Five organizations in Florida were named as Certified Best Christian Workplaces in the first half of 2022.
The Best Christian Workplaces Institute (BCWI) honored this month 109 faith-based organizations and Christian-owned businesses, including five from Florida, as Certified Best Christian Workplaces. This year’s list features organizations in the US, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Thailand, and Zambia. In Florida, Calvary Christian Academy, 4KIDS, Generous Giving, St. Matthew’s House, and Trinity Rescue Missions were among those recognized.
Proactively assessing and developing a healthy culture is a strategic imperative for all leaders. —Jay Bransford, CEO of Best Christian Workplaces Institute
- Calvary Christian Academy (Fort Lauderdale) – A Pre-K to 12th grade Christian school where children grow spiritually, academically and socially.
- 4KIDS (Fort Lauderdale) – One of the leading foster care agencies in the US. They provide safe environments to babies, kids, teens, and young adults across South Florida. 4KIDS have been honored as a Certified Best Christian Workplace for six years.
- Generous Giving (Orlando) – A ministry that hosts online and in-person events to have a meaningful discussion on the topic of generosity.
- St. Matthew’s House (Naples) – A rescue mission that provides innovative solutions to fight homelessness, hunger, substance abuse, and poverty in Southwest Florida.
- Trinity Rescue Mission (Jacksonville) – A ministry that provides food, shelter and recovery to the hurting and needy of Northeast Florida.
To be certified as one of the Best Christian Workplaces means the organization reported strong satisfaction with team dynamics and employees find high levels of meaning and value in their work. Despite the pandemic hurting the finances of businesses, employees still enjoy working even with less compensation and benefits.
“Many organizations are facing financial pressure, especially if they experienced a drop in donations or other revenue streams over the past few years,” said Jay Bransford, CEO of BCWI. “Rewarding compensation and outstanding talent are two important factors for flourishing organizations in the long-term. Even as these areas are lagging, top-ranking organizations see the benefit of investing in teamwork and sustainable strategy to increase employee engagement.”
BCWI also found that in addition to monetary woes, practicing healthy communication within the organization is another challenge leaders face during the pandemic.
Covid-19 has created a change on how people work. Employees are now away from their cubicles and are now working from home. This means communication is done online and employees can attend a meeting while wearing pajamas. Employees need consistent communication and leaders of a healthy workplace have found ways to effectively communicate and work together toward common goals even when employees have mixed reactions with virtual work settings.
Proactive leaders are needed in the changing work environment. Bransford pointed out the importance of good leadership in influencing workplace culture. “Effective leaders need to continuously take the pulse of their organization to better understand the state of their flock and how best to support, attract, and retain top talent. No other factor impacts the performance of an organization to a greater extent than its culture.” He added that, “Proactively assessing and developing a healthy culture is a strategic imperative for all leaders.”
Since 2002, the BCWI has been surveying Christian organizations and Christian-owned businesses every year. BCWI’s Employee Engagement Survey has been completed by more than 340,000 employees from over 1,300 organizations in the US, Australia, Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, Central and South America.
