FORTUNE featured Nike, for the second straight year, as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.” Nike is No. 69 on the 2007 list, moving up 31 slots from the prior year.
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.
