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The annual Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" (www.forbes.com, 2012) list was released earlier this month and the top entry also happens to be one of the most buzzworthy names in the virtual -- and real -- worlds: Google.

The Internet giant, which ranked fourth last year, reached the top in 2012 in recognition of its "mission, the culture, and the famous perks," from bocce ball courts to free food at 25 cafes in various locations.

Google is representative of what many workers look for in an employer: a company that offers good benefits, but also recognizes their lives outside the workplace, according to Molly Webb, the list manager for Great Place to Work, the organization that conducts the research for Fortune.

"Employees are very appreciative if they have a sick child, or want to go to a child's play that they feel like they can take time off without being penalized," Webb says.

Rounding out the top five on the 2012 list are Boston Consulting Group, SAS Institute, Wegmans Food Markets and Edward Jones.

Making the list

To be considered for Fortune's 100 Best Companies list, which is now in its 15^th year, firms must fill out a lengthy application about their culture, policies and benefits. Some 300 companies applied for the 2012 edition, according to Webb.

Great Place to Work then surveys employees with a 58-question poll, with about two-thirds of the final score based on the results. The remaining one-third of the score comes from a "culture audit" drawn from information supplied by the company.

"We ask them to supply us with a narrative about the various practices they have at their company -- how they share good and bad news with employees, how they celebrate," Webb says. "It gives us a bird's eye view of the company."

Investing in workers

The 2012 list features companies that are big (Darden Restaurants, No. 99, with 169,516 workers in the U.S.) and small (Nugget Market, No. 34, with 1,135 U.S. employees); familiar brand names, like Mercedes-Benz USA (No. 12), The Container Store (No. 22) and Marriott International (No. 57); as well as players in personal finance (Quicken Loans, No. 10); health care (St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, No. 39); and accounting (Ernst & Young, No. 59).

Technology and new media firms are also well-represented, including SAS Institute (No. 3), Zappos.com (No. 11), Intuit (No. 19), Salesforce.com (No. 27), Adobe (No. 41), Microsoft (No. 76) and list newcomer, World Wide Technology (No. 50).

The St. Louis-based WWT believes in making investments in its employees through leadership and technology training, as well as a lengthy list of benefits, such as a work-from-home option for many of its staff, flex-time scheduling and regular social events. The events at WWT range from parties to celebrate the opening of the Cardinals' baseball season to celebrations of ethnic holidays like Diwali and Cinco de Mayo.

"We're creating the right opportunities for employees to not only want to come here, but to stay here," says Ann Cuiellette Marr, vice president of human resources. "It's one thing to attract them to come to your company -- the hard thing is keeping them. We're creating an atmosphere that is conducive to people being successful, and is positive, inquisitive and energetic."

It's all in the perks

What sets many of Fortune's 100 Best Companies apart from their competitors are laundry lists of benefits. Boston Consulting Group, Zappos.com and a dozen others pay 100 percent of health benefits; 85 percent of the Top 100 permit telecommuting at least one day out of five; and almost one in four of those on the list promise regular sabbaticals.

Then there are the "unusual perks," such as Google's nap pods, a vegetable garden for employees to plant and pick at Southern Ohio Medical Center (No. 36), and an $80-a-paycheck stipend to be used for educational purposes by workers at Schweitzer Engineering Labs (No. 97).

Atlanta-based law firm Alston & Bird (No. 24) has been a fixture on the Fortune list for the past 13 years in large part because of its generous benefits.

The firm contracts with Bright Horizons Family Solutions (No. 83 on the list), to manage an on-site daycare center at its headquarters and back up childcare in eight other offices, as well as to offer home care if a child or elderly family member is sick.

Alston also boasts a concierge service that can drop off an employee's car for repairs, restock a lawyer's refrigerator for a return from a business trip, and even deliver a care package of soup and cold medicine to a sick relative. The firm reimburses participants in Weight Watchers if they meet certain goals; provides benefits for fertility treatments and adoptions; and gives time off for community service projects.

"Our philosophy has always been that if we take care of our people, they will take care of our clients," says Cathy Benton, the firm's chief human resources officer. "The more we can do so they don't have to worry about the day-to-day issues that come up, they more they can focus on providing the highest level of service to our clients."

Future growth

Another hallmark of companies on the Fortune 100 list is their potential for growth. Collectively, the companies have about 70,000 open jobs, showing the link between a successful bottom line and treating your workforce with care and respect. Treating employees well doesn't hurt the bottom line for these employers. To the contrary, offering employees added benefits seems like good business.

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