Best Places To Work
Best U.S. companies to work? They're in Texas, naturally.
According to Fortune magazine’s 2014 list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For,” Texas companies are some of the best employers in the nation, including two in Dallas: The Container Store and TDIndustries, which have made the list for 15 and 17 years, respectively.
Coppell-based Container Store ranked No. 28, down 12 spots from last year. “When this storage retailer geared up for its IPO last year, it reserved an unprecedented percentage of shares (14 percent of the total offered) for employees to purchase,” writes Fortune. “A quarter of them did — and they watched in wonder as the share price doubled on the first day of trading, from $18 to $36.”
TDIndustries, a mechanical construction and facility service company, moved up four spots to No. 82. Fortune notes that direct reports get to rate their supervisors on how well they communicate and conduct performance reviews.
To assemble the list, Fortune partnered with the Great Place to Work Institute — a global human resources consulting, research and training firm that operates in 45 countries — to administer what it claims is “the most extensive employee survey in corporate America.” In all, 257 firms and more than 252,000 employees participated in this year’s survey.
Two-thirds of each company’s score is based on “Trust Index” results. Sent to random employees at each company, the survey asks individuals about their attitudes on management credibility, job satisfaction and camaraderie. The other third is based on a “Culture Audit,” which includes questions about pay, benefit programs, hiring practices, internal communication methods, training, recognition programs and diversity efforts.
Ten other Texas-based companies rank among the best places to work in the country: Camden Property Trust (Houston) at No. 11, David Weekley Homes (Houston) at No. 13, Hilcorp (Houston) at No. 15, USAA (San Antonio) at No. 17, NuStar Energy (San Antonio) at No. 26, Rackspace Hosting Inc. (San Antonio) at No. 29, Whole Foods Market (Austin) at No. 44, Houston Methodist at No. 46, National Instruments (Austin) at No. 66 and EOG Resources (Houston) at No. 97.