Summer 2021 has been a time of head-spinning change with Hawaii’s economic reopening, the return of tourists in huge numbers and the emergence of a virus variant that threatens much of the progress toward normalcy that has been made so far.

So it is understandable if certain things on your to-do list haven’t been crossed off yet as you had planned.

With that in mind, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser is extending the deadline for employees in Hawaii to nominate their employers as one of Hawaii’s Top Workplaces, a project to find and recognize those companies, organizations and government agencies that do it right.

The project is a partnership between the Star-Advertiser and Exton, Pa.-based workplace research and consulting firm Energage. Top workplace honors are based on employee feedback from participating companies. Organizations are grouped by size. Participation is free.

The partnership has extended last Friday’s deadline to Sept. 10 to give workers a few more weeks to nominate those productive, innovative employers that have fostered outstanding employee relationships and healthy cultures — all during one of the most trying times in modern history.

Any public, private, nonprofit or government organization with 35 or more employees in Hawaii is eligible and is evaluated by its employees through a 24-question survey. Companies will be surveyed during July through September.

Anyone can nominate an employer at staradvertiser.com/nominate or by calling (808) 466-8623. Winners will be published early next year.

Companies must agree to allow their employees to take the anonymous survey, which should take less than five minutes to complete. Each survey has a unique code to ensure that employees complete only one survey.

A 35% response rate is required to be considered for Top Workplaces designation. For organizations with fewer than 85 employees, 30 survey responses are required.

Both the Star-Advertiser and Energage will reach out to island companies over a 12-week period to seek participation in the program. This includes participating not only through the newspaper and its website, but also through email campaigns, social media and phone calls.

Employers that participate in the Top Workplaces survey can use their results to see areas where they’re strong and reveal problem areas, as well as encourage workplace pride, boost recruiting and raise their business profile.

They also receive a free overview of their results and, if they choose, can purchase a more in-depth analysis. But there is no obligation to purchase anything, including any results analysis.

Energage, which conducts Top Workplaces surveys for media in 59 markets, surveyed more than 2 million employees at more than 7,000 organizations in the past year.

“Top Workplaces gives high-performing companies a reason to celebrate hard-earned recognition that will attract top talent and increase retention,” said Eric Rubino, CEO of Energage. “Long term, it allows them to shape and showcase their unique, authentic employer brand to ensure they are attracting and retaining the right talent.

“With the data they collect from the engagement survey, organizations can use their unique culture to go a step further to ensure that talent is the right talent.”

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Hawaii Top Workplaces

Any public, private, nonprofit or government organization in Hawaii with a workforce of 35 or more is eligible to be nominated by their employees and evaluated through a 24-question survey.

>> Partners: Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Energage

>> Eligibility: Hawaii organizations with 35 or more employees

>> Final nomination deadline: Sept. 10

>> Publication: Early 2022

>> Website for nominations: staradvertiser.com/nominate

>> Phone number for nominations: (808) 466-8623