Now in its eighth year, the CE News Best Civil Engineering Firms To Work For list honors companies—large and small—that have discovered a successful combination of benefits, compensation, management style, work environment, culture, perks, and professional development that effectively serves clients and wins acclaim from employees. This year, 152 firms (5 percent more than last year) sought the recognition.

New this year are the Superlative awards, recognizing specific achievements by firms independent of their overall ranking (see "The best of the best" on page 52). These include highest employee survey score, best training program, best collaborative environment, best employee recognition program, and best recruiting and retention program.

In addition, CE News teams up this year with Environmental Business Journal (EBJ), a business newsletter published by ZweigWhite for the environmental industry, to present the 2008 Best Environmental Service Firms To Work For (see "Mother Earth’s dream teams" sidebar in the Best Firms article). Some of the Top 20 environmental firms provide civil engineering, but they also offer specialized services such as environmental engineering, remediation, energy management, or government compliance.

So, what does it mean to be ranked among the Best Firms To Work For, and how did the firms on the Top 50 list get there?

How it works—Each January, ZweigWhite announces the program and posts the Corporate Survey application online. After firms complete and submit the online application, they launch an Employee Survey to their staff. This anonymous, online survey is administered by ZweigWhite.

Next, ZweigWhite staff evaluates the Corporate and Employee Surveys, which make up the two, equally-weighted components of each firm’s raw score. The top 50 firms are ranked from these scores. Plus, this year 11 firms received an honorable mention. (The method used to determine raw scores is described in more detail at the Best Firms Portal at www.cenews.com/bestfirms.) Then, a judging panel of human resource or corporate benefit experts evaluates and ranks the top three firms.

What it means—This honor means that a firm’s standards are superior to those considered as a baseline to participate in the program (as evaluated in the Corporate Survey), and that the firm’s employees are happy (as evaluated with the Employee Survey). Ranked firms are evaluated and excel in such categories as culture, benefits, performance and recognition, compensation, professional development, and recruiting and retention.

Note that this program only evaluates participants against the others who have applied. Don’t assume that because a firm does not appear on this year’s list that it applied but did not make the Top 50. Likewise, don’t assume that if a firm’s rank changes compared with a previous year that it must have faltered or dramatically improved. A firm’s ranking can change because of the mix of firms that have applied (or not) during that particular year. Many firms participate every year, but many do not; and new firms—80 new firms this year—apply each year, making each year’s list unique.

However, it is safe to assume that each firm on the list has a corporate culture, size, and location that blends to create an environment that satisfies its staff. Congratulations to the exceptional firms that earned a spot on the 2008 Best Civil Engineering Firms To Work For list!