Only Six Financial Firms Appear in 50 Happiest Companies in America

Google No Longer Leads Employee Happiness - Hotels and Retailers Amongst Industries Where Employees Find Bliss

If you work in financial services, chances are you're not all that happy right now. It's not just that the financial sector has taken a beating in the stock markets of the world either. According to an annual survey conducted by a company called CareerBliss, only one financial firm scored in the top 10 happiest companies in America based on employee happiness. Guess what company that was? If you said Goldman Sachs, you'd be wrong.

Coming in at number eight was the asset management giant Fidelity.

CareerBliss calls itself the leading online career community helping people find joy and success at every step in their careers. Based on more than 100,000 independent employee-generated reviews, CareerBliss announced that in its 50 Happiest Companies in America, only six were financial services companies. After Fidelity, Credit Suisse ranked 12, American Express was 24; followed by Deutsche Bank at 29; then Morgan Stanley at 32 and Merrill Lynch at 33. Goldman didn't make the top 50.

Coming in at number one was Hilton Hotels, a slot captured by Google last year. This year, Google didn't even make the top 50. Below are the top 10:

Rank			Company Name			Overall Bliss Rating*
1			Hilton Hotels			4.360
2			Fluor			4.238
3			Johnson & Johnson			4.236
4			Nordstrom			4.234
5			BASF			4.215
6			Centex			4.208
7			United States Air Force - USAF			4.206
8			Fidelity Investments			4.205
9			Ericsson			4.201
10			Chevron			4.198

*All data derived from 2011 employee generated reviews. Ranking on a scale of one to five – with an average rating over 10 aspects of job happiness.

How CareerBliss Determines the Top 50

CareerBliss data evaluates the key factors which affect work happiness, including: work-life balance, one’s relationship with their boss and co-workers, their work environment, job resources, compensation, growth opportunities, company culture, company reputation, their daily tasks and job control over the work that they do on a daily basis. The data accounts for how an employee values each factor. Each review is given an average score indicating where the company places between one and five.

Heidi Golledge, Chief Happiness Officer and co-founder of CareerBliss, says, “We are proud to honor the top companies in America who clearly understand that, even in a tough economy, their employees are integral to their success. The companies on our list each have a strong emphasis on keeping their employees happy, as evidenced by their incredibly positive reviews in all facets of employee happiness including work-life balance and career growth."

What Drives Employee Happiness?

Senior management, a person’s colleagues and the tools a company provides to enable employee success ranked even higher than salary and benefits as factors that affect employee happiness. In addition, the company culture, flexibility with work hours and the physical work environment of a company had a larger impact than compensation.

Bradley Brummel, Ph.D. in workplace psychology, says, “These results highlight the possibility of creating a happy company within almost any industry. Companies from military to retail to technology can build and maintain great working environments for their employees while being successful in their businesses.”

For a full list, go to CareerBliss Happiest Companies in America 2012.