provides a forum and a template for workers to rate their employers. While the findings do not claim to be scientific, they offer an interesting snapshot of the esteem in which the companies are held by those whom they traditionally proclaim to be their greatest assets – namely, their employees.
Since we last looked at the Glassdoor rankings of the UK’s biggest contractors in February 2018, there has been more improvement than deterioration across the sector, it seems.
No company has improved more than Mace, whose rating has climbed from 3.7 to 4.2 over the past 15 months. Other improvers include Costain, from 3.7 to 4.0, and Morgan Sindall, from 3.5 to 4.0. Wates has improved from 3.1 to 3.6 and Amey has improved from 3.1 to 3.2.
Glassdoor calculates company ratings using a proprietary algorithm based on employee interviews, with more recent interviews and reviews given a greater weighting.
Those whose rating has declined over the past 15 months include Sir Robert McAlpine (from 4.2 to 3.8), Skanska UK (from 3.9 to 3.6) and Balfour Beatty (from 3.4 to 3.2).
Glassdoor also offers scores for other indicators; while ISG’s overall rating is a modest 3.7, it scores highly on the fact that 92% would recommend the company to a friend as a good place to work and chief executive Paul Cossell scores a 100% approval rating. In fact Paul Cossell and Galliford Try’s Peter Truscott are the only CEOs among the group we looked at to score a 100% approval rating both last time and this time. Mace’s Mark Reynolds has improved from 97% to 99% while Laing O’Rourke CEO Ray O’Rourke has slipped in the other direction, from 100% last time to 96% currently.
Another points of interest thrown up in the table below is that while Morgan Sindall scores a creditable 4.0 overall rating and 92% approve of John Morgan as CEO, only a comparatively paltry 63% would recommend the company to a friend.
Given their recent financial difficulties, it is little surprise to see Interserve and Amey propping up the foot of our table. Perhaps more surprising is Balfour Beatty’s low place, and the decline in approval for its chief executive Leo Quinn, given the rescue job he has performed since joining in 2015, returning the business to relative stability.
If you are reading this on a portable device, you may not be able to see the complete table below. For information on sample size and 2018 ratings, we recommend you view it on a full desktop screen.
| Ìý | Ìý | May 2019 Glassdoor rating | Would recommend to friend | Approve of CEO | 2019 sample size | Ìý | Feb 2018 Glassdoor rating | Would recommend to friend | Approve of CEO | 2018 sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mace | Ìý | 4.2 | 92% | 99% | 157 | Ìý | 3.7 | 71% | 97% | 111 |
| Costain | Ìý | 4.0 | 79% | 88% | 94 | Ìý | 3.7 | 84% | 91% | 56 |
| Morgan Sindall | Ìý | 4.0 | 63% | 92% | 58 | Ìý | 3.5 | 59% | 73% | 24 |
| Galliford Try | Ìý | 3.8 | 79% | 100% | 47 | Ìý | 3.8 | 70% | 100% | 26 |
| Sir Robert McAlpine | Ìý | 3.8 | 74% | 93% | 51 | Ìý | 4.2 | 83% | 82% | 20 |
| ISG | Ìý | 3.7 | 92% | 100% | 49 | Ìý | 3.8 | 90% | 100% | 24 |
| Laing O'Rourke | Ìý | 3.7 | 75% | 96% | 155 | Ìý | 3.7 | 73% | 100% | 107 |
| Skanska UK | Ìý | 3.6 | 70% | 81% | 58 | Ìý | 3.9 | 79% | 51% | 34 |
| Wates | Ìý | 3.6 | 58% | 73% | 32 | Ìý | 3.1 | 44% | 82% | 22 |
| Willmott Dixon | Ìý | 3.5 | 62% | 82% | 53 | Ìý | 3.7 | 70% | 93% | 42 |
| Kier | Ìý | 3.2 | 57% | 57% (Hayden Mursell) | 226 | Ìý | 3.2 | 62% | 67% | 146 |
| Balfour Beatty | Ìý | 3.2 | 55% | 79% | 573 | Ìý | 3.4 | 56% | 83% | 445 |
| Amey | Ìý | 3.2 | 50% | 62% | 267 | Ìý | 3.1 | 57% | 59% | 171 |
| Interserve | Ìý | 2.7 | 48% | 56% | 302 | Ìý | 2.8 | 33% | 36% | 207 |
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