Each year, Fortune publishes a list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.” The full 2013 list may be found here. A newcomer to Fortune’s latest ranking is Mars Incorporated (which has a pretty cool career section at the firm’s Web site), which has 72,000 employees — more than one-third in the United States.
Why is Mars on the list? Here’s what David A. Kaplan reports for Fortune:
“Mars’ diversified galaxy of brands for man and beast are iconic — from chocolate favorites like M&M’s and Snickers to Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit and Lifesavers to pet-care products like Pedigree and Whiskas, as well as Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice. The company says it does 200 million consumer transactions a day. But despite that reach across civilization and into customer pockets, Mars is among the most secretive, insular, and little understood multinational companies around. It is still 100% family-owned.”
“Mars boasts employees who love not only the products they make but also the office culture and the company’s long-standing principles. Some families can claim three generations of employees. The 78-year-old woman who runs the in-house candy shop at the plant in Slough, England, has loyally worked at Mars since the reign of George VI — more than six decades. The demographics of the Mars workplace in the U.S. — about 70% of it in manufacturing, almost entirely nonunionized — are diverse; women constitute 38% of the managers. There are even some unusual perks, like every kid’s fantasy come to life: vending machines that dispense free candy all day long. Chewing gum at meetings is encouraged (as long as it’s Wrigley’s). Perhaps most significant, employees have great latitude for advancement, both within their divisions and in the larger Mars ecosystem.”
Click the image for more of Kaplan’s story.
Photo by Gregg Segal