What Makes a Company Great to Work For?

From the Wall Street Journal | Oct 29, 2009

By Sue Shellenbarger

Associated Press

NetApp was named a top company to work for.

It may be hard to imagine, but there is a better place to work than Google.

That's what Fortune magazine says, anyway, in its latest annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. The winner is NetApp,
a 5,000-employee data-storage company based in Sunnyvale, Calif. NetApp
helped topple the previous list-leader, Google, to No. 4 on the Fortune
list from its usual No. 1. Financial-services firm Edward Jones, known for its small-city offices and personal touch with clients, is No. 2, and the Boston Consulting Group, a big management consulting firm, came in third.

What makes NetApp so great? Its egalitarian culture, Fortune says -
which seems likely to make employees' juggles a lot easier. For
example, business travelers often suffer jet lag or exhaustion trying
to take the cheapest flights to save their employers money. Mindful of
the problem, NetApp management ditched a travel policy a dozen pages
long in favor of a simple maxim: "We are a frugal company. But don't
show up dog-tired to save a few bucks. Use your common sense," the
policy says, according to Fortune. Other perks include several that
promise to improve work-family-community balance, such as five paid
days off for volunteer work and $11,390 for adoption assistance.

But don't bother to apply for a job there. NetApp has 45,898
applications pending for 55 openings, Fortune says - producing odds
only slightly better than winning Powerball.

As to why Google lost its usual No. 1 spot, Fortune says nothing bad
about the Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet concern - except that it
has cut frills like afternoon tea and an annual ski trip.

Thinking back over the six employers I have worked for, the one that
has kept me happiest, longest, has offered me more training, more new
challenges and more pay increases than the others. The culture at this
employer - my current one - has been a factor too, including the
collegial atmosphere and emphasis on high professional standards.

Readers, what qualities are most important to you in an employer?
Why? Would you nominate your current company for this list? Why or why
not?