About the Top Workplaces survey: Employees determine the winners

Whether from home or the office, more than 37,000 Houstonarea employees weighed in about their companies for this year’s Top Workplaces section.

They rated their companies in areas such as leadership, cooperation, communication, work-life balance, training, pay and benefits.

Energage, a Pennsylvaniabased research and consulting firm, invited 2,813 local companies to participate and surveyed 173 of them, then tallied the results.

The Chronicle — one of 51 media partners for which Energage compiles workplace rankings — ran articles and ads about the contest earlier this year. Anyone could nominate a workplace for consideration.

The surveys were conducted over several months through late July. The survey period was extended by a couple of weeks to accommodate companies to take the survey.

The local list contains 130 companies, including 26 newcomers. The number of Top Workplaces winners is down from 150 last year as fewer companies completed the survey process. Seven companies have been recognized each year since the Top Workplaces section debuted in 2010.

The local survey participants employ 57,060 people in the area; 56,905 of the employees received surveys, and 37,311 responded.

The organizations on the list included public and private entities and nonprofit groups. Energage reached out to companies with at least 50 employees.

Included in the Houston Top Workplaces rankings:

A Top 20 Large (out of 25 participants with 500 or more employees in the region);

A Top 50 Midsize (out of 61 participants with 150-499 employees in the region);

A Top 60 Small (out of 90 participants with 50-149 employees in the region).

Notes about the survey

Energage required a response rate of at least 35 percent for employers based in the area.

For employers with 85 or fewer employees, at least 30 responders were required. For larger employers, surveys could be sent to employees in a random sample. For those with 2,500 or fewer employees, surveys were sent to at least 500 employees. For employers with more than 2,500 but fewer than 5,000 employees, surveys were sent to at least 20 percent. For employers with 5,000 or more, at least 1,000 surveys were sent.

Employers are ranked by size because smaller employers tend to score higher than midsize employers, which in turn tend to score higher than large employers.