WORKING TOWARD HAPPINESS.

• Author: Taylor, Mike
• Position: EDITOR'S NOTE

In case you missed it, a recent study undertaken by National Geographic and Gallup named Boulder the "happiest" city in the U.S., with Fort Collins No. 4 and Colorado Springs No. 18.

Amid all this Front Range happiness, I couldn't help but notice metrics such as civic engagement, financial security and vacation time used to rank the cities and think how closely these elements align with the workplaces described in our annual "Best Companies to Work For" feature in this issue. For this report, ColoradoBiz enlisted the consulting firm ICC (Innovate Coach Consult) to determine standout workplaces based on employee surveys.

Studies like this that measure drivers of high performance as well as employee satisfaction and engagement have taken on added relevance as the unemployment rate in many Colorado cities hovers near record lows. Recruiting and retaining good workers--let alone top talent--is increasingly cited by companies as their biggest challenge, and the biggest factor in Denver's continued economic growth.

As for concerns shared by happy cities and happy workplaces, consider this from National Geographic writer Dan Buettner, who spearheaded his publication's study: "My findings indicate that if you want to get happy, don't try to change your belief system. Change your...