Guest Author - J. Lynn

ComputerWorld’s most recent edition of the Best Places to Work in IT lists those companies that have proven their commitment to their IT employees by providing them with these best things an employer can offer. The survey is given to the CIOs, Managers and VPs for companies that have more than $500 million in revenue and they chose 15 people from their IT staff to participate in judging their company on everything from benefits and training and development to turnover rates and the percentages of women and minorities employed with their IT department.

If you are looking for the company that gifts out month long vacation to spas in the Bahamas, allows you to work from home on sunny days and doesn’t require any work on your part to earn that nice 6 figure paycheck, you will have to seek out another list, because this one was created within the real world. The benefits and perks may not be exotic as the Bahamas, but where work is concerned these bonuses and hiring practices rank very high on the desirable list for all employees.

Coming in at number 1 is American Fidelity Corporation in Oklahoma City. American Fidelity offers its employees holiday and yearly bonuses as well as a health club membership and tuition reimbursement to enhance their employee’s skill set and improve their knowledge base.

Other companies like ranking number 5 Qualcomm Inc. out of San Diego and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Of Miama were herald for their inclusion of women and minorities in management and in their IT workforces, both with more than 20% in each.

Retailers like Walmart, Lands’ End and Radio Shack also made the list but it was J.C. Penny’s that added benefits like flexible work environments and a company sponsored pension planned that stood out. Penny’s places a great deal of emphasis on education and rewards its employee’s for advanced degrees. IT workers at Penny’s that have earned a master’s degree are given $3000 bonus in addition to their annual salary and are able to take the more than 300 training courses in management development and technical training through the company.

The companies that made the list treat their employees with respect and value them enough to provide them services and benefits to keep them in-house. They appear to lead by example in empowering women and minorities by promoting them to management level positions and ensure that all of their employees are able to balance their work/life/family worlds with flexible scheduling and work conditions. Employers looking to keep the talent they have should take a few notes from those that made the list and strive to incorporate those offerings into their own business. When the IT worker is happy, everyone is happy.