Great Place To Work® has been surveying employees around the world about their workplace experiences for 30 years. We have developed a set of themes and metrics that not only predict whether employees feel their workplace is great, but predict retention, agility, and overall business success.
Using our proprietary Trust Index™ survey, we measure the core of what we know creates great workplaces — key behaviors that drive trust in management, connection with colleagues, and loyalty to the company.
The survey enables employees to share confidential quantitative and qualitative feedback about their organization’s culture by responding to 60 statements on a five-point scale and answering two open-ended questions.
Employees tell us whether leaders are accessible, communicate honestly and clearly, and if their actions match their words. They tell us whether they feel respected as individuals, if they receive training benefits, appreciation, support for their well-being and opportunities to contribute. They tell us whether they believe their company is fair related to pay, profits, promotions, recognition, favoritism and opportunities. They tell us if they are proud of their work, their team, and their company and if they feel they make a difference, and their work is meaningful. And they tell us whether they enjoy the people they work with, feel cared for and can be themselves.
Great Place To Work measures the differences in survey responses across each organization to assess both the quality and consistency of the employee experience.
In addition to analyzing employee feedback for the Best Small & Medium Workplaces in Europe list, in certain countries we also consider what companies with more robust programs can tell us about their programs and workplace strategy. While these responses can provide important context for rankings, only survey data can garner a list placement. Companies are recognized on the Best Small & Medium Workplaces in Europe list based on the degree to which they outperform others in their own country and across Europe.
Surveys must meet strict requirements for how they are distributed and the percentage of employees who respond to ensure they accurately represent honest feedback from the company’s full population. Rankings take into account the degree of employee presence in Europe and how many countries each company surveyed.
To be eligible for the Best Small & Medium Workplaces in Europe list, companies must be Great Place To Work Certified™ and must have between 50 and 499 employees in Europe and must appear on at least one national best workplaces list in Europe. To determine this list, Great Place To Work surveyed companies employing more than 2.4 million people in Europe and received more than 1.5 million responses. Of those, 260,000 responses were received from employees at companies who were eligible for the 2026 Best Small and Medium Workplaces list and this list is based on their feedback.
