Congratulations to General Mills, which topped the list of companies rated by their employees with a 4.5 company rating (on a 5-point scale) while giving General Mills CEO Ken Powell a 96% approval rating. It’s not hard to see why when looking at reviews². One employee writes “I’m proud to work for GMI! They are good community partners, they genuinely care about diversity, and they are well respected as a company. They are consistently ranked among the best companies to work for and their pay/benefits are competitive. The headquarters…is rather impressive as well boasting an impressive cafeteria, health facility…You could probably live on campus if you wanted to. These amenities go a long way into making the real life more manageable so that you can focus on performing well at your job.”

Another General Mills employee adds this review:

“Pros: Incredible work life balance! I started with General Mills many years ago in a interesting and challenging part-time position. Even during my part-time years, opportunities for growth were made available. Once my kids were older I returned to a full time schedule and pursued a management track.

Cons: The upsides of working for General Mills outweigh the downsides 100-1. The only observation I have is that General Mills is sometimes too good to their employees. The process for terminating an employee is so onerous that many managers just avoid it. Poor performers can linger for months or even years before someone takes action.

Advice to Senior Management: Outstanding company to work for!”

We know there are a number of lists out there where companies must nominate themselves and then spend considerable time and money to put together extraordinary marketing packets of information in hopes of being considered – let alone make the list. We’ve designed these awards with the same spirit of transparency on which we founded Glassdoor and think an award based exclusively on Employees’ Choice is an important reflection of that openness. (Particularly given the year we’ve all had!) In this first year, we’ve focused on companies that have U.S.-based employees because that’s where we have the most content to date, but we hope to expand the awards in the future to encompass other countries and companies with smaller employee bases. So without further ado, here are the 50 Best Places to Work according to the people who know best – their employees.

To find out more about the top 50 workplaces and read employee reviews of these companies, we invite you to visit: 2009 Employees’ Choice Awards. A complete copy of the Glassdoor survey along with additional information about the Glassdoor Best Places to Work methodology may be requested via email: BestPlacestoWork@glassdoor.com.

We look forward to seeing how these companies fare throughout 2009. Sending you best wishes and greater workplace transparency in the New Year!

¹To be eligible for the inaugural Employees’ Choice Awards for the Best Places to Work companies must have received at least 25 reviews from U.S.-based employees who are currently employees or who were employed at some time during 2008, maintain an above 3.5 cumulative average overall and across eight workplace factors addressed in the company’s voluntary 20-question survey, and the CEO must have an approval rating higher than 50%.

²Glassdoor carefully reviews each ratings survey, company review and salary report submitted through its website and only those surveys and reports that are approved by the Glassdoor research team are eligible for the list.

Employees’ Choice Unveiled: Glassdoor Announces Top Best Places to Work is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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1. Glassdoor.com Employees’ Choice Awards: 2011 Best Places To Work Winners Revealed
2. Glassdoor Announces ‘Best Places to Work’ Awards Deadline
3. Glassdoor Announces 2012 ‘Best Places to Work’ Awards Deadline