Featured in The Economist

    Apply for the 2027 Top 100 Global Most Loved Workplaces®.

    Most Loved Workplace® certification puts independently verified proof of your culture in the places candidates, search engines, and AI engines look first.The flagship list is the moment. Certification is the year-round system that earns it.
    Certification keeps your workplace visible and desirable all year — attracting more candidates and outperforming the market.

    Application Window Open · Deadline March 31, 2027
    See the 2026 Global list

    Takes 10 minutes · Free to apply · Join 1,800+ certified employers

    92% Apply Rate·4× Retention·48% Lower Turnover

    The Day You're Certified

    What changes in the surfaces that matter

    Candidate search results surface a verified, present-day picture of your culture, sourced from your current employees.
    AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews) start citing third-party-validated culture data when describing you.
    An owned, current story that you control — backed by an independent research institute, not self-published marketing.

    Flagship Publishes

    May 2027

    In The Economist. The certification benefits start the day you're approved.

    You'll be in great company

    Databricks
    Navy Federal Credit Union
    PennyMac
    Starwood Hotels
    Synopsys
    UCLA Health
    S&P Global
    Avanade
    See the 2026 Top 100 Global list

    The new employer-research reality

    Candidates and AI engines are deciding who you are — based on whatever data they can find.

    Candidates research before they apply

    By the time a strong candidate reaches your careers page, they've already formed a view from third-party sources. If there's no current, credible signal about your culture, the loudest fragments win by default.

    AI engines summarize whatever they find

    When a candidate asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews "is this a good place to work?", the model synthesizes the public signal. Without verified data, the answer is built from whatever scraps are loudest.

    Verified data changes the answer

    Independently validated culture data from your current workforce becomes a citable, authoritative source — the kind candidates trust and AI engines preferentially surface.

    Most Loved Workplace® certification gives them the answer.

    The number that changes the math

    92%

    of qualified candidates apply to a Most Loved Workplace® certified employer.

    Because what they see is current, verified, and produced by the people who actually work there today — not the ones who left.

    Source: Most Loved Workplaces® research, Best Practice Institute

    What certification actually does for you

    Not a badge. An operating system for your employer reputation.

    A verified, present-tense picture of your culture

    Independently validated by your current employees through the LOWI® methodology — placed in the surfaces candidates look at first.

    Discoverability in AI candidate research

    ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews start surfacing third-party-validated data about you — not just whatever the review aggregators serve up.

    A current, owned story

    A verified employer profile and AI-ready content engine that compounds your independently validated story across the surfaces candidates research — week after week.

    Eligibility across 13+ 2027 lists

    One application opens the door to every Most Loved Workplace® recognition cycle — Career Advancement, Diversity, Wellness, Women, CEOs, and the flagship Top 100 Global.

    A confidential SPARK diagnostic + LOWI® benchmark

    Your leadership team gets a private readout across the five SPARK culture drivers, benchmarked against the global LOWI® index. What to fix. What to celebrate.

    Membership in the CEO/CHRO peer cohort

    Most Loved Workplaces® summits, peer roundtables, and a 1,800-employer network of leaders solving the same talent problems you are.

    The 10-month advantage

    Why now beats waiting for the deadline.

    The flagship publishes in May 2027. Every benefit listed below starts the week your certification is approved — not the week the list drops.

    1. Week 1

      Eligibility confirmed · baseline SPARK pulse fielded

      You're in the system. Your private SPARK diagnostic is in motion.

    2. Month 2

      Verified employer profile live

      Your present-tense culture data starts showing up in candidate-research surfaces.

    3. Months 2–4

      Eligible for early 2027 affinity lists

      Career Advancement, Diversity, Women in the Workplace, and other early-cycle recognitions.

    4. Months 3–5

      AI search engines start surfacing the new story

      ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews begin citing your verified culture data as an authoritative source when candidates ask about you.

    5. Months 5–7

      Optional re-pulse to lift your score

      Apply your SPARK insights, re-survey, and strengthen your position before the flagship submission closes.

    6. Month 10 · May 2027

      Flagship Top 100 Global decision + Economist feature

      The moment everyone sees. By now, the reputation work has been compounding for 10 months.

    Apply at the deadline and you get the last bullet only. Apply now and you get all of them.

    The Most Loved Workplaces® evidence base

    92%

    candidate application rate

    4×

    retention vs. baseline

    48%

    lift in employee engagement

    2.8M

    employees measured

    1,800

    certified companies

    Source: Most Loved Workplaces® research, Best Practice Institute

    How it works

    A simple 3-step process.

    01

    Apply

    10-minute application

    Tell us about your company and confirm eligibility. Free, no payment to apply.

    02

    Validate

    Employee sentiment + LOWI® benchmark

    We launch the LOWI® Pulse Validation to your team and measure what matters across the SPARK culture drivers — confidentially.

    03

    Compound

    Verified visibility + recognition

    Certification activates the year-round system: verified employer profile, AI-search visibility, list eligibilities, and a confidential diagnostic readout for your leadership team. The Economist feature is the cherry on top.

    The institute behind it

    Not a pay-to-play award.
    A research institute's index — earned, not bought.

    25+

    years of organizational research at Best Practice Institute

    LOWI®

    peer-reviewed Love of Workplace Index® methodology

    WSJ · Bloomberg · CNBC · The Economist

    the framework cited by the outlets your candidates actually read

    You can't buy the score. You earn it from your own employees.

    Start your application

    Prove what's true about your culture.

    Free to apply. Takes 10 minutes. A certification advisor will be in touch within one business day.

    Application window open · Deadline March 31, 2027

    Takes 10 minutes · Free to apply · Deadline March 31, 2027

    What Most Loved Workplaces® are saying

    In their own words.

    We are thrilled to be certified as a Most Loved Workplace®. This recognition directly reflects our people's feedback and illustrates the impact of our #PeopleFirst philosophy in creating an environment of respect, care, and support.

    Dimitra Manis

    Chief People Officer, S&P Global

    To be recognized as a Most Loved Workplace® is validation of our strategy and the journey we've been on for more than twenty years to create an environment where our people can show up, be themselves, and do their best work.

    Pam Maynard

    Avanade

    Being certified as a Most Loved Workplace® is testament to the power of a brand and company focused on a foundational brand purpose — in our case, our love of feeding people.

    John Dillon

    Chief Brand Officer, Denny's

    FAQ

    Frequently asked questions

    The deadline is months away — why apply now?+

    Because verified culture data compounds. Every week your independently validated story is live is another week candidates and AI search engines have something current and credible to surface about you. Early applicants also qualify for the affinity lists that publish before the flagship — Career Advancement, Diversity, Women, CEOs, and more — and have time to re-pulse their score before the final Top 100 Global submission.

    How does certification show up in candidate research and AI search?+

    Most Loved Workplace® certification produces independently verified culture data from your current workforce — then makes that data the dominant signal in the surfaces candidates and AI engines use to research employers. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and traditional search begin reflecting the certified, present-day picture of your culture instead of relying on whatever fragments they can scrape elsewhere.

    How is this different from other workplace awards?+

    Most workplace awards are pay-to-play list buys. The Most Loved Workplaces® index is a research instrument — the LOWI® (Love of Workplace Index®), developed and peer-reviewed by Best Practice Institute over 25+ years of organizational research. You can't buy the score. You earn it from your own employees.

    What are the requirements?+

    Minimum 35 employees. Companies headquartered outside the United States, or with employees in more than one non-U.S. country. All industries welcome.

    What if we don't make the flagship list?+

    Every applicant receives a confidential SPARK diagnostic and benchmarking against the LOWI® global index. Most certified employers are eligible for several affinity lists even if they don't make the Top 100 Global flagship — and certification itself is what drives the year-round reputation and candidate-side benefits.

    Is our data confidential?+

    Yes. 100% confidential. Only the published lists are made public. Individual employee responses are never shared with employers or third parties.

    How long does the employee survey take?+

    Employees spend 5–7 minutes on average. We handle distribution, reminders, and analysis end-to-end.

    Apply for 2027

    Show the world the workplace you've built.

    Independently verified. Backed by 25+ years of BPI research. Seen by candidates, search engines, and AI engines the day you're certified.

    Takes 10 minutes · Free to apply · Deadline March 31, 2027

    Best Practice Institute

    Best Practice Institute is the research organization behind Most Loved Workplace® certification, the SPARK Model, the Love of Workplace Index™ (LOWI™), and The Workplace Report.

    The Workplace Report

    The Workplace Report is BPI's original workplace culture research and editorial briefing series for CEOs, CHROs, people leaders, talent leaders, and employer-brand teams. It turns BPI's 25 years of research, Most Loved Workplace® certification data, SPARK findings, and current workforce signals into practical analysis leaders can use.

    The report format includes executive summaries, research-backed articles, company examples, methodology notes, and practical implications for retention, hiring, culture, leadership, and employee experience. New research and analysis is published on an ongoing editorial cadence at /workplace-report.