2012 best companies to work for in Colorado: past no. 1 Infinity Systems Engineering joins repeat winners Edward Jones and ReadyTalk.

• Author: Taylor, Mike
• Position: Cover story

Responsive leadership. Low turnover. A collaborative atmosphere. Flexible work hours. Attractive benefits. Opportunities to advance.

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These are just a few of the characteristics exhibited by firms vying for the distinction of Best Company to Work For. Some of the more exotic allowances you'll read about on the following pages include dogs welcomed in the office, subsidized massages and beer in the company fridge.

But let's back up a bit, because perhaps what it takes most of all is the willingness of a company to open itself up to experts in the field of workplace excellence in pursuit of not only the recognition bestowed if it's named a Best Company to Work For, but the quest to get better.

For the seventh year, ColoradoBiz has teamed with the Colorado State Council of the Society of Human Resources to produce a list of the best companies to work for in the state.

"Companies don't sign up for this kind of program unless they are in tune with recognizing the importance of employee engagement," says Karen Kukulka, senior project manager for Modem Think, the Delaware-based workplace-excellence consulting firm that conducts the surveys for the Best Companies to Work For program. "The companies we see participating are already invested in creating a positive climate where employee engagement is a top priority. They're often looking to take the data we give them and turn it into actionable plans."

Those 30 finalists are categorized by work-force size; small (25 to 99 employees), medium (100 to 249 employees) and large 250 or more employees). All employees in the small and medium categories are surveyed for the program. For the large-firm category, up to 400 employees are surveyed, depending on the size of the organization. If the company has more than 400 employees, those surveyed are chosen at random.

The top of this year's rankings may look familiar. Edward Jones and ReadyTalk are repeat winners in the large and medium categories respectively. They're joined by Infinity Systems Engineering, No. 1 among small companies in 2010 as well.

To participate in the program, companies paid from $700 to roughly $1,000 for comprehensive reports bases on surveys by Modern Think. Kukulka says that the economic downturn has prompted some companies to look beyond money for ways to cultivate a healthy work force.

"With the ebb and flow of the economy, they're actually turning to this program to find other ways of engagement beyond monetary, beyond bonuses," she says. "There are other ways of keeping an employee invested and loyal beyond monetary."

--Mike Taylor, ColoradoBiz editor

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1 EDWARD JONES

WWW.EDWARDJONES.COM

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This is getting ridiculous. For the fifth time in seven years, Edward Jones is the cream of the best-large-companies-to-work-for crop. (The other two years it finished second.)

Can it be that good?

Ask Neil Draxler, one of Edward Jones' 12,000 financial advisers across the country (and one of 270 in Colorado), and he'll tell you he thinks it is indeed that good. Maybe better.

"One of the biggest things is the culture of the company," he says. "There's a lot of volunteering and everyone is willing to train anyone else. We're working together, not against each other."

The company's "one financial adviser per office" model also appeals to Draxler. "I love the autonomy," he says. "I come and go as I please."

The flip side of the independent nature can be isolation, so the annual "half business, half social" regional meeting can be a good place for Edward Jones employees--and their families--to compare notes. (This year's meeting was held in Vail in June.) "Each of us has our own office," Draxler says. "That's not easy. It's huge having the family understand what that's like." The inclusion of families at these meetings helps accomplish exactly that.

Draxler also serves as a regional leader for the north side of metropolitan Denver. "It's a volunteer position," he says. "All of our leadership roles are volunteer positions." Case in point: Every new employee is assigned a volunteer mentor when he or she starts. Draxler has come full circle in the program: After starting out with his own helpful mentor in 2000, he now is a mentor himself. "I knew I could pick up the phone anytime," Draxler says of his mentor. "2003 was extremely difficult and challenging. He'd been through tough markets before and he encouraged me to stay the course. Without that guidance and advice, I doubt I would be where I am today.

"Somebody helped me out when I first started," Draxler says. "I'm just paying it back."

Likewise, Edward Jones pays back the community in the form of charity events like walkathons and volunteer outings with Habitat for Humanity. Recent recipients include cancer- and domestic abuse-related nonprofits. "Whatever people are interested in that year, we rally around to give back to the community," Draxler says.

In the end, everything else at Edward Jones stems from the company's sense of community. "Really, it comes down to the fact that we're a private partnership," says Drexler. "If we all share in the work, we all share in the profit. It creates a unique culture when we all know we're working for the common good."

2011 RANK: NO. 1

--Eric Peterson

2 OMNI INTERLOCKEN RESORT

WWW.OMNIHOTELS.COM

Omni Hotels likes to promote its own employees. "We actively pursue growth from within," says David Jurcak, general manager of the Omni Interlocken Resort in Broomfield. "We call it growing our garden."

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The resort has a whole slew of programs dedicated to the cause: Managers in Development (MID), Leaders in Development (LID), Executive in Development (EID) and a self-directed option. "Our Leader in Development program is for students coming out of college who majored in hospitality or finance." The MID program targets employees with experience and fast-tracks them toward a potential managerial position.

Both programs have participants from across the hotel spectrum, from housekeeping to front desk to finance. On top of their regular duties, "They have contracts they complete," Jurcak says. "Then they are eligible for transfer anywhere in the company's 43-hotel footprint." The LID usually takes a year to complete, while the MID program can be completed in six months.

EID "is for department heads and upper middle management," Jurcak says. "We're not only helping our entry-level people, we're also looking at our middle managers. That's a big jump, too." As a matter of fact, Jurcak's new director of rooms at Omni Interlocken just came to him from the sister resort on Amelia Island, Fla., via EID.

The self-directed program allows employees to change career tracks, from, say, accounting to guest relations. "After five years, they say, I'm really more of a people person, not a numbers person," Jurcak says. "It allows for lateral moves."

Beyond growing their figurative garden, Omni Interlocken gives employees the perks of the resort: free golf and discounted rooms at sister properties. "We have a great benefit program to allow people to travel." Jurcak says.

Then there's the food. It's really good and it's really cheap. "We have our own personal cafeteria chef who makes sure we have good, fresh meals every day," Jurcak says. "We've come up with a really healthy program. We also look at the way we prepare food. We're not frying everything."

Best of all, the price tag for lunch or dinner is lust $1. The hotel spends more money to make the meals, but Jurcak says it's worth it. "We're going to get that back in service and positive attitude and commitment to Omni Hotels."

2011 RANK: NO. 5

--Eric Peterson

3 PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

WWW.PWC.COM

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"The people here make PricewaterhouseCoopers a great place to work," says Suzanne Vanderhart, PwC's Rockies HR Leader. "They're passionate about providing client service and building relationships."

Big Three consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) didn't get to its lofty position without fostering a comfortable workplace. The company, which provides expertise in the fields of assurance, tax, human resources, transactions, performance improvement and crisis management, has more than 35,000 employees in the U.S. in all, including about 325 in Colorado.

Above all, Vanderhart thinks the co-worker and customer relationships of those employees are the bedrock of the company's success. "People have to feel they have good relationships," she says. "They're key here."

Then there are the fun perks. Every year, promotions are celebrated as part of an office-wide outing at the end of the fiscal year. In 2011, the whole crew of 300-plus employees went to a Rockies game. This year, they went to Elitch Gardens. "It was great," Vanderhart says. This year, PwC celebrated 40 internal promotions, about one out of eight employees at the Denver office.

The company's full circle allows parents to take up to five years off. "They still stay connected to the firm," Vanderhart says. "We keep them in the loop." Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) have also proved popular, she adds. "We're getting away from having people working from their desks from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Everybody has stuff in their lives they need to deal with."

Also, staffers can easily juggle their schedules if that "stuff" proves to need tending to during business hours. In other words: If you need to drive your kid to Little League at 3 p.m., go ahead. Make up the time next week. "It's not an official program," she adds. "Flexibility is built into what we do."

The company's "We Recognize Great Performance Program" is a unified incentive program that gathered award plans under one umbrella. "It recognizes people's great performance with...