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By Workforce Editors
Apr. 19, 2018
This past year shed light on certain blind spots in some HR departments regarding harassment claims, 2018 has revealed that many companies continue to show true excellence in HR. Just as bad people practices sour employees on their employer, a great HR department can turn even the most difficult circumstance into an opportunity for a better workplace.
Now in its fifth year, the Workforce 100 recognizes companies that excelled in HR over the course of the previous year. To determine which companies make the list, Workforce editors work with researchers from the Human Capital Media Research and Advisory Group, the publication’s research arm.
Learn more about the methodology.
The research team created a model to sift through publicly available data on HR performance to separate the best from the rest. To give employees more of a say in the rankings, we asked recruiting and job-review website Glassdoor to provide data on what workers are saying about the companies that made our list. From there, we combined that information with the public data available to create our 2018 Workforce 100 list.
[Please read: The Workforce 100 2017]
[Please read: The Workforce 100 2016]
Besides being No. 1 this year, Salesforce.com is also one of 22 companies to make the Workforce 100 all five years.
One trend this year was the inclusion of many companies in industries known for high turnover, like the retail, fast-food and hospitality industries. This was the first year for Chick-fil-A (No. 45), Ikea (No. 92), In-N-Out Burger (No. 22), REI (No. 73) and Trader Joe’s (No. 69). Meanwhile, Starbucks (No. 8) has risen into the top 10 this year after consistently improving in rank over the past half-decade.
Congratulations to all the companies that made 2018’s Workforce 100 list!
Ranked companies can download the Workforce 100 press kit here!
Industry: Software
Number of Employees: 30,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Cindy Robbins
Performance Index: 9.575
Headquarters: San Francisco
Industry: Airline
Number of Employees: 80,000
Top Ranking HR Person: JoAnne Smith
Performance Index: 9.425
Headquarters: Atlanta
Industry: Management consulting
Number of Employees: 8,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Russ Hagey
Performance Index: 9.183
Headquarters: Boston
Industry: SaaS HCM software
Number of Employees: 4,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Vivian Maza
Performance Index: 9.182
Headquarters: Weston, Florida
Industry: Social media
Number of Employees: 25,105
Top Ranking HR Person: Lori Goler
Performance Index: 9.06
Headquarters: Menlo Park, California
Industry: Consulting services
Number of Employees: 435,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Ellyn Shook
Performance Index: 9.008
Headquarters: Chicago
Industry: Professional services
Number of Employees: 263,924
Top Ranking HR Person: Michele Parmelee
Performance Index: 8.963
Headquarters: New York
Industry: Consumer products/ retail
Number of Employees: 330,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Lucy Lee Helm
Performance Index: 8.936
Headquarters: Seattle
Industry: Technology
Number of Employees: 80,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Eileen Naughton
Performance Index: 8.877
Headquarters: Mountain View, California
Industry: Software
Number of Employees: 18,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Donna Morris
Performance Index: 8.783
Headquarters: San Jose, California
Industry: Airline
Number of Employees: 56,110
Top Ranking HR Person: Julie Weber
Performance Index: 8.649
Headquarters: Dallas
Industry: Pharma, consumer products
Number of Employees: 124,744
Top Ranking HR Person: Peter Fasolo
Performance Index: 8.510
Headquarters: New Brunswick, New Jersey
Industry: Telecommunications
Number of Employees: 51,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Elizabeth A. McAuliffe
Performance Index: 8.477
Headquarters: Bellevue, Washington
Industry: Insurance/ health care
Number of Employees: 208,975
Top Ranking HR Person: Chuck Columbus
Performance Index: 8.444
Headquarters: Oakland, California
Industry: Financial services
Number of Employees: 47,300
Top Ranking HR Person: Jory Berson
Performance Index: 8.416
Headquarters: McLean, Virginia
Industry: E-commerce
Number of Employees: 541,900
Top Ranking HR Person: L. Beth Galetti
Performance Index: 8.277
Headquarters: Seattle
Industry: Consumer products
Number of Employees: 74,400
Top Ranking HR Person: Monique Matheson
Performance Index: 8.266
Headquarters: Beaverton, Oregon
Industry: Software
Number of Employees: 88,543
Top Ranking HR Person: Stefan Ries
Performance Index: 8.246
Headquarters: Walldorf, Germany
Industry: Consulting Services
Number of Employees: 24,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Betty Thompson
Performance Index: 8.244
Headquarters: McLean, Virginia
Industry: Financial services
Number of Employees: 36,600
Top Ranking HR Person: Dane Holmes
Performance Index: 8.243
Headquarters: New York
Industry: Mass media/ entertainment
Number of Employees: 199,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Jayne Parker
Performance Index: 8.194
Headquarters: Burbank, California
Industry: Restaurants
Number of Employees: 16,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Katherine Sauls
Performance Index: 8.157
Headquarters: Irvine, California
Industry: Computer software
Number of Employees: 21,557
Top Ranking HR Person: Betsy Sutter
Performance Index: 8.102
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
Industry: Enterprise software
Number of Employees: 8,200
Top Ranking HR Person: Sherry Whiteley
Performance Index: 8.09
Headquarters: Mountain View, California
Industry: Management consulting
Number of Employees: 27,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Michael Barriere
Performance Index: 8.029
Headquarters: New York
Industry: Grocery Retail
Number of Employees: 96,270
Top Ranking HR Person: Tina James
Performance Index: 7.974
Headquarters: San Antonio
Industry: Consulting, tax services
Number of Employees: 2,200
Top Ranking HR Person: Tony Bridwell
Performance Index: 7.863
Headquarters: Dallas
Industry: Computer software
Number of Employees: 126,079
Top Ranking HR Person: Kathleen Hogan
Performance Index: 7.84
Headquarters: Redmond, Washington
Industry: Telecommunications
Number of Employees: 155,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Marc Reed
Performance Index: 7.827
Headquarters: Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Industry: Software
Number of Employees: 1,016
Top Ranking HR Person: Lindsey Sittko
Performance Index: 7.776
Headquarters:Centennial, Colorado
Industry: Health care
Number of Employees: 24,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Michelle Kirby
Performance Index: 7.718
Headquarters: Arlington, Texas
Industry: Technology
Number of Employees: 130,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Deirdre O’Brien
Performance Index: 7.696
Headquarters: Cupertino, California
Industry: Medical technologies
Number of Employees: 93,734
Top Ranking HR Person: Cristina A. Wilbur
Performance Index: 7.69
Headquarters: Basel, Switzerland
Industry: Airline
Number of Employees: 88,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Kate Gebo
Performance Index: 7.679
Headquarters:Chicago
Industry: Technology
Number of Employees: 73,711
Top Ranking HR Person:Francine Katsoudas
Performance Index: 7.678
Headquarters: San Jose, California
Industry: Financial services
Number of Employees: 11,900
Top Ranking HR Person: Michael Fraccaro
Performance Index: 7.677
Headquarters: San Jose, California
Industry: IT products and services
Number of Employees: 8,516
Top Ranking HR Person: Keith Sanders
Performance Index: 7.668
Headquarters: Vernon Hills, Illinois
Industry: Consumer products
Number of Employees: 95,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Mark BieggerPerformance Index: 7.667
Headquarters: Cincinnati
Industry: Lodging/hospitality
Number of Employees: 110,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Malaika MyersPerformance Index: 7.635
Headquarters: Chicago
Industry: Retail
Number of Employees: 22,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Walter Smith
Performance Index: 7.629
Headquarters: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Industry: Retail
Number of Employees: 230,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Pat Callans
Performance Index: 7.624
Headquarters: Issaquah, Washington
Industry: Agribusiness
Number of Employees: 20,273
Top Ranking HR Person: Steven C. Mizell
Performance Index: 7.613
Headquarters: St. Louis
Industry: Exterior remodeling
Number of Employees: 2,400
Top Ranking HR Person: Deirdre E. Collins
Performance Index: 7.576
Headquarters: Chester, Pennsylvania
Industry: Insurance, banking, financial services
Number of Employees: 33,015
Top Ranking HR Person: Pat Teague
Performance Index: 7.574
Headquarters: San Antonio
Industry: Restaurants
Number of Employees: 16,000 (corporate offices)
Top Ranking HR Person: Bill Dunphy
Performance Index: 7.563
Headquarters: Atlanta
Industry: Payroll software
Number of Employees: 2,300
Top Ranking HR Person: Jay Schedler
Performance Index: 7.554
Headquarters: Arlington Heights, Illinois
Industry: Security
Number of Employees: 70,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Denise Peppard
Performance Index: 7.524
Headquarters: Falls Church, Virginia
Industry: Automotive
Number of Employees: 180,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Jose Tomas
Performance Index: 7.518
Headquarters: Detroit
Industry: Consumer products
Number of Employees: 91,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Marlene McGrath
Performance Index: 7.507
Headquarters: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Industry: Consulting services
Number of Employees: 250,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Wendy Edgar
Performance Index: 7.479
Headquarters: New York
Industry: Aerospace and defense
Number of Employees: 63,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Randa G. Newsome
Performance Index: 7.463
Headquarters: Waltham, Massachussetts
Industry: Professional services
Number of Employees: 197,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Darren Burton
Performance Index: 7.452
Headquarters: Amstelveen, Netherlands
Industry: Food company
Number of Employees: 328,00
Top Ranking HR Person: Peter R. Vogt
Performance Index: 7.429
Headquarters: Vevey, Switzerland
Industry: Biopharmaceutical
Number of Employees: 29,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Tim Richmond
Performance Index: 7.428
Headquarters: North Chicago, Illinois
Industry: Advanced technologies
Number of Employees: 100,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Patricia L. Lewis
Performance Index: 7.427
Headquarters: Bethesda, Maryland
Industry: Technical solutions program management
Number of Employees: 340
Top Ranking HR Person: Juanita Phillips
Performance Index: 7.426
Headquarters: Huntsville, Alabama
Industry: Insurance
Number of Employees: 33,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Gale King
Performance Index: 7.418
Headquarters: Columbus, Ohio
Industry: Distilled beverage/wines
Number of Employees: 4,700
Top Ranking HR Person: Kirsten Hawley
Performance Index: 7.404
Headquarters: Louisville, Kentucky
Industry: Aerospace
Number of Employees: 6,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Brian Bjelde
Performance Index: 7.365
Headquarters: Hawthorne, California
Industry: Real estate
Number of Employees: 3,150
Top Ranking HR Person: Dan Spaulding
Performance Index: 7.337
Headquarters: Seattle
Industry: Retail
Number of Employees: 72,500
Top Ranking HR Person: Christine Deputy
Performance Index: 7.313
Headquarters: Seattle
Industry: Professional services
Number of Employees: 5,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Katie Townsend
Performance Index: 7.248
Headquarters: Seattle
Industry: Conglomerate
Number of Employees: 295,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Raghu Krishnamoorthy
Performance Index: 7.229
Headquarters: Boston
Industry: Lodging/hospitality
Number of Employees: 165,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Matthew W. Schuyler
Performance Index: 7.093
Headquarters: McLean, Virginia
Industry: Medical technologies
Number of Employees: 34,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Katy Fink
Performance Index: 7.092
Headquarters: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Industry: Retail
Number of Employees: 47,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Kevin Stickles
Performance Index: 7.082
Headquarters: Rochester, New York
Industry: Medical device
Number of Employees: 29,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Wendy Carruthers
Performance Index: 7.048
Headquarters: Marlborough, Massachussetts
Industry: Health care insurer
Number of Employees: 46,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Thomas W. Weidenkopf
Performance Index: 7.04
Headquarters: Hartford, Connecticut
Industry: Retail
Number of Employees: 38,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Laurie Mead
Performance Index: 7.032
Headquarters: Monrovia, California
Industry: Telecommuniations
Number of Employees: 254,000
Top Ranking HR Person: William A. Blase Jr.
Performance Index: 7.007
Headquarters: Dallas
Industry: Biotechnology
Number of Employees: 15,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Nancy Vitale
Performance Index: 6.965
Headquarters: South San Francisco, California
Industry: Financial services
Number of Employees: 17,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Angela Culbertson
Performance Index: 6.943
Headquarters: Vienna, Virginia
Industry: Sporting goods and outdoor gear
Number of Employees: 12,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Raquel Karls
Performance Index: 6.937
Headquarters: Kent, Washington
Industry: Products and services
Number of Employees: 100,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Eric Minvielle
Performance Index: 6.904
Headquarters: McLean, Virginia
Industry: Chemicals
Number of Employees: 115,319
Top Ranking HR Person: André Becker
Performance Index: 6.898
Headquarters: Ludwigshafen, Germany
Industry: Health care
Number of Employees: 66,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Joseph Moscola
Performance Index: 6.897
Headquarters: Great Neck, New York
Industry: Entertainment
Number of Employees: 4,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Jessica Neal
Performance Index: 6.865
Headquarters: Los Gatos, California
Industry: Insurance
Number of Employees: 30,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Diane Bengston
Performance Index: 6.832
Headquarters: New York
Industry: Health care
Number of Employees: 76,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Eric Severson
Performance Index: 6.813
Headquarters: Denver
Industry: Financial Services
Number of Employees: 55,000
Top Ranking HR Person: L. Kevin Cox
Performance Index: 6.81
Headquarters: New York
Industry: Financial services
Number of Employees: 240,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Robin Leopold
Performance Index: 6.798
Headquarters: New York
Industry: Technology
Number of Employees: 140,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Steve Price
Performance Index: 6.782
Headquarters: Round Rock, Texas
Industry: Financial services
Number of Employees: 5,500+
Top Ranking HR Person: Joann “Jo” Eisenhart
Performance Index: 6.776
Headquarters: Milwaukee
Industry: Financial services
Number of Employees: 85,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Sue Cummings
Performance Index: 6.765
Headquarters: Toronto
Industry: Health care
Number of Employees: 13,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Richard Sheridan
Performance Index: 6.76
Headquarters: San Diego
Industry: Electric utilities
Number of Employees: 9,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Deborah H. Caplan
Performance Index: 6.726
Headquarters: Juno Beach, Florida
Industry: Professional services
Number of Employees: 46,583 (U.S.)
Top Ranking HR Person: Mike Fenlon
Performance Index: 6.715
Headquarters: London
Industry: Business process outsourcing
Number of Employees: 13,900
Top Ranking HR Person: Laurie Zaucha
Performance Index: 6.71
Headquarters: Rochester, New York
Industry: Personal care
Number of Employees: 42,000
Top Ranking HR Person: J. Scott Boston
Performance Index: 6.698
Headquarters: Irving, Texas
Industry: Courier
Number of Employees: 400,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Judy Edge
Performance Index: 6.693
Headquarters: Memphis, Tennessee
Industry: Consumer electronics
Number of Employees: 11,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Shelly Cerio
Performance Index: 6.69
Headquarters: Santa Clara, California
Industry: Health care
Number of Employees: 26,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Julie Wilson
Performance Index: 6.665
Headquarters: North Kansas City, Missouri
Industry: Retail
Number of Employees: 194,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Ulrika Biesert
Performance Index: 7.241
Headquarters: Delft, Netherlands
Industry: Chemicals
Number of Employees: 54,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Johanna Soderstrom
Performance Index: 6.654
Headquarters: Midland, Michigan
Industry: Health care
Number of Employees: 8,100
Top Ranking HR Person: Tricia A. Keith
Performance Index: 6.621
Headquarters: Detroit
Industry: HR management software
Number of Employees: 59,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Sreeni Kutam
Performance Index: 6.615
Headquarters: Roseland, New Jersey
Industry: Health care
Number of Employees: 99,000
Top Ranking HR Person: Steve Fussell
Performance Index: 6.565
Headquarters: Chicago
Industry: Telecommunications
Number of Employees: 33,500
Top Ranking HR Person: Michelle Sterling
Performance Index: 6.554
Headquarters: San Diego
Industry: Research
Number of Employees: 46,300
Top Ranking HR Person: Nancy Phillips
Performance Index: 6.51
Headquarters: New York
The Workforce 100 is the rank order and scores of the 100 companies that performed best in seven core areas: workplace culture, employee benefits, diversity and inclusion, employee development and talent management, human resources innovation, leadership development, and talent acquisition. The working assumption behind the list is that high performance in these core categories provides a reasonable proxy for overall HR excellence.
This year’s change in methodology created a ranked list that made comprehensive HR participation and employee feedback on their respective employers the primary focus rather than excellence in one core area. Using this method, organizations that are recognized on multiple lists but do not perform perfectly will be ranked higher than organizations that are ranked in one area but perform better in a single discipline. In addition, organizations that are not as heavily represented in external recognition programs are still acknowledged for their HR efforts through the posted opinions of their employees.
To generate the score, researchers first looked at how many lists with HR relevance a particular company appeared on, which makes up half of the total score (maximum of 5 points). The other half of the score (also with a maximum of 5 points) was derived from an average of the company’s Glassdoor performance in areas pertaining to HR. These scores are then added together to create the final score.
World’s Best International Workplaces, 2016 (Great Place to Work)
Best Small Workplaces, 2017 (Great Place to Work)
Best Medium Workplaces, 2017 (Great Place to Work)
Best Places to Work, Small and Medium Companies, 2018 (Glassdoor)
Best Places to Work, Large Companies, 2018 (Glassdoor)
50 Top Startups, 2017 (LinkedIn)
Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles (National Business Group on Health)
30 Best Workplaces to Retire From, 2016 (Fortune)
Top 10 401(k) Plans (BrightScope)
20 Best Retirement Plans (GOBankingRates)
20 Companies with Best Work-Life Balance, 2017 (Indeed)
20 Companies with the Best Benefits, 2017 (Glassdoor)
America’s Top Companies for Compensation and Benefits, 2014 (Glassdoor)
Best Employers for Vets, 2017 (Military Times)
Disability Equality Index, 2017 (AAPD)
100 Best Companies, 2017 (Working Mother)
Top 50 Companies for Diversity, 2017 (DiversityInc)
100 Best Workplaces for Diversity, 2017 (Fortune)
The Most Admired for HR, 2016 (HR Executive)
4 Innovative HR Departments, 2016 (Spark)
World’s Most Admired Companies, 2017 (Fortune)
Best Companies for Leaders, 2016 (Chief Executive)
Wealth Creator Index, 2016 (Chief Executive)
Highest Rated CEO, 2017 (Glassdoor)
Best Places to Interview, 2017 (Glassdoor)
Candidate Experience Awards, 2017 (Talent Board)
25 Most Attractive Companies for Job Seekers, 2017 (Indeed)
Learning Elite, 2017 (Chief Learning Officer)
Learning in Practice Awards, 2017 (Chief Learning Officer)
Excellence in Practice Awards, 2016 (Association for Talent Development)
Training Top 125, 2017 (Training)
50 Most Engaged Workplaces, 2017 (Achievers)
Career Opportunities Rating
Compensation & Benefits Rating
Culture & Values Rating
Work/Life Balance Rating
Recommend to a Friend Rating
Note: Some of the component lists are compiled by active participation from the companies listed and therefore do not recognize companies that decline to participate.
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