People at Dennis Publishing aren’t short of things to read on the Tube, working for the magazine group that produces Men’s Fitness, Maxim, Poker Player and Computer Buyer. The 361 employees at the London-based company say their work is stimulating (scoring this question 79% positive) and secure (70%), and that the job is good for their personal growth (77%).

Dennis Publishing acknowledges the value of individual contributions (70%) in a very democratic way. Each year, staff vote for four employees most deserving of an all-expenses paid trip, and the winners each take a friend off to Mustique. The runners-up in each division are consoled with £500 each.

The firm, established in 1974, has 17 titles across men’s lifestyle, motoring and technology, which sell an average of 5.8m copies a month. Unsurprisingly, the company is male-dominated, with 231 men and 130 women. Paternity leave is boosted to two weeks at full pay, and maternity is a generous 26 weeks at 90% of pay for those with more than three years of service.

Annual holiday for everyone rises this year from 25 paid days to 28 and the company can loan staff laptops, mobile phones and broadband access to help with flexible working, if needed.

After five years, there is a sabbatical of six paid weeks, which 35 people are currently using. There is a contributory pension and staff are fairly happy with pay and benefits (63%). Managers trust people’s judgment (80%) and staff are confident in their team’s abilities (82%), the latter score ranking the publisher within the top 25 companies in this survey.

The company sells a lot of paper but sources this from well-managed forests, without using chlorine in processing. There are, of course, recycling bins at work. Fun activities include pub quizzes, summer and Christmas parties, and the firm’s softball team is top of its league.

The publisher invests in a range of training courses and often meets the cost of higher education courses too. With all this work and play, staff probably need the free 20-minute massages offered each month.

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