The best workplaces do more than just give feedback to their employees — they also ask for feedback from them, and listen to what they have to say. 

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Top Workplaces, created in partnership with employee experience platform Energage, takes a similar approach: surveying people to determine a ranking of the Delaware Valley’s premier employers.

For the 17th year, the Exton-based firm conducted a confidential employee survey to allow participants to speak anonymously about their workplace experiences. The 2026 winners list is based on responses from employees at 223 companies (out of 7,362 employers that were invited to participate), all with a minimum of 50 people on staff. Of the organizations involved this year, 172 have earned recognition as Philadelphia Top Workplaces.

“Earning a Top Workplaces award is a celebration of excellence,” Energage CEO Eric Rubino said. “It serves as a reminder of the vital role a people-first workplace experience plays in achieving success.”

Energage measures success by asking employees 26 questions about pay and benefits, direction, leadership, meaningfulness, and appreciation, then scores their workplaces based on the responses. The survey company has established these benchmarks based on feedback from about 30 million employees over 20 years.

Energage groups workplaces into similar sizes to best compare employee experiences, then ranks them based on the strength of the survey feedback. Workplaces that receive the most positive feedback from employees about their experiences make the winners list. Survey results are valid only if 35% or more employees respond, and companies with fewer than 85 employees are held to a higher response threshold, with answers required from at least 30 staff members.

The Top Workplaces awards must be earned — they can’t be bought — and there is no cost to employers to survey their staff. If they choose, organizations can purchase the survey data from Energage, though there’s no obligation to do so.

Why might a particular employer not be on the list? It’s possible a workplace opted out of participating, or its employee feedback scores weren’t strong enough to make the cut. Energage also runs tests on survey feedback and may disqualify an organization if, for example, a high number of employees said they felt pressured to answer positively.

To participate in the 2027 Top Workplaces awards, or for more information, go to the nominations page at Inquirer.com/nominate.