Lessons from the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For™ in Europe 2026

We’re delighted to reveal the 2026 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work for™ in Europe, recognising organisations that are setting the standard for great workplace culture across the continent. This year’s recognised workplaces span industries, countries and workforces, but share a commitment to building cultures where employees feel trusted, supported and able to do their best work.

This year’s list celebrates 100 organisations, based on feedback representing more than 1.5 million employees across Europe. To be considered, organisations must first be recognised on a national Best Workplaces™ list and have 500 or more employees across Europe. Among those recognised this year are 27 organisations recognised in Ireland, reflecting the strong workplace cultures being built by organisations with a presence here in Ireland.

Ireland's impact on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For™ in Europe

Ireland is strongly represented on this year’s list, with organisations spanning technology, healthcare, financial services, retail, hospitality and more. Their recognition reflects the breadth of workplaces across Ireland that are building strong cultures and investing in the employee experience.

Representing Ireland on this year’s list are Hilton, AbbVie, DHL, Cisco, Specsavers, Allianz Group, Aviva, Siemens Healthineers, Salesforce, Hilti, Biogen, Chiesi, MetLife, Verisure, Cadence, Genesys Cloud Services Ireland Ltd, ServiceNow, Hugo Boss, Zimmer Biomet, Cloudera, Experian, Softcat, Loxam, Woodie’s, Kia Ireland, Booking.com, and TIP Group.

Hilton: Supporting wellbeing through conversation

Ranked #1 this year, Hilton has continued to place employee wellbeing and inclusion at the centre of its workplace culture. That focus is also reflected in its recognition here in Ireland, where Hilton has been named among Ireland’s Best Workplaces™, Best Workplaces for Women™, Best Workplaces for Health & Wellbeing™ and Best Workplaces in Hospitality™ in 2026.

One example of that approach can be seen at Conrad Dublin. During Men’s Mental Health Month, the team developed a programme designed not only to raise funds, but to encourage employees to speak more openly about mental health. Recognising that men can be less likely to seek support or talk openly about their mental health, the initiative focused on creating different opportunities for employees to engage with the topic in ways that felt accessible.

Activities ranged from a community 5K and a coffee morning for dads to a stress-management workshop where employees could share their own coping strategies. The team also organised a dedicated spa and movie day, creating space for employees to step away, relax and challenge some of the expectations around masculinity and wellbeing.

Rather than approaching mental health through a single activity, Hilton created different opportunities for employees to connect, talk and access support, helping make wellbeing part of the wider workplace conversation. As the Hilton team put it, “it’s more than just growing a moustache, it’s a conversation starter.”

DHL: Building an employer brand from the inside out

Ranking 3^rd this year, DHL’s approach to employer branding begins with understanding the employee experience behind it. That focus on its people has also earned DHL recognition as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces™ and Best Workplaces for Health & Wellbeing™ 2026.

When developing its global employer brand, DHL started by listening to its people. Employees, candidates and business leaders were asked for their perspectives, helping the organisation identify the experiences and values that were most important across its workforce. From this, DHL developed three key pillars: Deliver the Difference, We Care and We Grow Together.

Employees were then asked whether those pillars genuinely reflected their experience of working at DHL, with the organisation aiming for at least 80% agreement. DHL also gathered thousands of employee stories, bringing real examples of those experiences into its employer brand and helping shape how the organisation communicates its culture internally and externally.

That internal listening has informed DHL’s external employer-brand platform, Your Future, Delivered, while allowing individual markets to localise the message for their own employees and candidates.

For large multinational organisations in particular, DHL’s experience demonstrates how a shared culture does not necessarily require identical execution everywhere. A common framework can create consistency while still giving individual teams the flexibility to make it meaningful locally.

Want to learn more about DHL’s approach to employer branding? 👇 

Cisco: Creating opportunities to connect and grow

Ranked #4, Cisco, which was also recognised as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces™ 2026, Ireland’s Best Workplaces in Tech™ 2026 and Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Health & Wellbeing™ 2026, takes an approach to culture that combines connection, development and opportunities for employees to contribute beyond their everyday roles.

Across the organisation, events and employee experiences are designed around what Cisco describes as “Moments that Matter”, creating opportunities for employees to build relationships outside of day-to-day work. Development is similarly embedded into the employee experience. Stretch Assignments allow employees to build new skills by contributing to other teams, while employees are also provided with five additional days each year to volunteer and support causes within their communities.

Local teams are given scope to shape their own employee experiences through Cisco’s Be Amazing community events, helping create a culture that can respond to what employees at individual sites value. Together with its focus on development, volunteering and connection, this gives employees different ways to grow, contribute and engage with the wider Cisco community.

Hilti Ireland: Turning Employee Feedback into Action 

Ranked 11th this year, and recognised as one of the Best Workplaces in Ireland™ 2026 and Best Workplaces for Health & Wellbeing™ 2026, Hilti Ireland has placed employee listening at the heart of its approach to the employee experience.

Through its AURORA project, employees across the business were invited to research best practices, share ideas and challenge existing ways of working, resulting in 91 ideas and four key areas of focus: benefits, work-life balance, compensation and social connection.

That employee feedback translated into tangible changes, including a new benefits platform, greater flexibility, a redesigned bonus system and salary adjustments informed by external benchmarking. The impact has also been reflected in the business, with retention reaching 95% and more than €500,000 saved in turnover costs, demonstrating the value of turning employee feedback into meaningful action.

Salesforce: Connecting culture with wider impact

Ranked #10, Salesforce, which was also recognised as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces™ 2026, Ireland’s Best Workplaces in Tech™ 2026 and Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Women™ 2026, has built its workplace culture around five core values: Trust, Customer Success, Innovation, Equality and Sustainability.

Those values extend beyond how employees work internally. Through its 1-1-1 model, Salesforce commits 1% of its time, 1% of its product and 1% of its equity to supporting communities.

Employees are given opportunities to contribute through volunteering and pro bono work, alongside opportunities for talent development and collaboration across the organisation. By connecting its values with opportunities for employees to contribute beyond their everyday roles, Salesforce creates ways for its people to take an active part in the wider impact of the organisation.

Want to learn more about Salesforce’s approach to employee collaboration? 👇 

Cadence: Making time to recharge

Ranked #30, Cadence, which was also recognised as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces™ 2026 and Ireland’s Best Workplaces in Tech™ 2026, takes an approach to employee wellbeing that recognises the importance of giving people space to disconnect from work altogether.

The organisation provides a 24/7 Mental Wellbeing Support Programme for employees and their families, including six paid confidential counselling sessions each year.

Cadence also operates Global Recharge Days, when the company shuts down across the organisation to give employees at every level an opportunity to step away from work at the same time. Alongside this, a Lifestyle Spending Account can be used towards areas such as gym memberships and other wellbeing programmes.

Rather than positioning wellbeing solely as something employees need to manage individually, these initiatives demonstrate how Cadence is building opportunities to recharge and access support into the employee experience itself.

Genesys Cloud Services Ireland Ltd: Putting empathy into practice

Ranked #31, Genesys Cloud Services Ireland Ltd, which was also recognised as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces™ 2026, Ireland’s Best Workplaces in Tech™ 2026, Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Women™ 2026 and Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Health & Wellbeing™ 2026, has built its culture around collaboration, innovation and its One Genesys philosophy, with employees encouraged to contribute, develop and bring their authentic selves to work.

Values including Fly in Formation and Empathy First reinforce that approach, connecting teamwork with a wider commitment to putting people at the centre of decisions. That focus is reflected in employee-led wellbeing initiatives and the organisation’s Menopause Workplace Excellence recognition, as well as its community partnerships spanning sustainability, STEM education and regional engagement. Together, these initiatives create different opportunities for employees to connect with one another, contribute to their communities and play an active role in shaping the culture around them.

ServiceNow: Creating a shared commitment to employees

Ranked #38, ServiceNow, which was also recognised as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces in Tech™ 2026, shapes its employee experience around what the organisation calls its People Pact: a commitment for employees to live their best lives, do their best work and fulfil their purpose together.

Learning and development form part of that commitment, including an internally developed platform designed to help employees build new skills and continue their professional development.

The approach is also connected to ServiceNow’s wider values: staying hungry and humble, wowing customers, creating belonging and winning as a team. Together, the People Pact and these wider values provide a shared foundation for the employee experience, setting out what employees can expect from ServiceNow while reinforcing the culture the organisation is working to build across its teams.

Cloudera: Using AI to create space for people

Ranked #54, Cloudera, which was also recognised as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces™ 2026, Ireland’s Best Workplaces in Tech™ 2026, Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Health & Wellbeing™ 2026 and Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Women™ 2026, takes an approach to technology that considers how it can support both the work itself and the people doing it.

The organisation has explored how AI can take on large-scale processing and repetitive work, reducing time spent on manual tasks and allowing employees to focus more on communication, collaboration, problem-solving and innovation.

By integrating these tools into everyday workflows, Cloudera is creating more space for employees to focus on meaningful work and the areas where their skills and ideas can have the greatest impact. In this way, technological transformation becomes part of the employee experience, rather than something happening separately from it.

Woodie’s: The long-term impact of rebuilding trust

Ranked #84, Woodie’s, which was also recognised as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces™ 2026, Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Women™ 2026 and Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Health & Wellbeing™ 2026, demonstrates how sustained investment in workplace culture can translate into measurable change.

In 2014, only 39% of employees believed Woodie’s was a great place to work and trust levels stood at 16%. The organisation responded with a long-term focus on listening, communication, leadership development and recognition. More than 600 locally driven Voice Action Plans helped turn employee feedback into action, while new internal communication channels, leadership roadshows and development programmes created greater opportunities for employees to feel informed and involved.

Recognition also became a more visible part of the culture through initiatives including peer-to-peer recognition and employee awards. By 2019, trust had increased to 71%, while 84% of colleagues said Woodie’s was a great place to work. Over the same period, operating profit increased from €2.4 million to €22.7 million.

Woodie’s journey shows how workplace transformation can be built over time, with employee listening, action and trust forming part of an ongoing approach to strengthening both the employee experience and the wider organisation.

Kia: Creating space for new ideas

Ranked #89, Kia’s approach centres on creating an open and transparent culture where employees have the space to contribute ideas, learn and continue developing their skills. The organisation places people at the centre of that culture, with an emphasis on ensuring employees have opportunities to think, plan and learn as the business itself continues to evolve.

That willingness to adapt is particularly important in an industry undergoing significant transformation. By connecting organisational change with employee development, Kia is creating an environment where employees have the opportunity to develop their skills, contribute new ideas and play a role in how the organisation continues to evolve.

Building great workplaces at scale

This year’s Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For™ recognition demonstrates that organisational size does not have to come at the expense of employee experience.

The initiatives may look different from one workplace to another, but the underlying themes are remarkably consistent: employees want leaders they can trust and speak to, opportunities to develop, workplaces that support their wellbeing and cultures where they can contribute without leaving parts of themselves at the door.

The organisations recognised this year show what becomes possible when workplace culture is treated not as a standalone initiative, but as something built into how an organisation listens, leads, develops its people and grows.

Thinking about Great Place to Work Certification™?

Register for our 40-minute live Q&A webinar recording designed for organisations exploring Great Place to Work® Certification for the first time. Learn how the process works, what to expect, and why launching your Trust Index™ survey by November 2026 is key if you're planning your recognition journey.

About Great Place to Work®

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. We help organisations quantify their culture and produce better business results by creating a high-trust work experience for all employees. We recognise Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies and the Best Workplaces™ in more than 60 countries. To join the thousands of companies that have committed to building high-trust company cultures that help them attract, retain and take care of their people, contact us about getting Certified today.

About the Best Workplaces in Europe™ List

Great Place To Work® identifies the Best Workplaces in Europe by analysing employee feedback about their workplace experience alongside organisations’ workplace practices.

Recognition is based on the experiences employees report within their organisations, providing insight into the levels of trust, pride, belonging and employee experience being created across Europe.

About Fortune Media

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