BEAVERTON, Ore., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- FORTUNE announced today that Nike, for the second straight year, has been named to the "100 Best Companies to Work For" list. Nike is No. 69 on the 2007 list, moving up 31 slots from the prior year. The complete list and related stories appears in the January 22 issue of FORTUNE, available on newsstands January 15 and at http://www.fortune.com/ on January 8.
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Part of what makes Nike such a great place to work is its workplace culture and facilities. In its qualitative assessment of Nike's ranking FORTUNE writes: "The Oregon campus is a sporting paradise with tennis courts, indoor and outdoor tracks, soccer fields, running trails, two sports centers, and an 11-lane pool used for swimming, scuba and kayaking lessons." FORTUNE also notes that Nike is one of 22 companies on this year's list to offer fully paid sabbaticals.
Mark Parker, Nike, Inc. president and chief executive officer, said, "I'm thrilled with the results. Making Fortune's list of Best Places to Work is a big competitive advantage for Nike. It validates the efforts we're making to support our employees. It helps us recruit top talent. And, it proves that we can continue to grow and still feel small and personal. Clearly, there is a strong sense of loyalty and family here, and that is the best possible indicator of the overall Nike experience."
FORTUNE also profiled two Nike employees at opposite ends of the tenure spectrum in a side-bar article to the list. The first is Julian Duncan, a recent MBA and six-month employee who is one-quarter of the way through the company's 24-month management training program. Nelson Farris, the second employee featured, is a 33-year company veteran who's had a significant hand in developing a number of training programs that orient employees to Nike and share the company's culture and history.
"The 100 Best Companies to Work For" list is compiled for FORTUNE by Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz of the Great Place to Work Institute in San Francisco, based on two criteria: an evaluation of the policies and culture of each company, and the opinions of the company's employees. The latter is given more weight; two-thirds of the total score comes from employee responses to a 57-question survey which goes to a minimum of 400 randomly selected employees from each company. More than 100,000 employees from 446 companies participated in the survey this year. It asks about things such as attitudes towards management, job satisfaction, and camaraderie within the organization. The remaining one-third of the score is based on an evaluation of each company's demographic makeup, pay and benefits programs, and culture. Companies are scored in four areas: credibility (communication to employees), respect (opportunities and benefits), fairness (compensation, diversity), and pride/camaraderie (philanthropy, celebrations). Companies that are at least seven years old and have 1,000 or more employees are eligible for the list. 100,000 workers evaluated their employers, making this by far the largest simultaneous employee survey in corporate America. Information about applying for the next list can be found at http://www.greatplacetowork.com/.
NIKE, Inc. based near Beaverton, Oregon, is the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly owned Nike subsidiaries include Cole Haan Holdings Incorporated, a leading designer and marketer of luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats; Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; Exeter Brands Group LLC, which designs and markets athletic footwear and apparel for the value retail channel; Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories and NIKE Bauer Hockey Inc., a leading designer and distributor of hockey equipment.
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