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The Foundation of Best Places to Work™

Our Methodology

The People Success Index™ (PSI)

The Best Places to Work™ Certification is awarded based on performance against a structured, employee-validated standard: the People Success Index™ (PSI).

“Workplace excellence can be defined only by its employees surveyed by an independent partner and not by internal or external perception.”
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Behind the Thinking

Separating Performance from Its Drivers

PSI treats workplace excellence as an overall organizational result. It reflects how employees experience the organization as a whole.

This PSI performance score answers a simple question. “How strong is the workplace experience overall?”

That overall result is influenced by many specific factors. Leadership quality, career growth, culture, compensation, innovation, and communication all play a role.

To measure performance accurately, these must remain and be measured separately.

  1. The overall workplace PSI score.
  2. The specific factors that influence that result.

Two layers of measurement

01

The overall workplace PSI score.

02

The specific factors that influence that result.

People Success Index™

Performance + Drivers = Full Picture

If these are blended into one combined score, it becomes difficult to identify what is actually driving performance.

For example, if overall performance declines, leaders must be able to see whether the cause is leadership effectiveness, limited career mobility, compensation perception, or cultural misalignment.

By separating overall performance from its drivers, PSI allows organizations to measure results clearly and diagnose causes precisely.

The Framework Architecture

Why PSI Uses a Layered Structure

Organizational performance is influenced by multiple dimensions. Research in employee experience and organizational psychology consistently shows that overall workplace perception is shaped by distinct but related factors.

Each level offers a different overview layer.

Level 1

4 Company Attraction Domains

The four domains capture how employees evaluate the organization at the highest level:

People and CultureJob AttributesReward and CareerCorporate Image

This level answers one fundamental question.

How strong is the overall workplace experience in these four main aspects?

Level 2

9 EVP Pillars

Within the four domains, PSI organizes results into nine Employer Value Proposition pillars such as Empowerment, Learning, Performance, Innovation, Purpose, and Pride. This level translates broad performance into strategic themes.

People & CultureEmpowermentLearningPerformanceRewardCareerInnovationPurposePride

It answers the question:

Which strategic areas should be included in the Employer Branding message to potential candidates?

Level 3

26 Engagement Drivers

At the most detailed level, PSI measures 26 engagement drivers. These represent the specific organizational practices that shape employee experience, such as:

Teamwork / CollaborationManagement & OrganizationCompany Culture / CommunityCommunicationOffice / WorkplaceDiversity & InclusionRespect & EmpathyHigh ResponsibilitiesTrust / Self RegulationWork / Life BalanceTraining & DevelopmentMentoring & SharingChallenging WorkCompetence / ProfessionalismPerformance RecognitionCompetitive SalaryBenefits & PerksCareer Advancement & MobilityLeadership OpportunitiesInnovation & TechnologyCreative / Dynamic EnvironmentValuing Ideas & OpinionsMission & PurposeEnvironmental / Social ImpactPrestige / Corporate ImageEmployment Stability

This level answers the diagnostic question.

What is driving the overall result, what is not working, what can be improved?

The Measurement

Survey Design & Measurement Approach

The PSI score is derived from WorkVenture's engagement survey, which consists of 74 structured statements answered using a standardized agreement scale ranging from "Almost Always Untrue" to "Almost Always True."

This scaled response format avoids binary yes or no answers and allows employees to express degrees of experience. Workplace perception is rarely absolute. A graduated scale captures variation more accurately and reduces response distortion.

Responses are aggregated and translated into indexed scores across domains, pillars, and drivers. These indexed results are then calculated into a consolidated People Success Index percentage score.

Using a structured multi-item measurement approach improves stability, strengthens comparability across organizations, and supports consistent benchmarking.

The Certification

Accreditation Standards

Organizations receive a People Success Index score expressed as a percentage, calculated from aggregated responses from all surveyed employees across the structured model.

Organizations scoring above 60% qualify for Best Places to Work™ certification.

Most companies achieve scores in the range of 60-80%. These thresholds define an Excellence Zone. As national benchmark levels evolve, thresholds may be recalibrated to preserve the integrity of certification standards.

LOCALIZED FOR THAILAND

Why Thailand Requires a Calibrated Standard

Workplace measurement cannot rely solely on global models that were designed around different labor markets, cultural norms, and workforce expectations. Thailand's business environment has distinct characteristics in leadership style, hierarchical structure, mobility patterns, communication norms, and employee expectations. PSI is calibrated specifically for Thailand through localized survey language, benchmarking against aggregated Thailand market data, and alignment with domestic enterprise structures.

This ensures that workplace excellence is evaluated according to standards that reflect Thailand's workforce realities rather than imported assumptions.

Your people are talking. Are you listening? Discover your true score with PSI.

See how the People Success Index™ can give you a clear, employee-validated view of your workplace performance.

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