It’s all about the money for clients of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) who have turned to the charity because of debt problems, but not for staff. Rich rewards come from helping others and the organisation gets an 85% positive score for making a difference to the world we live in, a result bettered by just three organisations in this survey. Its employees approve of the charity’s values of teamwork, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement. They think that the organisation is run on strong principles (80%) and are proud to work for it (81%).

The CCCS, set up in 1993 and based in Leeds, employs 525 staff in nine offices. It provides free, confidential advice and money management services to people in financial difficulty. On average its clients are £21,000 in debt and owe money to 10 creditors. In fact, many employees have used the service themselves and then joined the organisation to give something back.

The charity has grown tenfold in the past seven years, during which time it has helped more people as well as introduced new services and, in doing so, created opportunities for employees to develop their careers and extend their skills.

Annual appraisals focus heavily on personal development. A dedicated training team, along with external specialists, provides a comprehensive list of courses open to employees on site and there is also funding for programmes run outside the charity. Specific goals are set once a year and are reviewed on a monthly basis.

Effort and achievement is recognised by awards such as employee of the month and also with team lunches. All in all, staff think this is a great place to work. They feel their job is secure (81%), care a lot about each other, and few have reported stress-related symptoms in the past 12 months because of work (both 80%).

Staff at the CCCS believe they can make a valuable contribution to the success of the organisation (74%) and are happy with the balance between their work and home life. Work, they say, does not interfere with their responsibilities at home (78%), the fifth highest score among our top 100 companies. They also don’t feel under so much pressure they can’t concentrate (77%) and, in fact, say their health is not suffering because of their work (81%).

Despite the fact it is a charity, the CCCS offers competitive benefits such as a healthcare cash plan for staff and their family, childcare vouchers, life assurance and a contributory pension scheme. Flexible working policies include a compressed working week, which is offered to employees in a number of departments and is due to be rolled out, and part-time working. The charity has also piloted a banked hours scheme, which enables people to work additional hours during busy times and to take time off in quieter periods.

The organisation gains a 79% positive score for profit not being the only thing driving it (the seventh highest ranking), but staff do feel it could do more to protect the environment (giving it just a 50% positive score, one of the five lowest).

People love working for the CCCS (73%) and think the experience is valuable for their future (76%). They wouldn’t mind earning a bit more money, though. Employees give the firm just a 53% score for feeling they receive fair pay for the responsibilities they have in their job.

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