Three Nevada companies finished first in the 2024 Top Workplaces as part of a scientific survey conducted of employees across the state.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Business Press partnered with Philadelphia-based Energage to do the rankings for the fifth consecutive year.
For 2024, 66 employers made the winners list out of 105 surveyed. Energage invited 2,262 organizations to participate, and they were eligible provided they had 35 or more employees in Nevada, according to Bob Helbig, media partnership director with Energage.
Companies seek out top workplace recognition as a way to get third-party validation that they are doing things right in the eyes of their employees. It also can help with company recruitment.
Nine companies in the 500 employees or more category were recognized. Twenty midsize companies in the category of 150 to 499 were recognized. Thirty seven in the small business category of 149 or fewer employees were honored in the process.
That means the feedback from employees from those 66 companies surveyed was strong enough to merit recognition.
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers placed first in the category of 500 or more employees of 11 participants, edging Panda Restaurant Group that had won the top honor for the previous three years.
Raising Cane’s and Panda were followed by Helix Electric, DraftKings, Freeman, Hilton Grand Vacations, Cox, Station Casinos, and Intermountain Health
The PENTA Building Group, which was No. 4 in the smaller category in 2023, received top honors in the category of 150 to 499 out of 28 participants. Picerne Real Estate Group was No. 1 a year ago.
PENTA was followed in order by Eide Bailly LLP, D.R. Horton, Picerne Real Estate Group, One Nevada Credit Union, Mountain America Credit Union, Nathan Adelson Hospice, Hirschi Cos., Esler Cos., Renewal by Anderson, KB Home, Lexus of Las Vegas/Lexus of Henderson/Centennial Subaru, YMCA of Southern Nevada, AREA 15, Faith Lutheran Middle and High Schools, The Mob Museum, William Bee Ririe Hospital, Anderson Business Advisors, Clark County Credit Union, Nicholas and Co. and Nevada Donor Network.
In the category of 150 employees and fewer, Dimopoulos Law Group was ranked No. 1 out of 66 participants. AIL Neff Agencies, which was top ranked a year ago, was No. 2 this year.
They were followed in order by Modern Technology Solutions, Absolute Flood Response, Steelhead Productions, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., Smart City Networks, Janek Performance Group, AdvanStaff HR, Elevation 3D, MDL Group, Monin Inc, FEA Consulting Engineers, Shook & Stone Injury Law, Kaempfer Crowell, HopeLink of Southern Nevada, Beazer Homes, Lawyer Mechanical Services, Madrivo, McCarthy Building Cos., CLA, Main Electric Supply, Brighton Hospice, Nevada Supreme Court, Nationwide Power Solutions, Marsh McLennan Agency, Total Quality Logistics, Epiroc USA, Melon Local, Innova Technologies Inc., AGS, Credit Union 1, The Abbi Agency, Western Funding, Security National Financial Corp., Barx Parx, Westwood Professional Services.
“What we are seeing is the winners are doing a great job of finding ways to keep their employees engaged and highly productive because we have noted some grumpiness in the workforce this year,” Helbig said. “Nevada is reflecting a pattern we’ve seen nationwide of scores being down. The employees we’re surveying are less positive this year than they were a year ago.”
Helbig said it’s difficult to know exactly what’s causing that drop but suspects it’s about the job market slowing down. There’s not as many opportunities for movement as there was a couple of years ago. There was a lot of hiring coming out of the pandemic, but there’s been flattening of hiring as of late nationwide, which impacts opportunities and wages, he added.
“It is probably a reflection on the economy, inflation and pressures people are feeling,” Helbig said. “It could even be a casualty of the political environment we’re in as well.”
The heart of the Top Workplaces program is an employee survey.
The 24-question survey collects feedback from those who know organizations the best: the people who work there, Helbig said. Employee feedback is the sole basis for determining which employers make the Top Workplaces list.
Most of the surveying was done between January and March of this year. Surveys went out to nearly 38,510 employees in the region, and 19,709 responded, Helbig said. They were asked questions ranging from leadership, communication, how they feel about their managers, work-life flexibility, pay and benefits and others.
“In pretty much every category, positivity was down,” Helbig said. “What that means for top workplaces, they are doing the right things in terms of listening and keeping their employees engaged and positive and making them feel appreciated and everyone is finding their work meaningful. Companies that are not doing those things are probably really struggling. It’s much more of a struggle to hire and retain talented employees than it was a couple of years ago.”
Employers were divided based on the number of employees in the region, in order to compare feedback of similar-size groups. Organizations that exceeded benchmark scores for each size group made the winners list, Helbig said.
Within those groupings, organizations are ranked by the aggregate score based on the employee feedback; the more positive the employee responses, the higher the score, the higher the rank, Helbig said.
What else did they learn this year?
“I’m really impressed with companies defying the odds to keep workers engaged, positive and productive because it’s not easy in this environment,” Helbig said.
Helbig said workers continue to look for flexibility in locations, hours and schedule. Health and wellness benefits are table stakes that companies have to get right, but it’s more than that.
“People want to feel like they matter as people, and that they are not just parts of a machine,” Helbig said. “They are human beings with wants and needs and demands in their personal lives as well as work lives. They needed to be treated as such. Top workplaces are good at doing that. They still have their goals and objectives because companies need to be profitable, but at the end of the day the best companies realize the way to get there is by inspiring people. People stay at a company long term by feeling appreciated, finding meaningfulness in the work and believing in the direction of the organization.”
Companies use the survey for feedback on detailing their strengths and weaknesses but one takeaway is certain that the best companies have outstanding leadership, Helbig said.
“Everything good that happens in a company starts with excellent leadership,” Helbig said. “It’s leadership that people can believe in and feel proud about.”
The lone category that Nevada ranked higher than the rest of the nation was in execution that came in at 72.97 percent positivity compared to 72.7 percent for the nation. The worst difference between Nevada and the nation was with innovation being nearly four percentage points lower than the nation at 73.4 percent.
The lowest score was loyalty at 55.5 percent compared to 59.4 percent for the nation. Pay was the second lowest score at 58 percent compared to 60 percent for the nation.
Nevada’s highest scores exceeding 80 percent came in the companies’ values and having supportive managers.
To nominate a company for next year’s top workplace program, go to topworkplaces.com/nominate/nevada.