As the economy and work have moved in fits and starts amid the COVID-19 pandemic toward whatever may be the new normal, workplaces have adjusted — some requiring vaccination, some opening up spaces and calling for masks, and some embracing virtual work or some hybrid of that.
The constant challenge in the face of the uncertainty brought on by the health crisis for employers is maintaining their workplace cultures. But workplaces with strong cultures leaned into the headwinds and found ways to make work, well, work for their employees.
Many of the employers being recognized in what is now the 11th year for Baltimore Sun Media’s Top Workplaces may sound familiar — I’m looking at you Cummings & Co. Realtors, RK&K, FutureCare, Loyola Blakefield, Northwestern Mutual, Resolute Technologies, CollabraSpace, Samuel Shapiro & Co. The cream always rises.
To learn more about how these workplaces are weathering the pandemic, The Sun asked those identified as top leaders some questions about how it affected their businesses. You’ll see their answers in these pages.
For Top Workplaces, The Sun again collaborated with Energage, an employee research and consulting firm based in Philadelphia. Energage, whose mission is to help employers create places where people want to work, collaborates with many other U.S. news organizations on similar projects in their markets.
The Sun and Energage solicited nominations together this past summer; then our partner surveyed the employees of companies that chose to participate. Energage analyzed the data to identify the Baltimore region’s Top Workplaces, scoring and ranking the results and dividing employers into small, midsize and large categories.
Now in our 11th year of Top Workplaces, The Sun appreciates those employers who chose to participate.
Please enjoy this year’s magazine. Celebrate with us what makes the employers great. And join us yet again in hoping that some workplace normalcy returns next year.
— Christopher Dinsmore, director of content for news and development