The 25 best companies to work for in the UK based on senior leadership

A good boss is more important for UK tech workers than their level of pay or their work-life balance, according to research from Glassdoor.

The employer-profiler has compiled a list of the top companies to work for in the UK, with 9 tech-based firms featuring in the top 25.

The companies were ranked with anonymous input from 2.2 million UK employees who answered questions about their bosses, work environments and salaries. However, the quality of senior leadership proved the most important driver of employee satisfaction, according to the report, with respondents citing supportive, approachable bosses that were flexible as key to their reasons for staying with their companies.

The top tech firm on the list was the US-software vendor ServiceNow, which has offices in Staines. Marketing platform Awin, database management firm MongoDB and infrastructure provider Soft Cat were the only other tech firms to make the top ten, though Salesforce, arguably the most well-known tech firm on the list, came in 21st.

"The pandemic tore up the traditional management rules, and it is the leaders who have embraced this change who have seen their companies thrive," says Lauren Thomas, the Glassdoor economist who compiled the list. "Inspirational senior leadership is a sign of a united company with an engaged, motivated and happy workforce. The employers on Glassdoor's list of top companies for senior leadership have fostered a culture of support, friendliness and flexibility and stand out for their transparent approach to management."

The more negative side of management was also discussed in the research, with workers twice as likely to talk about their company's leadership when it's poor. Glassdoor provided a list of terms to search for when looking at a potential new employer - the advice is to look at the wider culture of a company, not just the specific office or region and see if there are any employee accounts of bullying, micro-management, rudeness or neglect from senior management. 'Directionless', 'disconnection' and 'unappreciative' were also terms to keep an eye out for.