General Motors Named A ‘Most Engaged’ Workplace

General Motors has been named one of the top 50 most engaging workplaces for employees. The award comes from Achievers, which compiles yearly winners for most engaged workplaces via submitted applications.

Achievers looks at eight elements, which a group of judges scored each applicant on. The areas are:

• Leadership
• Communication
• Culture
• Rewards and recognition
• Professional and personal growth
• Accountability and performance
• Vision and values
• Corporate social responsibility

The organization has specific criteria for each element, including how fluid communication is among employees, how workers interact with managers and executives, how a company recognized an employee’s performance, opportunity for employees to learn new skills, how workers are held accountable and how a company carries itself and its products to ensure they’re responsible.

The award comes in stark contrast to “Old GM” and its way of doing business. Former GM vice chairman, Bob Lutz, commented on the company’s culture during his time at the automaker, which he said was often a resounding “good enough” mentality. Lutz said he began to weed out poor procedures before retiring from GM in 2010.

These days, GM is a different company, and it’s not gone unnoticed. CEO Mary Barra has received numerous awards for her work in transforming GM’s corporate culture and the way it does business. Some of her work has included melting away a deep freeze in managerial positions and opening up communication between higher-up executives. She’s also made GM a safe place to talk about defects after the automaker’s ignition switch recall. The recall was found as the cause of 124 deaths, and Barra pledged to change the way GM thinks about its products and safety.

GM’s most turbulent times has also led GM product chief, Mark Reuss, on a course to prove skeptics wrong.

“‘I know what this company can be,'” Reuss recalled saying to now CEO Barra in 2009. In response, Barra said, “Mark, I know the people in this company can win, and we have to enable the people in this company to win.”