Looking for the best places to work? There’s a new list out from Fortune magazine:
Read more: New overtime law: How it could affect you and your paycheck
Best companies to work for right now
Google (Alphabet)
* Mountain View, Calif.
* Advertising & MarketingAcuity
* Sheboygan, Wis.
* Financial Services & InsuranceThe Boston Consulting Group
* Boston, Mass.
* Professional ServicesWegmans Food Markets
* Rochester, N.Y.
* RetailQuicken Loans
* Detroit, Mich.
* Financial Services & InsuranceRobert W. Baird
* Milwaukee, Wisc.
* Financial Services & InsuranceKimley-Horn and Associates
* Cary, N.C.
* Professional ServicesSAS Institute
* Cary, N.C.
* Information TechnologyCamden Property Trust
* Houston, Texas
* Construction & Real EstateEdward Jones
* St. Louis, Missouri
* Financial Services & InsuranceGenentech
* South San Francisco, California
* Biotech & PharmaceuticalsW.L. Gore & Associates
* Newark, Delaware
* Manufacturing & ProductionNugget Market
* Woodland, Calif.
* RetailThe Container Store
* Coppell, Tx.
* RetailUltimate Software
* Weston, Fla.
* Information Technology
What makes an employer a good one?
In business, it’s not just about having the right product, price point or location. It’s about service. Your profits depend on it. Clark has long talked about the idea of romancing your customers. The reality is if you romance your employees by treating them well and valuing them in deed, not just in word, they’ll romance your customers. And then everybody wins!
Treating an employee well is not always about pay; there are other ways to do it too. And you can see the hustle in a business where employees feel cared about and valued.
Companies who understand about treating their employees well do so much better in the long run. Chick-fil-A is a prime example of a restaurant that values its employees and managers, and they are among the fastest growing and most profitable chains in the nation.
Another example is the regional convenience store chain Kwik Trip. Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel once profiled Kwik Trip and its fantastic employee benefits. The company does so much to try to create a sense of ownership among employees, or ‘co-workers’ as it calls them. Among the perks the company offers are the following:
- Employees get 40% of the company profits every year. Clark used to give his employees 25% of profits each year when he had a chain of travel agencies in the 1980s. The money was parceled out equally regardless of position. That made all employees equally accountable for our profitability. But Kwik Trip makes Clark look cheap!
- Employees own real estate with the company. Upon their five-year anniversary, employees receive one unit of ownership in store real estate and select headquarters buildings.
- Employees get sabbaticals. Any employee who stays with the company for 20 years receives a monthlong sabbatical. That’s in addition to normal vacation that is accrued after 20 years.
Remember, Kwik Trip is not a charity or a non-profit; this is a business making money and being successful because the employees are fully vested in the company’s success.