When will The Sunday Times 20 Best Big Companies to Work For list expand from the City to the high street? Financial firms and consultancy companies continue to dominate the top 20 year on year.

Forty-four companies with more than 5,000 staff competed for a place in the top 20 this year, but only one retailer made it. Flying the flag for the retailers was maternity and children’s specialist Mothercare.

“I rarely come across someone who isn’t aware we are a Best Company,” says Karen Bosher, head of group stores (south), who is involved in recruiting for the firm. “People look at it as a stamp of quality. Having some accreditation outside the organisation is very powerful.”

It takes a confident firm to invite Best Companies to assess employee engagement, particularly one with more than 5,000 staff working in 425 stores throughout the UK. Mothercare has been involved in the Best Companies process for four years, and is keen to hear staff responses — good or bad — and learn from them.

“I think retailers have been nervous about putting their hat in the ring,” says Jonathan Austin, chief executive of Best Companies Ltd. “The growing competition to become a Best Big Company shows that larger organisations are starting to realise the power of an engaged workforce and of winning a spot on the list.”

In this year’s survey, Wellbeing is Mothercare’s highest ranking factor score, with the firm punching above its overall position of 18th. Its positive score of 64.5% is beaten by just four other big companies.

Caring for people is embedded within the Mothercare brand and fun is at the heart of the Early Learning Centre (ELC), which it acquired in June 2007. It isn’t surprising that staff don’t feel stressed (a 77.6% score in this year’s survey) and say they don’t spend too much time working (61.8%).

“ELC is all about play. We get our jeans on and paint on the floor,” says Bosher. “Playing is very important in that brand. If you can’t play, you can’t possibly understand ELC.”

But parenting is a serious business. “Mothercare is a highly challenging environment. In no way is it a soft and fluffy business. It’s not all baby powder and nappies,” Bosher says. As a specialist retailer, staff are trained to be experts in various areas, including those critical to a baby’s safety such as giving customers advice on car seats.

Aptly for the maternity and childcare specialist, employees feel a strong sense of family in their team (the 71.1% score ranks Mothercare seventh). My Team is Mothercare’s second highest ranked factor, with a score of 73.7%. Staff find their colleagues fun to work with — an 81.3% score ranks the firm fourth among big companies.

This happy workforce isn’t one which is feeling the effects of the current cautious climate among shoppers. And nor are the firm’s finances. High street profits may be suffering, but Mothercare enjoyed a 35.8% increase in group sales in the last financial year.

These are exciting times to work at Mothercare, but the company is aware of the challenges it faces and isn’t resting on its laurels.

“ELC had a very different culture,” says Debra Barnes, Mothercare’s internal communications manager. Has the firm successfully managed to engage the new staff and make them feel part of the Mothercare family? “It will be interesting to see what next year’s Best Companies results are,” she says.

But whether Mothercare moves up or down the Best Companies ranks in 2009, Barnes is adamant the process is valuable. “It’s great for recruitment. It’s also motivating for employees to have the company recognised in a well-respected magazine. There are no negatives. We get a lot of invitations for awards but Best Companies is the one we work hardest on. It takes pride of place.”

Austin hopes Mothercare’s success will inspire other retailers. “It’s great that Mothercare is leading the way, and it is enjoying the benefits of making it into the list. We’d love other retailers to follow its lead to represent this very important sector in the competition, which is now a well-established, well-respected measure of employee engagement,” he says.

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