Top 10 Companies to Work For

Forget the free sports cars, dogs in the boardroom, foosball tables and weekly beer bashes. It seems what employees really want from their companies in these sober economic times are more traditional benefits — job security, better-than-average salaries, the opportunity to make a difference and a strong business plan.

Much has changed in the year since Interactive Week conducted its last Top 10 Companies to Work For survey. With companies announcing layoffs daily, and once high-flying stock options now worthless in many cases, employees say they are much more likely to value a profitable bottom line over gimmicks.

“A lot of what were considered important perks a year or two ago are now considered silly stuff,” says Bob Lambert, managing director of the California practice for executive search firm Christian & Timbers. “Whats important now goes back to leadership — people want to be part of an organization with a credible, reasonable business plan.”

Interactive Week worked with Advantage Business Research to find out what defines a great company to work for. We analyzed more than 4,100 responses to a survey in which employees were asked to rank their employers on such issues as the ability to get involved in decision making, opportunity for career advancement, work environment and, of course, financial compensation.

The winner of this years survey is Build-A-Bear Workshop, an interactive retailer of teddy bears. Other companies earning this years honors are, in descending order: Sitara Networks, CoManage, Remedy, Ellacoya Networks, Telica, Rational Software, ASAP Software, Jacada and Qpass.

Interactive Week congratulates these firms for earning their employees praise and respect.