100 Best Companies to Work For

How we pick the 100 Best

To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America.

Three hundred eleven companies participated in this year's survey. Most of a company's score (two-thirds) is based on the results of the Institute's Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about management's credibility, job satisfaction, and camaraderie.

The other third of the scoring is based on the company's responses to the Institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs, and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, internal communication, training, recognition programs, and diversity efforts.

Any company that is at least seven years old with more than 1,000 U.S. employees is eligible. The deadline for applying for next year's list is June 15, 2011. For an online nomination form, go to the Great Place to Work Institute�s web site.

If you have further questions about the Best Companies to Work For, please e-mail lists@cnnmoney.com.

--Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz

Company size	Large	Small	Ignore
Number of women	High	Low	Ignore
Ethnically diverse	Yes	No	Ignore
Extra training	Yes	No	Ignore
Job growth	Yes	No	Ignore
Low turnover	Yes	No	Ignore
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