It’s always worthwhile to comb through the annual Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work For” list to cherry-pick perks and other workplace culture-building ideas from these trend-setters. Promoting from within, tuition assistance, paid time off for charitable work and investing significantly in continued training were common themes among the recognized companies.
At Cooley, a national law firm, teams take time off to accompany underprivileged kids to Disneyland. At Silicon Valley semiconductor and software company Nvidia, new mothers get 110 days of maternity leave (26 more days than required by federal law) and dads get 60 days. Employees who log 25 years at Marriott International – there are more than 10,000 currently – get lifetime free stays at Marriott properties.
Full-time employees at Synchrony Financial can receive up to $20,000 in tuition reimbursement per year. CEO Margaret Keane, who started out working at a call center, is an inspiration to dream big.
To compile its list of top employers, Fortune editors review employee surveys and culture audits, and score companies on six components: values, innovation, financial growth, leadership effectiveness, maximizing human potential and trust.
Salesforce ranked No. 1 on the list for the first time for what the Fortune editors call a zealous encouragement of employee philanthropy (employees get paid 56 hours a year to volunteer in their community), as well as dedicated “mindfulness” rooms and entire floors celebrating the company “Ohana” – Hawaiian for “family.” (Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff reportedly spends several months a year at his home on the Big Island.)
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