It is time to get on your marks, get set and go because the contest to become a Best Company to Work For in 2009 is about to begin. Applications are open for The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For competition, which has become the gauge by which the best workplaces in the UK are judged.

More organisations are getting involved year on year meaning that competition is hotting up for a place on one of our lists.

The survey is broken down into three lists:

- The 20 Best Big Companies to Work For — aimed at businesses with more than 5,000 members of staff.

- The 100 Best Companies to Work For — for mid-sized firms of 250 to 4,999 employees.

- The 100 Best Small Companies to Work For — aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with between 50 and 249 workers.

This year’s surveys collected the opinions of 180,000 employees, up from 148,645 in 2007. This made the eighth Best Companies lists the biggest to date, with 311 companies taking part in our contest for mid-sized firms. A further 44 put themselves forward for the 20 Best Big Companies to Work For contest and 513 SMEs competed for a place in our Best Small Companies to Work For list.

This competition isn’t X Factor. Companies are not judged by a panel; it’s the employees themselves who, through a 66-point employee questionnaire, give us a frank insight into their working life.

The questionnaire measures eight critical influences, or “factors”, on the overall workplace experience.

They are:

- Leadership: how people feel about the head of the company and its most senior managers.

- Personal growth: to what extent people feel stretched by their job.

Explore Best 100 Companies

• Best 100 Tables