What are the benefits of working for a large organization? Do workers give up something when they move from a smaller organization to larger one? Some of these findings may surprise you. The latest research describes the similarities and differences between workers employed by larger (over 10,000 employees) and smaller (less than 10,000 employees) organizations.

Survey items where larger company workers had at least a 10% more favorable rating than their smaller company counterparts included:

• Communication of company goals and objectives
• Feeling valued by the organization
• The job itself—the kind of work performed
• Opportunity available to improve skills
• Being treated with dignity and respect
• The reasonableness of workload
• Recognition received
• Pride

Smaller company workers have the advantage over their larger company counterparts on:

• Compatibility of values (24% difference—largest difference in the study)
• Internal support received from other departments
• My manager helps me grow and develop
• Communication of a clear vision of the company’s future
• Being encouraged to serve the customer in innovative ways
• Personal authority regarding decisions
• Emphasis/structure to support customer service
• Being kept informed on important matters

There were no differences between the larger and smaller companies in:

• Work and personal life balance
• Feeling part of team
• Access to resources to do job effectively
• Receive needed information for job
• Manager provides feedback
• Organization committed to ethical conduct
• Can report unethical practices without fear of reprisal
• Manager is readily accessible

In a nod to the pervasiveness of Sarbanes-Oxley, Kenexa® found no differences on the commitment to ethical conduct (which has been trending upward over the last 20 years) and the ability to report ethical lapses without fear of reprisal.

Work/life balance is one of the few areas that has been declining and often comes up as issue. These findings show the pervasiveness of the issue in both larger and smaller organizations.

Jeffrey Saltzman, M.A., said, “Many notions exist about what it is like to work in larger or smaller organizations. People in larger organizations can feel as, if not more valued than people in smaller ones. Additionally, 78% of larger organization workers report that they enjoy the work they are doing and feel pride in working for their respective companies—as contrasted to statements you often read about worker unhappiness.”

He continued, “Smaller companies seem to have an edge in attracting people with values similar to their own. This is likely helped by their better performance in articulating a clear vision of the future of the organization. Additionally, they seem to have an advantage in the area of customer service, encouraging innovative customer service and providing support in that area.”

Study Details
The report is based on the analysis and compilation of data drawn from 3.5 million employees from the 2004-2006 Kenexa organizational effectiveness surveys, which were conducted in U.S. and European multinational companies. The data represent common survey item scores from larger companies (more than 10,000 employees) versus smaller companies (less than 10,000 employees).

Survey Results
Items were grouped by theme and examined using a 5-point Likert-type agreement scale. The values in the following graphs represent the percent of employees who answered, “Strongly agree” or “Agree” (% favorable).