Hanscom once again among top Massachusetts' places to work Published Nov. 9, 2009 By Kevin Gilmartin 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- For the second year in a row, exciting work, competitive pay and benefits and a high quality of life has made Hanscom one of the top 100 places to work in Massachusetts, according to the Boston Globe. Boston's major metropolitan daily newspaper again selected Hanscom for recognition in its "Globe 100: Top Places to Work" honors, announcing the state's best work locations in a special pull-out magazine in last Sunday's edition. Displayed prominently on the back page of the magazine is a full page civilian recruiting ad highlighting Hanscom and the Electronic Systems Center. Hanscom moved up significantly in its ranking from last year. In 2008, Hanscom was ranked 23rd out of the top 25 "large employers," and 82nd overall by the Globe. This year, the base was ranked 9th out of the top 25 large companies, and 39th overall. This is only the second year the Globe has conducted the Top 100 places to work program. Produced by the same team that compiles the 22-year-old Globe 100 report of the best-performing public companies in Massachusetts, the Top Places to Work recognizes the most progressive companies in the state based on employee opinions about company leadership, compensation and training, diversity/inclusion, career development, family-friendly flexibility, and values and ethics, according to the Boston Globe. Private companies and nonprofits as well as publicly-held businesses were included in the analysis. The rankings in the Globe 100's Top Places to Work are based on survey information collected by Workplace Dynamics, an independent company specializing in employee engagement and retention, from 120,000 employees at about 600 Massachusetts organizations. In June, a random selection of about 700 Hanscom military members and government civilians, including Non Appropriated Fund employees, took part in the survey, which was completely confidential. The recognition is great news, according to Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds, ESC commander, and should help attract "the best and the brightest" candidates during a year when the Center is in the midst of a strategic civilian hiring initiative. "The Globe 100 helped us get a great response to our hiring initiative this past year, and we expect it will help us achieve even greater results this year," General Bowlds said. The Center is planning on hiring up to 600 civilians at Hanscom this fiscal year, recruiting individuals for positions in the fields of finance and accounting, engineering, contracting, program management and a number of other disciplines, according to Sheila Brennan, ESC's director of Personnel. "The best part of this recognition is that it doesn't come from an award package, but from the people who work at Hanscom every day," said Rich Lombardi, ESC's executive director and highest-ranking civilian. "It's a clear statement that our work force of military and civilians recognizes that Hanscom is a beautiful work place where you can earn good pay with excellent benefits and make important contributions every day to our national defense." Mr Lombardi cited numerous other quality of life benefits that Hanscom offers, including flexible scheduling, discounted child care, free fitness and health and wellness centers, as well as on-base colleges, where employees can further their education while taking advantage of tuition assistance. Donna Desimas of the Personnel Directorate noted some positive feedback reflected in the survey results during an ESC senior staff meeting Nov. 5. She reported that, among large companies, Hanscom ranked fifth in the "Career category," reflecting that employees are confident about their future, get the formal training they require and have the opportunity to learn and grow. She also said the base ranked 14th in the "Direction category," reflecting the work force's confidence in leadership at the base as well as strong values and ethics. "If you want to find out what it's like to work at Hanscom, just ask our employees," Ms. Desimas said. "That's what this survey did, and look at the results."