Listening to staff and demonstrating a caring attitude show that Bupa has a healthy respect for its workforce.

The company provides funding products and services to cover private healthcare costs for personal and business customers.

It has worked hard to cultivate a relaxed social atmosphere where employees feel comfortable in their teams. More than 81% of them say they laugh a lot with team-mates, 79% say their team is fun to work with and 77% say colleagues go out of their way to help them. The firm has a variety of sports and social clubs, which put on events such as theatre trips, summer balls and paintball.

According to our survey, 76% of staff say their managers support them when they need to learn new skills. Bupa spent £2.7m on training last year and all employees have a personal development plan.

Managers feed back results and discuss issues with their teams, and 83% of staff say the principles of the organisation have been made clear to them, 77% say their manager talks openly and honestly with them and three-quarters report that he or she shares important information with them, the latter earning Bupa a place in the top 20 of the 100 best companies on this point.

It also gains top 40 scores for managers expressing appreciation for a good job done, caring for staff as individuals and supporting them generally. Employee forums are held quarterly and evening forums for managers, which are attended by directors, are monthly.

Explore Best 100 Companies

• Best 100 Tables