It's that time of the year again, when companies feel extra special for having made the list of Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For." And while it's great to have lists like these because it fosters improvement, it's also great to see what these companies are doing and how advisors, agents, brokers, business owners and the most important part that make up these corporations — employees — can emulate them and grow.
But, how do they do it? Fortune deploys its research teams and conducts extensive employee surveys in corporate America, according to their methodology. Two-thirds of a company's rankings are based on the results of the Trust Index Employee Survey, sent to a random sample of employees of that company, Fortune says. The survey asks questions about management's credibility, overall job satisfaction and camaraderie. The other third is based on responses on the Culture Audit, which is a more detailed survey about benefits, communication, hiring practices, pay and other categories. If you want to learn more about it or nominate a company, go here.
Keep reading to find out which financial and insurance companies made it on the list this year. Their ranks are listed according to Fortune's list, and our list goes from the lowest rated to the highest rated. And there are some surprises along the way…
See also: Insurance industry adds 13,900 jobs in January and Here are the 25 best business jobs for 2015
No. 95: Nationwide
This auto, home and life insurance company has an interesting benefit for their employees. "Life resource counselors" help workers tackle challenges ranging from finding an electrician to looking for assisted living arrangement for aging parents, says Fortune. Nationwide employs 33,672 people in the U.S., of which 52 percent are women. They received more than 100,000 job applicants last year and added a total of 455 jobs in 2014.
No. 79: EY
Losing only one spot from last year, EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young, has made Fortune's list for 17 years. Founded in 1894 and with a revenue of $25.8 billion as of last year, it employs a total of 31,288 people in the U.S., of which 45 percent are women and 33 percent are minorities.
(Photo: AP. PRNewsFoto/Ernst & Young LLP)
No. 68: Allianz Life Insurance
Even though Allianz went down in rank, from 47 last year to this year's 68, benefits such as a 401(k) plan with dollar-for-dollar match up to 8 percent of pay and a 20 percent discount on the purchase of Allianz stock keep it on this list. The company employs 1,689 people in the U.S., of which 50 percent are women.
(Photo: Allianz's website)
No. 50: Goldman Sachs
With more than 467 partners, even though they're no longer a partnership, Goldman Sachs remains one of Wall Street's top investment banks, according to Fortune. They dropped five ranks from last year, and have been featured on this list for 18 years. The firm was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York. They offer incredible perks to their employees, such as compressed work weeks, full-paid sabbaticals and college tuition reimbursement options. They currently employ 13,802 people in the U.S.
(Photo: Goldman Sachs Twitter)
No. 49: Aflac
The beloved duck in insurance and its creator, Aflac, jumped ranks from 58 last year to 49 this year. They have been featured on this list for 17 years. Also, of their 4,728 employees in the U.S., 67 percent are women and 44 percent are minorities. Another interesting fact is that they received a whopping 27,037 job applicantions, or 53 applicants per job opening, last year. They also have 5 percent of full-time voluntary turnover, and they must have amazing human resources and staffing departments to go through all of those applications! If you want to know more about their company story, and how the Aflac duck was "born," you can read and see a video here.
(Photo: The real, live Aflac Duck shines for the cameras before the 57th GRAMMY Awards®. Eric Reed/AP Images for Aflac)
