Part I - Company Practices Survey
Each company completed an online questionnaire on 501 different criteria across nine categories. The nine categories are:

• Work-Life Balance
• Employee Voice & Workplace Culture
• Community Involvement
• Turnover
• Pay
• Benefits
• Perks & Incentives
• Training & Opportunities for Advancement
• Diversity

A blind-scoring system was used to determine the semi-finalists within each of the three company-size categories, and these companies moved on to the second phase of the survey process.

Part II - Employee Satisfaction Survey
The semi-finalist companies that moved on to this phase of the program then conducted a confidential Employee Satisfaction Survey with a random sampling of employees. Using a random number generator, MRA generated a list of random numbers for companies to use, along with a numbered list of the company's employees. Using the list of random numbers, companies selected the employees whose names corresponded with the numbers from the random list. Only these employees were asked to complete the survey. Overall sampling was based on company size, and those companies that did not provide at least 75% of the Employee Satisfaction Surveys requested were disqualified.

Part III - Final Analysis
The scores from the initial Company Practices Survey and the Employee Satisfaction Surveys were combined and analyzed. The final rankings were clustered among the following employee groups:

• Small-Sized Companies (100 or fewer employees)
• Medium-Sized Companies (101-499 employees)
• Large-Sized Companies (500 or more employees)

In addition, MRA selected organizations that excelled in three distinct categories:

• Employee Training
• Cultivating and Supporting a Multi-Generational Workforce
• Employee Engagement