Eleven Springs employers make Fortune list

Stock brokerage Edward Jones leads the list of 11 Colorado Springs employers listed in Fortune magazine's 2008 ranking of its 100 Best Companies to Work For, ranking fourth behind Google, Quicken Loans and Wegmans Food Markets.
Jones, which operates 35 offices in the Colorado Springs area, was joined by Starbucks, which has 33 area locations, in the top 10 in seventh place. Other area employers and their 2008 rank are:

• 16, Whole Foods Market, two area locations
• 42, Mitre Corp., a defense contractor at 1155 Academy Park Loop
• 46, CarMax, which will open a used car store at 4050 Tutt Blvd. later this year.
  
• 54, CH2M Hill, planning firm operates an office at 19 S. Tejon St.
• 58, Scotttrade, brokerage operates an office at 70 S. Cascade Ave.
• 67, Valero Energy, 30 area locations under the Diamond Shamrock name.
  
• 72, Marriott International, 10 area hotels
• 81, Booz Allen Hamilton, a defense contractor at 121 S. Tejon St.
• 97, FedEx Corp., a major employer with 900 workers at its Rocky Mountain Technology Center, various package delivery operations and FedEx Kinko's stores.

To view the entire list, go to http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2008/full_list/.
Two thirds of the weight for the ranking comes from employee survey data, which was compiled by the San Francisco-based Great Place to Work Institute, which has authored the list since 1998. To nominate a company for next year's list, go to http://www.greatplacetowork.com/best/nominations/nom-100best.php.

Mistrust factor restricts telecommuting

A new telecommuting survey by intranet software developer Intranet Dashboard, shows that 70 percent of 390 respondents were restricted from teleworking, with the main reason cited as lack of trust in employees by upper management.

But management did acknowledge significant savings in infrastructure costs and absenteeism and gains in productivity when telecommuting was available to employees. Eighty-three percent of companies listed telecommuting as a company incentive or perk. And 95 percent of telecommuters have access to the company's intranet.

Telecommuting is expected to reach 100 million corporate employees working from home at least one day a month by 2008, according to Gartner and Deloitte.

Do you work for a great company?

If so, check this out.

Applications are being accepted through Friday, March 2, for the second annual “Best Companies to Work For in Colorado” contest. (Go to http://www.coshrm.org/ or call Christina Firouztash at 720-212-2034.)

Sponsored by the Society for Human Resource Management Colorado State Council, the competition is designed to identify and recognize for-profit and nonprofit companies that excel in workplace practices that improve the employee experience.

Eligible employers can be either publicly or privately held businesses and must have a facility in Colorado.

Winners will be selected from two categories: small or medium-size companies with 25 to 199 employees, and large companies with 250 or more employees.

Winners will be notified in May, with final rankings announced at a July awards ceremony.

Last year, 25 companies made the list. Edward Jones ranked as No. 1 large employer and the No. 1 small or medium employer went to WR Starkey Mortgage.

Colorado Springs Delta operations receives OSHA award

Delta Air Lines operations in Colorado Springs were recently recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for workplace safety and health programs.

Delta Air Lines and its subsidiary DAL Global Services, which serve the Colorado Springs Airport, were inducted into OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs' Star category, which is the highest level of recognition that OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program gives. The award is given to companies that maintain employee injury and illness rates below the national average for its industry and meet stringent safety and health program elements that exceed regular OSHA standards. Delta and DAL Global Services in Colorado Springs are the only air transportation operators in Colorado to

receive this recognition, according to OSHA.

About 1,600 work sites throughout the U.S. have earned membership in the Voluntary Protection Programs, which recognizes participants that successfully incorporate comprehensive safety and health programs into their management systems. The programs are open to employers in any industry.

Teens, employers disagree on work readiness

Nearly 90 percent of the nation's teens believe they are either adequately or very well prepared to enter the work force, according to an annual poll conducted by Colorado Springs-based JA Worldwide's (Junior Achievement).
The group's 8th annual "Kids and Careers" Interprise Poll, sponsored by Verizon Communications Inc., found more than one-third of the nearly 1,500 students surveyed believe they are "very well prepared"and have the necessary skills to compete in today's work force, while more than half believe they are "adequately prepared." The survey was conducted online in October and November with students ages 13-19 from 125 JA offices nationwide.

Employers had a different view -- 42.4 percent of employers surveyed last year rated new work force entrants with high-school diplomas as "dificient" in their overall preparation for entry-level jobs they typically fill. The sruvey of 400 U.S. employees was conducted by The Conference Board, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Familes and the Society for Human Resource Management.

For complete results, go to http://www.ja.org/files/polls/kids_careers_2007.pdf.

Some readers upset about snow day compensation

Several Gazette readers responded to Friday's Business article about the dilemma local employers faced regarding employee compensation during the city's recent blizzards.

Employees of several local companies said their employers closed for a day or two, or closed early, but didn't compensate workers.

Employers aren't required by law to pay hourly employees for hours not worked, even though many businesses in town chose to do that. Others decided they could not afford the generosity. That left employees out in the cold, with a decreased paycheck.

"We should have some recourse," said one caller. "I was dressed and ready to walk to work when I was told not to come in because they were closed. And I'm supporting a family of six. It really hurt us."