Sigmar Gabriel honors Arineo as Germany’s best employer

As patron of the nationwide comparison of companies, he acknowledged the first-place winner’s remarkable healthy and high-performing workplace culture.

The employer analysis “Top Job” is tailored to the virtues of medium-sized companies. A scientifically based employee survey developed specifically for this purpose assesses the culture of the companies. The feedback from Arineo GmbH employees was consistently positive. Particular qualities became apparent in the areas of family-friendliness and work-life balance. Factors that represent a modern and future-oriented employer.

Arineo is an Employee Owned Company. That means the company belongs to the employees. This special ownership structure ensures that Arineo cannot become an object of speculation and that the surpluses generated are solely available to the company and its purpose. The employees can be sure that everything that is collectively generated serves the stability and further development of the company.

Arineo is also breaking new ground in its organizational structure. Instead of a hierarchical organization, Arineo relies on the self-developed Arineo concept of cooperative organization. Classic “management duties” are performed by several people. People coordinate, develop strategies, provide support, find rules, and give feedback. The most successful project decisions are made by people in the project. Therefore, wherever possible, at Arineo decisions are also made where the knowledge is greatest, instead of passing it “upwards” through a hierarchy.

For the company with almost 300 employees, this is the first award as a “Top Job” employer. For 20 years, the German Center for Employer Attractiveness, zeag GmbH, has been awarding the quality seal to companies that have made a remarkable commitment to a healthy workplace culture.

“Employer attractiveness is a crucial strategic issue for any company that wants to be successful in the long term,” says Gabriel, confirming the actions of the award-winning companies.

“We are very pleased about this special award, which is based on a scientifically sound and independent analysis,” reports Martin Renker, member of the Arineo GmbH management board. “Employer attractiveness is firmly anchored in our corporate strategy – it is a crucial element of our corporate DNA. Employee feedback is particularly important to us, especially in these difficult times. Because our strong culture makes us crisis-proof, and regular feedback is an inevitable part of that.”

Arineo will not rest on its laurels. “With the help of the results from the ‘Top Job’ analysis, we will continue to hone our qualities as an employer and further improve cooperation. We can only continue to win the race for the best minds and remain successful as a business with motivated and committed employees,” adds Dr. Marko Weinrich, spokesperson for the Arineo GmbH management.

Researchers from the Institute for Leadership and Human Resource Management at the University of St. Gallen, led by Professor Heike Bruch, surveyed employees online and analyzed the HR tools used. The award is primarily decided by the employee survey.

The award-winning companies may now display the “Top Job” seal for the next two years. 58 percent of these employers are family businesses. Of the award-winning companies, 33 percent are national market leaders and 6 percent are international market leaders. On average, the companies employ 321 people and the proportion of women in management positions is 28 percent. All award-winning employers can be found at www.topjob.de/en.