By invitation & qualification — for senior leaders who own culture, talent & brand
Win the candidates your competitors are losing.Certification, Recognition & Visibility
Best Practice Institute (BPI) is the independent research organization behind Most Loved Workplace® Certification, the SPARK Model, and the LOWI™ Index. For 25 years we have studied what makes workplaces people genuinely love — and a limited number of companies earn the certification, Top 100 placement, and candidate-search visibility that come with it each year.
Limited cohort · By qualification · 1,800+ certified to date · Top 100 capped at 100
Live · Voice-enabled
Talk to a BPI specialist — live.
Ask Graham anything about Most Loved Workplace certification, the SPARK Model, or how BPI can help your organization. Tap the avatar to start speaking.
CertCheck · Powered by BPI
See if your company qualifies for Most Loved Workplace® — in sixty seconds.
CertCheck is BPI's instant, free eligibility tool. Enter your company name and our AI scores it against the SPARK Model — no application, no waiting.
The Evidence Base
25 Years · 2001–2026
Built on the SPARK framework. Validated across every industry, region, and company size.
Source: BPI / Most Loved Workplace® research program, 2001–2026
The Global List of Record
The Top 100 Global
Most Loved Workplaces® 2026.
Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN)
Kyndryl
Veritiv
IDEAL Industries Inc
APCO
Incyte
Databricks
O2E Brands
Pattern
HLB Interntational
The Evidence
What happens when employees love where they work.
A twenty-five-year longitudinal study across ten thousand organizations and 2.8 million employees produced one consistent finding. Emotional connectedness — not compensation — is the strongest predictor of retention, performance, and inbound talent.
Best Practice Institute · Longitudinal SPARK Study · n=10,000+ · 2001–2026
- 014×
Higher employee retention
MLW certified vs. industry baseline
- 0292%
Apply rate at certified employers
Survey of applicants to MLW® organizations
- 0348%
Highly engaged employees
Certified vs. non-certified workforce
- 042.8M
Employees in the dataset
Across 1,800 certified companies
"To be recognized as a Most Loved Workplace® is validation of our strategy and the journey we've been on for more than twenty years to create an environment where our people can show up, be themselves and do their best work."
"We are thrilled to be certified as a Most Loved Workplace®. This recognition directly reflects our people's feedback and illustrates the impact of our #PeopleFirst philosophy."
"As a Most Loved Workplace® we are among companies that show a remarkable commitment to respecting and appreciating their people. And that's what it's really about: the people who do their best to make the O2E brands exceptional. It's an amazing feeling knowing that you are recognized for the work you do! :)"
Your move
See if your company qualifies — or talk it through with a specialist.
The Method
Five dimensions, one question: do people love it here?
Dimension 01 / 05
“Cross-functional cooperation embedded in process, not personality.”
Love of Workplace Index™
The validated psychometric instrument that scores SPARK across an organization. Developed at BPI, peer-reviewed, and applied across 10,000+ organizations on six continents.
Validated · 6 ContinentsThe Platform
Built on the research. Used by certified companies.
The same SPARK methodology that powers the certification, delivered as working tools — not slideware.
Hi! I'm the Best Practice Agent. Ask me about the SPARK model, certification process, or how to become a Most Loved Workplace®.
The Institute
Twenty-five years.
One question.
Founded in 2001 by organizational psychologist Louis Carter, BPI has spent a quarter-century studying what makes people love where they work — and translating that science into the methodology behind the Most Loved Workplace® certification.
The institute's research has been applied inside 150+ Fortune 1000 organizations and validated across 1,800+ certified workplaces spanning every industry, region, and company size.
About Best Practice InstituteSelected Milestones · 2001–2026
Research & Methodology
Our research is built on the Love of Workplace Index (LOWI), a psychometric instrument validated across 2.8 million employees at more than 1,800 organizations with a .95 coefficient alpha reliability score. Explore the methodology behind the certification.
Certification, SPARK & the LOWI™ Index
How BPI's research, methodology, and certification fit together — for search engines, AI answer engines, and the leaders evaluating them.
6 questions
Best Practice Institute (BPI) is an independent research organization founded in 2001 by organizational psychologist Louis Carter. BPI created the science, methodology, and validation behind Most Loved Workplace® Certification — the world's most recognized workplace culture certification — and has studied workplace culture across 1,800+ organizations including 150+ Fortune 1000 companies.
One step
Find out if your company qualifies — before the Q3 window closes July 31.
Sixty seconds. No application, no commitment. You'll see exactly where you stand against the SPARK threshold.
Best Practice Institute · Established 2001 · Stamford, CT