Pictured above: (l-r) Nicky Smith, Katie Bennett, Kylie Banks & Stephanie Halliwell (all from Weightmans) hand over Christmas hampers to Clare Ferris (team leader at Homeground) & Jodie Sherlock (resident at Homeground) of Homeground homeless shelter as part of the firm's CSR initiative

More than 1,000 organisations from the private and public sector applied for Best Companies Accreditation this year, with just over 70% making the grade. Among those, law firm Weightmans stood out and was awarded the 'One to Watch' status.

The Best Companies survey measures employee engagement across eight distinct categories: leadership, well being, my manager, my team, my company, personal growth, giving something back, and fair deal.

Despite a turbulent and challenging year, the 2010 Best Companies survey found staff engagement to be a key interest for UK organisations. Overall engagement, based on responses from more than 270,000 participants, had nonetheless taken a slight dip from 70.9 per cent in 2009 to 69.3 per cent in 2010.

Weightmans' managing partner Patrick Gaul said: "Our employees are without question our greatest asset. It is their commitment, enthusiasm and of course engagement in achieving our vision which drives the firm forward. This survey shows that Weightmans is en route to further successes."

Jonathan Austin, CEO and founder, Best Companies comments: "We would like to congratulate Weightmans on its outstanding achievement. An engaged workforce is essential as organisations move out of the recession and into a more stable economic situation. No doubt many organisations have tackled redundancies and rapid change this year. But organisations like Weightmans that have kept on engaging their staff and making sure they are involved in the business will be in a good position for the future and should be congratulated for their efforts".