A quote attributed to Confucius says, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." Pretty smart, that Confucius. But hand in hand with that is this—choose a great place to work, and your job will seem less like a job and more like a career.
I started working for B&H seven years ago as a technical writer, moving on to Manager of the writing group, then Creative Manager of the Explora team, and I am now Senior Production Manager of the entire Web Content writing department. This is an achievement that many said would not be possible—but I have never doubted it because I happen to work for one of the best companies in the country.
Apparently, Forbes agrees with me. The magazine announced today that B&H Photo is one of the best mid-sized companies to work for in the United States. Their methodology is based on an independent survey from a vast sample of more than 30,000 U.S. employees working for companies employing at least 1,000 people in their U.S. operations.
According to Forbes, "Employees were asked to rate their willingness to recommend their own employers to friends and family. The responses were analyzed on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means, "I wouldn't recommend my employer under any circumstances" and 10 means, "I would definitely recommend my employer."
The employees were asked 35 questions about work-related topics, and were requested to share their opinions on a series of statements surrounding work-related topics on working conditions, salary, potential for development, and company image regarding their current employer. The rate of agreement/disagreement regarding the statements was measured on a 5-point Likert scale.
There were also indirect recommendations, in which participants were prompted to evaluate other employers in their respective industries that stood out either positively or negatively.
In the industry of Retail and Wholesale, B&H ranked 25th overall, an impressive achievement from a retail giant that still maintains a mom-and-pop/neighborhood vibe. B&H constantly strives to stay at the forefront of the industry with high-quality offerings, significant savings on the most popular items, and customer service that really goes the extra step to make sure that the customer is always first and foremost in our minds. Everything we do, including writing web content, starts with the question, "Is this the right thing for the customer?"
All of that is passed on to you, faithful readers and loyal customers, and all of that starts with B&H making sure that we have one of the most creative, interesting, and focused work environments in the nation. Congratulations, B&H—you deserve the recognition.