It wasn't mobile cranes or towers that lifted construction equipment specialist Liebherr-Great Britain 14 places up the Best Companies list this year — although the firm has plenty to spare. Instead, the rise was driven by its highly motivated employees and a new company commitment to staff Wellbeing. Staff believe they can make a valuable contribution to the firm (an 86% positive score), love being there (78%) and wouldn't leave tomorrow even if they were offered another job (79%, ranked 13th). Almost half of them started at the business at least five years ago, and about one in five have clocked up a decade — but boredom isn't a problem (77%, a top-20 score), not even among long-servers. There's a clear attraction for many men in working for a company that sells, rents and services every type of big, powerful machine — from cranes and earth-movers to mining and quarry equipment. But job satisfaction is also provided by less macho elements, such as quality of life. It probably helps that the firm, founded by Hans Liebherr in southern Germany in 1949, is still family-owned. Its UK operation is based in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, and has renewed its focus on the Wellbeing of its male-dominated workforce since last year's survey, bringing the business up from 43rd position in this factor in 2013 to rank just outside the top 20. As well as offering convenient working practices, from flexitime to reduced or part-time hours, Liebherr has enhanced paternity and maternity leave pay, including a bonus of £1,000 for mums when they return. Planned improvements include the introduction of cash health plans and a review of the canteen menu, to make sure there are enough healthy options. Jobs don't interfere with employees' responsibilities at home (70%) and realistic deadlines (69%) mean they don't feel under so much pressure they can't perform well (73%). Staff are relatively happy with their pay and benefits, ranking in the top 50 on this question, with a 66% positive score. Almost half the 316-strong workforce earn between £25,000 and £35,000 a year, including field service engineers, who receive an average basic salary of £27,825 for for a 40-hour week. www.liebherr.co.uk
