions. This is the case, for example, of the first runner-up, Teleperformance, which was in fourth place in the 2023 edition. A box occupied this year by last year's winner, Bending Spoons. Also dropping off the podium this year are Storeis and American Express, which are in sixth and eighth place respectively. On the other hand, Cisco rose from ninth to third place, and GalileoPro gained two positions, moving from fourth to second place.

However, there is no shortage of new entries (8 out of 20) as in the case of Agile Lab, Unifix SWG Srl, ServiceNow, ConTe.it, Fiscozen, AbbVie, IoInvesto and Mondelez.

The size of the company - understood as the number of total employees - does not seem to be a variable that conditions its ability to be a diversity and inclusion-friendly company. And indeed, the companies in the ranking are almost equally divided between medium-sized (7 have between 50 and 149 employees), medium-large (6 have between 150 and 499 employees) and large (7 have over 500 employees).

Relevant, however, is the sector to which they belong. As a matter of fact, scrolling through the ranking, one notes that once again this year there is a prevalence of companies in the services sector, in particular information technology (5 out of 20), and financial service & insurance (4 out of 20). These are followed by professional services, biotechnology & pharmaceutical and manufacturing & production, each with 2 companies. The latter is a sector that entered the ranking last year along with other sectors that are gradually making their way up the rankings such as health care, hospitality, media, transport and telecommunications.

The survey methodology

The ranking was compiled from a survey that took place between 1 May 2023 and 15 April 2024, taking into account the responses of staff from 288 companies with at least 50 employees to a series of questions related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Specifically, the index measures how fair and inclusive people perceive the working environment and company culture to be with regard to: fairness of treatment; accessibility and involvement by managers; absence of discrimination based on personal characteristics; inclusive and welcoming environment; psychological safety guaranteed by the company; and finally, the possibility of balancing personal life and work. The index is determined from the overall assessment that each employee gives to 25 questions on these topics, as well as on the basis of 4 so-called demographics, which are: organisational level, gender, age and contractual status (part-time or full-time).

The performance of award-winning companies

What puts some companies ahead of others on the podium is the fact that they have been able to improve the experience of their employees in various aspects of company life, particularly in the following areas: diversity, fairness, inclusiveness, relationship with managers and work life balance. In the areas of pay equity and meritocracy, the best workplaces were rated positively in 84% of responses, compared to 60% of companies excluded.

A percentage that rises to 88% when considering statements on the possibility of reconciling professional and private life. It does not go as well in the other companies, which stand at 67%. The relationship with managers is also very good in the award-winning companies, assessed positively by 90% of the employees: a good 19 points difference compared to those who work elsewhere.

The topics of inclusion (atmosphere and climate in the workplace and the opportunity to feel oneself) and diversity (treatment of employees in relation to gender, sexual orientation and age) are the ones in which the companies in the ranking stand out the most with satisfaction rates of 93% and 95% respectively.

What also makes the difference in these companies is a higher level of innovation. This is linked to the diversity of the company population, which encourages the circulation of new ideas, and to the open attitude of the management. In fact, 88% of the employees of the award-winning companies stated that they had the opportunity to influence innovation in the company.

Differences with companies excluded from ranking

Significant elements emerge from the comparison between the best workplaces and the non-ranked companies. The theme on which they differ the most, and on which the excluded companies should therefore work harder, is that of meritocracy. In the 20 winners, employees agree in very high percentages (over 80%) with the following statements: "I am offered development and training opportunities to improve professionally" and "promotions go to those who deserve them most". In contrast, in the companies excluded from the ranking just over 50% of the employees stated that they agreed with these statements, with a gap of 29 and 26 percentage points for each of the two statements.

The other topics on which the gap is more pronounced are happiness at work (25 points), the ability to value innovative people (25 points) and the presence of benefits (24 points).

There is a certain gap between companies in the rankings and those not even if we focus on the answers of female employees only. In those excluded, there is a 13-point gap compared to the awardees. It therefore means that female professionals in the best companies are definitely better off. In fact, 94% of them state that they are treated impartially regardless of gender, compared to 81% of those working in the other companies surveyed.

Looking instead at the organisational level variable, in both the companies in the rankings and those excluded, the percentage of employees who feel they are treated as an integral part of the company grows in proportion to their career level, even though in the former the lower-ranking employees are significantly better off than in the latter. In the best companies, in fact, 91% of the people classified as employees feel involved. This percentage drops to 74% in the other companies. If, on the other hand, one goes up to director level here the gap points down sharply: 98 per cent in the companies in the ranking against 91 per cent in those excluded.

Finally, the companies in the ranking are distinguished by their ability to meet the needs of all generations. That is, they are able to treat people equally regardless of age. An assumption held to be true for more than 90% of the employees of the companies in the rankings in all age groups. In contrast, in the other companies, people under 25 and those over 55 agreed with this statement in only 73% and 74% of cases, respectively. Managing the presence of four generations (baby boomers, gen x, millennials and gen z), each with very different cultural references, values and approach to work, is one of the greatest challenges facing companies today, and the winning companies seem to be charting a course from which to take an example.