Barry one of 'Best Nonprofit Organizations to Work For'

Barry University was recently named one of the 2010 “Best Nonprofit Organizations to Work For” by The Nonprofit Times.

The publication asked thousands of employees at nonprofits across the country to nominate their place of business as the best place to work. The request began a “several month-long odyssey” for the organizations as the Editor-in-Chief of The Nonprofit Times, Paul Clolery, explained.

Barry made the list of “Top 50 nonprofit places to work” and ranked 7th in the “larger than 250 employees” category.

“I am thrilled that Barry is one of the top 50 nonprofit places to work,” said Barry University president, Sister Linda Bevilacqua, OP. PhD. “This distinctive honor acknowledges the competent and collaborative efforts of our dedicated faculty and staff to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all members of our university community, especially our students.”

Working with the Best Companies Group, the newspaper sought out the top-notch nonprofits by way of survey. After applying, the organizations went through several levels of screening conducted by employees of the group.

Consisting of 70 statements, the survey allowed employees to rate their responses on a one to five scale, one being disagree strongly and five being agree strongly. Two open-ended questions – why the company is one of the best nonprofits to work for, and what can be improved upon within the organization – were also asked of workers.

Some 75 percent of an organization’s score was compiled from employee input and the remaining 25 percent came from the information the nonprofits provided about their organizations.

“As part of the university’s strategic agenda, Human Resources had been working toward being recognized as an employer of choice; this recognition puts us one step closer to achieving that goal,” said Human Resources Associate Vice President, Jennifer Boyd-Pugh. “We are very excited Barry made this list and more importantly our high ranking was due in large part from the input of our faculty and staff; it is a great honor.”

Statements such as; the leaders of this organization care about their employees’ well being or I am able to maintain a reasonable balance between my work and personal life, were some of the questions posed.

Responses from both sets of information were combined to create a detailed data set, from which analysts determined the strengths and opportunities each nonprofit provides for its employees.

According to The Nonprofit Times on average, 86 percent of the answers the top 50 organizations provided were considered positive (or rated four and five on the scale) meaning they “agree somewhat and agree strongly.”