Matching values: The states best employers don't give their workers everything; they give them the right things.

WHEN YOU SHOW SOME WARMTH, attitudes can change. That especially holds true in the workplace, says Susan Springer, director of workplace assessment at Harrisburg, Pa.-based Best Companies Group. Employees at one company, for instance, complained that the building temperature was uncomfortably frigid. It was an easy fix, and workers' satisfaction skyrocketed. That situation is a prime example of the Hawthorne effect, she says, where employees' production increases after working conditions improve. It also shows that big investments or nontraditional offerings--such as the nap pods, dry cleaning or free food at technology companies in Silicon Valley--aren't needed to produce happy employees. "You don't have to be a Google or Microsoft to be considered a great place to work."

So which Tar Heel companies are the best to work for? To find out, BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA, in partnership with Best Companies Group and the North Carolina Council of the Society of Human Resources Management, invited businesses to partake in the Best Employers in North Carolina program. Best Companies Group surveyed employers and employees at participating companies, which have operations in the state. Management responses accounted for 25% of a company's score; the balance came from employees. It's weighted that way for a simple reason: These things don't matter if they don't engage workers. "We use the same criteria for the North Carolina list that we use for all the programs we run," says Springer, who, along with her staff, analyzed answers and tabulated two rankings, one for companies with 15 to 249 U.S. employees and a second for those with 250 or more. The results are on this and the following page. In the end, the companies on the North Carolina ranking compare favorably with any that take part in Best Companies Group programs, which rank businesses by industry and region, domestic and international.

Rank Company N.C. Headquarters A top-rated employee Employees Products/services perk 1 Hill. 67 Durham Insurance Chesson & Woody 2 Maam Starnes 50 Hickory Accounting and & Associates consulting 3 Johnson 46 Asheville Accounting Price Sprinkle 4 Hirease 52 Southern Pines Human resources 5 Senn Dunn 154 Greensboro Insurance Insurance 6 MMI Public 23 Cary Advertising/public Relations relations/marketing 7 47 Alexandria, Government $50 gift cards for birthdays 8 Blue Ridge 32 Lenoir Liquid propane and Energies fuel oil 9 Blue Ridge 167 Lenoir Electric power Electric...