Robert Levering is the founder of the Great Place to Work Institute, Inc., which has created a rigorous survey to identify quality workplaces

How do India’s Great Workplaces compare with the best in the US? Based on data gathered for Businessworld’s second annual Best Workplaces survey, we find that India’s Great Workplaces rate slightly lower overall than the very best in the US. However, on certain key measures, India’s best compare favorably to their American counterparts. What’s more, many of India’s best have developed numerous innovative practices that are genuinely world-class.
We can make statistical comparisons with America’s best workplaces because the Businessworld list is compiled using the same employee survey (Great Place to Work® Trust Index©) that is used by Fortune in preparing its annual “100 Best Companies to Work for” list. We notice first that employees of the top 25 companies in the United States rate their companies more highly on almost all survey questions. For instance, on the survey’s key question about whether they consider their company a “great place to work,” 92% of the employees at the US’s top 25 answered affirmatively as opposed to 86% of their Indian counterparts.
What are the factors driving these lower scores among the top 25 companies in India? Indian companies scores significantly lower in the area of two-way communications – 5% lower on the question about whether employees feel management is accessible, and 12% lower on the question about whether employees feel they get adequate answers when they ask questions of management.
The US companies excel in this area partly because they have numerous strikingly effective informal methods of communication. At Xilinx, a programmable computer chips, CEO Wim Roelandts moves his office to a different building each year within the corporate complex, in order to get to know different company groups and to avoid creating an isolated executive enclave. At J.M. Smucker, a producer of jams and jellies, the president and chairman are regulars on the plant floor and frequently join workers for lunch in the employee cafeteria. At Stew Leonard’s Dairy Stores, each day begins with a 10-minute huddle, a stand-up meeting that updates employees about corporate plans and store problem areas and serves as a forum for discussion of concerns and operational procedures. These kinds of practices go beyond the open-door policies common in both the US and India. Since communication is so vital to creating a sense of trust, I would assume that as Indian companies develop more and varied means of promoting management accessibility, their overall scores will improve on this survey.
Another area where the Indian companies score noticeably lower is the realm of work-life balance. The top 25 Indian firms score an average of 16.5% lower than the US top 25 on questions about whether they feel the company encourages them to balance their work lives and personal lives or to take time off of work when they feel it is necessary. This issue has been a major concern among American companies for the past 15 to 20 years, and most have instituted numerous programs and policies for flexitime for instance. We would expect that the Indian company scores would increase in this area as more Indian companies institute such programs.
A third area where each country can learn from each other is that of promoting a sense of employee camaraderie. We can observe that there are both similarities and some striking differences, perhaps cultural in origin, in this area. In both countries, companies celebrate themed “days” (where employees dress up or celebrate anything from Friday to national holidays), arrange contests across departments, foster activity or hobby groups for employees and take up collections for other employees facing personal crises. “Fun committees” are common at the US companies. Employees comprising “fun committees” plan celebrations, contests and activities for their colleagues. At Iteris (formerly Odetics), a company that makes equipment for the security and transportation industries, a Fun Committee is charged with thinking of offbeat activities for employees. One Halloween, for example, three employees were invited to dress up as pumpkins, joined in a dance with the company’s officers (also dressed as pumpkins) and then were told that they had been promoted to officers in the company and had just participated in their induction ceremony.
Most of the activities promoting camaraderie at the U.S. companies take place during the workday and without family involvement. One exception to this is a common practice in the US called “Bring your child to work day,” where employees bring their children along with them to the office.
Practices at the Indian companies seem to be more diverse. Some of the companies, such as Cadbury and CSC, practice regular sports tournaments, picnics and weekend activities. Many of these activities involve children or families and take place after work or on the weekend, such as a Saturday morning movie screening at Sasken for children of employees. In addition, some Indian companies feature cultural celebrations, with employees singing, dancing and acting. These kinds of activities are much more uncommon at the US firms.
As we have seen, India’s Best Workplaces do compare well with their American counterparts overall, but have some specific areas where improvements can be made. We would think that within the next decade that the gap will become much narrower.

Robert Levering is coauthor of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” article and cofounder of the Great Place to Work® Institute, which collaborates with Businessworld on its Great Workplaces survey.