Key Takeaways
- Great Place To Work Certification™ is the most trusted recognition of exceptional workplace culture.
- Certification boosts recruiting, retention, and employer branding.
- Certified companies gain actionable insights, award eligibility, and brand credibility.
What is Great Place To Work Certification?
Great Place To Work Certification™ is a globally recognized validation of a company’s workplace culture, based on direct employee feedback. It signals to candidates, customers, and stakeholders that your organization prioritizes trust, fairness, and employee well-being.
Why Get Great Place To Work Certified?
For HR leaders, few milestones hold as much pride as becoming Great Place To Work-Certified™. It signals to the world that they have created a company culture that employees love.
And when you become Certified, you earn more than just a shiny badge. Does your manager need some convincing? We’re here to help you get the case for culture over the line.
1. How Does Certification Help Recruit Top Talent?
Our 2023 workforce study revealed a compelling insight: 76% of job seekers said they would prefer a company that was Great Place To Work Certified™.
This study, which reached a wide array of workplaces and engaged over 4,400 respondents in both full-time and part-time roles, underscores the certification's impact on recruitment. Job seekers are an astonishing 15x more likely to choose a company when they know it has been certified by its own employees.
This highlights the significance of certification in talent acquisition, as job seekers increasingly view company culture as a prerequisite.
Certification signals that current employees endorse their organization’s culture and leadership. It tells candidates that employees feel supported and would recommend their workplace to others.
2. How Does Certification Improve Company Culture?
Certification depends mostly on the results of your Trust Index™ Employee Feedback Survey – the industry standard for measuring employee experience.
After you collect your employee survey responses, you will receive an in-depth analysis of your company culture. You’ll get insight into areas such as perceived fairness, feelings of belonging and perception of leadership
The survey analysis step in Certification gets you inside the heads of your people and will give you a clear view of your culture strengths and areas of opportunity.
3. How Can You Showcase Your Achievement?

Every Great Place To Work-Certified company earns a digital Certification badge. You can use it throughout the year to remind employees, partners and the public about your achievement.
Many companies include the badge on social profiles and email signatures, print it on swag and proudly display it on their job postings.
4. What Awards Do Certified Companies Qualify For?
Once your company is Great Place To Work-Certified, you’ll automatically be considered for our Best Workplaces™ Lists.
You could make the Best Workplaces™ in Canada,
Best Workplaces™ with Most Trusted Executive Team,
Best Workplaces™ in Real Estate & Property Development, and over a dozen more.
5. Will Your Company Be Featured Publicly?
Every Certified company earns a profile page on the Great Place To Work website. You can share company details and any other recognition earned on Best Workplaces lists.
Certified companies often link to their profile from their careers page to provide third-party validation of their exceptional company culture.
About Great Place To Work®
Great Place To Work® is the Global Authority on Workplace Culture. We make it easy to survey your employees, uncover actionable insights and get recognized for your great company culture.
6. How Does Certification Build Employee Pride?
All employees want to be part of something special. Getting Great Place To Work-Certified builds pride among your workforce.
Raising awareness of your Certification among current employees is an opportunity to promote your company values, mission and culture. Certification reinforces that you are a company that cares. A company that puts people first.
Because employee opinions dictate the results – it’s a reminder that, yes, your company is a great place to work.
7. How Does Certification Reinforce Your Company Values?
Becoming Great Place To Work Certified™ is more than a recognition moment — it reinforces the values and behaviours that define your organization.
When employees see their workplace officially recognized based on their own feedback, it strengthens alignment between what the company says it stands for and what employees actually experience. Certification validates your mission, confirms your commitment to fairness and trust, and reinforces a culture where people feel valued.
Recognition shapes identity. When a company is recognized as a great place to work, employees are more likely to uphold and contribute to the standards that earned that recognition in the first place.
Because Certification results are driven by employee voice, it serves as a powerful reminder that your culture is not just aspirational — it is lived, experienced, and sustained by your people.
8. Do You Join a Community of Great Workplaces?
When you join the Certified club, you put your name alongside the likes of the World’s Best Workplaces™. You also get to join the virtual nationwide office party on Certification Nation Day. Celebrate your people, connect with like-minded companies and Tweet your culture pride to the world!
9. Does Certification Satisfy Stakeholders?
Investors and other stakeholders are demanding that companies conduct fair and sustainable business – and they want to make sure that their vendors are doing the same.
Certification is an efficient way to signal your workplace ESG – it is a third-party validation that your business treats its people well.
10. Can Certification Boost Employee Engagement?
Employee recognition is proven to increase employee retention, employee engagement and perceptions of fairness in the workplace.
Earning Certification is cause to celebrate – a reason to thank your employees. So, rally your team around this win and celebrate – we’ve got 21 ideas for you.
Learn More: 21 Ideas To Celebrate and Promote Your Company Culture Award
11. Does Certification Build Trust?
Many companies find that asking employees to participate in a survey about their workplace experience creates goodwill. Employees appreciate being given the opportunity to voice their opinions.
Ongoing listening is a recurring theme among the Best Workplaces in Canada. When the executive team is clearly focused on creating a great workplace culture and continue to gather employee feedback, employees know that their happiness is a top priority.
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Frequently Asked Questions:
What is Great Place To Work Certification?
It’s a recognition based on employee feedback that validates a company’s commitment to creating a positive workplace culture.
How long does Certification last?
Certification is valid for 12 months, allowing companies to showcase their achievement year-round.
Why should companies get Certified?
Certification enhances employer branding, attracts top talent, and provides actionable insights to improve workplace culture.
How do you become Certified?
Companies complete the Trust Index™ survey and meet the benchmark for employee experience.
Is Certification recognized globally?
Yes, Great Place To Work Certification™ is recognized worldwide as the gold standard for workplace culture.