bdht, Bromsgrove’s largest provider of affordable housing and one of the town’s biggest employers, is celebrating being ranked in fifth place in The Sunday Times Best Not for Profit Companies to work for, as well as winning the Innovation in Engagement Practice award on the night.

The rankings and awards are decided by The Sunday Times and the poll, which looks at the best companies to work for across the UK, is based entirely on employee feedback in areas such as leadership, wellbeing, personal growth and how happy the workforce is. It also identifies how employees contribute to their company’s success and growth, which in turn sets a benchmark for other employers.

The social housing provider began in the competition at 88th in 2011, moving up to 44th in 2012, catapulting into the top ten in 2013, in ninth position, and then finishing in the top five for two consecutive years, even winning a number of individual awards, including Best for Learning and Development and Best for Wellbeing in 2014 and an award for Innovation in Engagement Practice this year.

bdht performed particularly well in a number of areas, including finishing in third place in the Personal Growth category, which assesses how stretched and challenged employees feel. It also came in fourth place in the My Company category, which gauges staff feelings about the company they work for as opposed to the people they work with and fifth in Wellbeing, which measures how staff feel about stress, pressure and work-life balance. As a not-for-profit organisation, the company does not offer a bonus scheme, so employee satisfaction is based purely on enjoying the job they do and feeling valued for it, which makes the award even more significant.

Mike Brown, chief executive at bdht, said: “We have consistently done well in the competition and are really pleased to have made it into the top five again this year against such stiff competition. With over 200 entries received, it’s such an achievement to be recognised in this acclaimed national award and we are so proud that our employees rate us so highly. Knowing that this award is based entirely on employee feedback makes it even more special.

“It is essential to us, as one of the largest employers in Bromsgrove and provider of such an important local service, to give our employees a secure, positive, professional and empowering environment to work in. It’s well proven that when staff are happy, results coincide with the business performing well. bdht has a strong focus on integrity in the workplace; it is a value-driven organisation where people want to work and are happy in their roles.

“The best thing for me as a chief executive is that 99% of employees say they are proud to work for bdht, with 97% confirming that bdht is constantly trying to improve its service to our customers and 89% seeing themselves having a positive future with the organisation.

“This gives us a great foundation to continue the good work and improve as a business to give our employees even more opportunity to develop and learn and our customers good reliable services.

“Our bi-annual resident satisfaction survey also consistently shows the benefits to customers, with this year’s results showing 92% overall satisfaction with the services bdht provides.”

The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For lists are compiled based on research from the largest survey of its kind.

For more information about bdht please visit www.bdht.co.uk