Companies selected as Best Places to Work in the North Bay were analyzed by the editorial staff of the Business Journal on the basis of several criteria, including the employer application, the survey ratings by employees, the number of responses, size of the company, the breakdown of responses from management and non-management as well as written comments by employees.In all, 88 winners emerged from throughout the North Bay. More than 7,000 employee surveys were submitted.
Winners are grouped by size so that employee scores are comparable.
Nominations for Best Places to Work in the North Bay were sought starting in March. Anyone within a company can nominate their business by completing a simple form. A minimum of 15 employees was required.
Nominated companies were then contacted by the Business Journal and invited to submit a company application and to ask employees to complete an online survey. In collaboration with the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce and First Five, a new and separate ranking was added this year for "Family Friendliness."
The survey was set up through Survey Monkey, a widely used online polling service. Companies had four weeks in June and July to complete the application and survey, for which a minimum number of responses was required, depending on company size.
After an analysis of the employer application and online responses, the winners were selected and announced Aug. 14. Winners were honored at a reception Sept. 18.---Brad Bollinger, Publisher
