So what's so great about MBNA Ireland, voted the best place to work in Europe? Sarah Marriott visits its Co Leitrim offices.
Does your employer give you a birthday present? Pay for a limousine for your wedding? Offer a week's paid leave to new grandparents? Encourage you to do voluntary work during company time? Reward you for car-pooling or walking to work?
If the answer is "You must be joking", you're obviously not working at the best workplace in Europe.
MBNA Ireland, the credit card and financial services company based in Co Leitrim and Dublin, was recognised this week as the "best workplace in Europe" after the Great Place to Work Institute asked management and staff of almost 1,000 companies in 14 countries about their working practices.
MBNA won against stiff competition - other European contenders provide an on-site gym, crèche and meditation room.
"The reason is more to do with MBNA's ethos than any one particular thing they do. They believe in doing simple things well," says Bob Lee, chief executive of the Great Place to Work Institute Ireland.
"I love working here," says Eileen Dowling of Strokestown, Co Roscommon, who is a "customer advocate". "There is a great team atmosphere and lots of benefits - the more you put in, the more you get out."
For Mary Fitzpatrick who lives near Mohill, Co Leitrim, the training and promotion opportunities are just as important: "They encourage ambition. You get recognition for everything you do."
"It's all about treating people with respect and giving them the tools to do a good job," says Ian O'Doherty, MBNA's regional director. Fairness is equally important. "All rules are applied to everyone and the selection process is open and impartial. We do it because it's the right thing to do and satisfied people \ mean satisfied customers."
What makes this company special, O'Doherty believes, is its precepts, or code of practice. A wallet-sized precepts card explains that MBNA is a company of people who expect to: be treated fairly; have the opportunity to develop and advance; be able to speak their minds reasonably, and be part of a company that recognises each individual as absolutely fundamental to its overall success. "We're not perfect," he says, "but we're trying."
To outsiders, it can all seem more aspirational than achievable and when John Brennan from Glasgow started work in the tax department five months ago, he was cynical. "Many companies have slogans; few live up to them. But MBNA practises what it preaches - the culture is to live by the precepts."
Brennan has noticed other differences too: "People and customers are the focus here, whereas in other companies higher managers think they come first. Of course we all come to work for the money, but people here have a lot of pride in the company." A yellow bike, a prize in a team contest, leans near Brennan's desk: "We want people to look forward to coming to work. It's a tough job and we try to make it easier. It's also about receiving recognition for your achievements."
MBNA even has its own business language - to reinforce the precepts, staff are "people", customers are "the boss" and the company provides "education" rather than training (and if "people" make a mistake, they get "re-educated").
Signs above every door exhort the "people" to "Think of yourself as a customer" and office walls are adorned with pithy messages - such as "Customers are not cold statistics. They are flesh and blood human beings with feelings, problems and emotions like our own. We must treat them as we would expect to be treated".
Some 1,000 people work in the Carrick-on-Shannon offices and O'Doherty seems to know most of them. "Pick 10 people and nine would say that the best thing about working here is the people," says Paddy Cunningham, a team leader from Co Sligo. "Whether it's the cleaners or top management, everyone has a smile and says hello. You're valued and everyone is made to feel as important as each other." So what does the best workplace in Europe look like? The long, low, cream building sitting in an unnaturally green lawn resembles a hotel rather than an office block. It's spotlessly clean and feels welcoming and accessible: a sunny atrium near the lobby is used for informal meetings; paintings by local artists hang on the walls; electronic doors are suitable for wheelchairs; signs on office doors are written in Braille; and staff - sorry, people - are encouraged to personalise their small cubicles.
But there's more to being the best European workplace than having precepts: perks include bonuses which can increase salaries by over €300 a month; a non-contributory pension; health benefits including dental and optical; 25 days' holiday a year; two days' annual personal leave; an excellent, subsidised cafeteria run by Campbells Catering; a private phone area for free personal calls; and a guaranteed lift home if you car-share.
MBNA isn't the only great place to work in the Republic, though - 10 others made it into the European Best 100 Great Places to Work list and two of these were shortlisted for special awards: Trócaire in the Pride section and Boston Scientific in the Respect section. The other eight Irish companies listed are: Ballina Beverages, BUPA Ireland, DMG Services Ireland, EBS Building Society, GE Capital Aviation Services, Halifax Insurance Ireland, Hilton Dublin and Microsoft.
The EU provided seed funding for the first list in 2003 to encourage improvements in the workplace," says Lee. Winners are chosen according to the results of an "employee attitude" questionnaire sent to between 50 and 250 randomly chosen employees of each company nominated (worth two-thirds of the total marks) and a "culture audit" by its management (worth one-third).
Find out how to nominate your company for the 2005 awards at