TULSA, Okla. -- For the tenth year in a row, Fortune magazine has selected QuikTrip Corp. as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For," ranking it No. 66 for 2012. Google topped the list.
For each company on the list, the magazine asks, "What makes it so great?" For QuikTrip, it answered: "The convenience store chain staffs new stores with veteran employees who bring the company's 'superfriendly' culture with them."
Considered among the large company, QuikTrip placed at No. 20, with 11,615 U.S. employees, with a 31% minority and 37% female work force.
For salaried employees, QuikTrip ranked at No. 69, with the most common job title being "store manager," with average annual pay for employees in that role pegged at $69,383. For hourly employees, QuikTrip came in at No. 52, with the most common job title being "relief assistant," with average annual pay for employees in that role at $$44,300.
It is one of 19 companies on the list that have never had a layoff. And the retailer is among the nearly quarter of the companies that offer fully paid sabbaticals.
"QuikTrip takes great pride in being consistent in everything we do. Having Fortune magazine select QT 10 years in a row as one of the best companies to work for is a tremendous honor," said Chet Cadieux, president and CEO of QuikTrip.
"The purpose of QuikTrip is to give our employees the opportunity to grow and succeed. Last year, QuikTrip was fortunate enough to experience one of the largest expansions in our company's history. I would like to personally thank all of QuikTrip's employees for their hard work and tireless dedication, in taking care of our employer, the customer," he added.
For related-industry companies, Wegmans Food Markets took the No. 4 slot; Whole Foods No. 32; Nugget Market No. 34; Starbucks No. 73; and Publix Super Markets No. 78.
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To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct one of the most extensive employee survey in corporate America; 280 firms participated in this year's survey. More than 246,000 employees at those companies responded to a survey created by the institute, a global research and consulting firm operating in 45 countries around the world.
Two-thirds of a company's score is based on the results of the institute's Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about management's credibility, job satisfaction, and camaraderie. The other third is based on responses to the institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communication, training, recognition programs, and diversity efforts. After evaluations are completed, if news about a company comes to light that may significantly damage employees' faith in management, it can be excluded from the list.
Any company that is at least five years old and has more than 1,000 U.S. employees is eligible.
QuikTrip is a privately held company based in Tulsa, Okla. Founded in 1958, it has grown to a $8.8 billion company with nearly 600 convenience stores in nine major metropolitan areas.
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