Good morning.
Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list is out this morning, and you can view it here. The list, now in its 26th year, has long been a favorite of the job-seeking set. But in a world where talent drives value, it has increasingly become a tool for sorting out the best companies…period. Great Place to Work CEO Michael Bush, our partner in preparing this list, notes in his opening essay that the companies on this year’s list saw an eye-popping 7% year-over-year increase in revenue per employee—productivity growth that dwarfs the averages. Says Bush: “Companies that care for their people and prioritize their well-being…outperform.”
Top of this year’s list is Cisco, for the third year in a row. That’s no small accomplishment. The employee surveys we rely on for this ranking were largely done last year before Cisco and several other companies on the list (including #4 Accenture and #8 Salesforce) announced layoffs. It will be interesting to see if their rankings take a hit next year as a result. But even the best businesses have to make difficult decisions. And Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins told Fortune’s Susie Gharib that how you do it matters. “Nobody likes it. I don’t like it. It’s the worst thing we ever have to do,” Robbins said. He says Cisco tried to redeploy workers where possible, and “we were just honest about why we had to do it.”
Also out this morning is a new episode of our podcast Leadership Next, featuring Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub, who not only talks about why she thinks direct air capture technology can help solve the climate crisis, but also how she never imagined becoming CEO until a year before it happened.
And a transition worthy of note. The amazing Ellen McGirt, who has been my partner on Leadership Next for these last three years, is taking a break from our podcast to focus on some other projects. She has been the yin to my yang in these interviews, helping to make sure we view the business world from all angles, and I will miss her. But the good news is that Fortune Editor-at-Large Michal Lev-Ram is stepping in to take her place. Big shoes to fill, and an amazing talent to fill them. Michal and I also promise to bring back Ellen for guest appearances frequently!
By the way, Ellen has a great piece in the new issue of Fortune magazine, which you can read this morning here.
Other news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
