Mars and Reynolds American Nab Best Place to Work Awards
Fortune released its ranking of the 10 Best Large Workplaces in Manufacturing and Production, and this year’s list included two consumer goods companies.
Mars, Inc. secured the No. 5 spot, heralded for its ability to bring its family ownership down to the employee level. Although it slipped a bit from its 2019 perch of No. 3, 84% of its employees described it as a great place to work.
The food company, which employs over 14,000 workers in the United States, also appeared on Fortune’s Top 100 Best Companies to Work For earlier this year. A recent conversation with Mars Wrigley CIO Romain Apert echoed this employee-focused sentiment, with Apert noting that the company is committed to creating a workplace where associates "feel comfortable being their full selves at work and have an equal opportunity to thrive."
Reynolds American, Inc. filled the No. 8 spot, up from No. 10 in 2019. The tobacco and nicotine company was cited by employees for its culture of coaching “that always looks to lift people up, improve their performance, and examines the general skill development of employees.”
Eighty-five percent of its employees said Reynolds is a great place to work, and the company offers such benefits as 16 weeks of paid parental leave, employee resource groups, tuition reimbursement, on-site health clinics and cafeterias, and a Women of Transformation initiative highlighting and celebrating innovative female leadership
“We are extremely proud that our employees continue to have a positive and high-trust experience here at Reynolds, enabling us to once again be certified as a Great Place to Work. We always strive to make our organization a place where all our employees thrive and always feel accepted, appreciated and valued,” said Guy Meldrum, Reynolds president and CEO, in a statement. “Our steadfast commitment to continuous learning and development, and also to living by our ethos and our diversity and inclusion principles, enables us to innovate, transform and drive better business results.”
Reynolds American is a wholly owned subsidiary of British American Tobacco plc, which was No. 17 on the CGT Top 100 Consumer Goods Companies ranking in 2019.
In ranking the companies, Fortune teamed with Great Place to Work, an analytics firm that analyzed anonymous survey feedback from more than 160,000 U.S. employees in the manufacturing and production industry. To qualify for the “large” category, companies must have 1,000 employees or more. Organizations that appeared on the aforementioned 100 Best Companies to Work For list are ranked first.
In the survey, employees responded to over 60 questions, with 85% of the evaluation based on what employees said of their experiences of trust and reaching their full human potential as part of their organization.
Great Place to Work then analyzes these experiences relative to each company’s size, workforce makeup and what’s typical relative to their industry peers. The remaining 15% is based on an assessment of all employees’ daily experiences of innovation, the company’s values and leader effectiveness.
