Finance and Law Top California’s Best Places to Work

by Heather Cassell (San Francisco)

Finance and legal firms came out on top of Employers Group’s spot light on California’s Best Places to Work for the second year with video game’s rounding out the bottom in technology.

“These companies send the message that, despite the doom and gloom currently pervading the business world, there are companies that champion their workforce and exhibit a creative, caring, and dynamic culture,” says Mark Wilbur, president and CEO of Employers Group, about the second year ranking California companiesin a March 10 news release. “The 15 winners of 2008’s program are leading the way to a brighter future for all of us.”

Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management, a diversified global investment firm leaped up the survey’s ranks to first place in 2008 from fourth place in 2007.“We are actually really delighted with it,” says Susan Hunter, head of public relations of Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management, founded in San Diego, California more than 20 years ago. The finance company now has offices in New York, London, Melbourne and Sydney.

“For one thing, working in this program gave us some good ideas,” continues Hunter about incorporated ideas from other companies that participated in the survey with the Nicholas-Applegate’s existing strong employee benefits and programs. “We found it a great platform to improve our benefits program and respond to employee requests. We took it as an opportunity to make it better. We are absolutely delighted and honored.”

Nicholas-Applegate employees responded positively to management’s use of technology tools, such as blogs, to improve communication and establishing an online performance and talent application that allows employees to do 360 reviews to employment feedback which helps employees tailor their career advancement and chart their goals, Hunter says.

The tools help the financial firm remain competitive by retaining the best employees in the global marketplace, Hunter says.

“We believe an outstanding company culture not only attracts and retains topnotch professionals, but also motivates them to do their very best for our clients,” Marna C. Whittington, Nicholas-Applegate chief executive officer of, agrees with Hunter.

Nicholas-Applegate wasn’t the only company that improved its rank as one of California’s best places to work. Legal experts Bingham McCutchen LLP moved into first place this year from second place in 2007. “The award is an affirmation of our commitment to investing in our attorneys and staff by providing them with opportunities for growth and success throughout their careers at Bingham,” says Melissa Matallana, Bingham’s senior human resources manager, Southern California, about the nearly 120-years old Boston-based national law firm that retains six attorney’s operating out of California out of approximately 1,000 attorneys in 13 offices throughout the United States.

Much like Nicholas-Applegate, Bingham recognizes the value of its move up in its rank on the Best Places to Work survey.

“In these challenging economic times [it] is another indication of Bingham’s spirit and commitment to fostering a positive work environment,” says Bingham chairman Jay Zimmerman. “We take great pride in investing in our people to cultivate growth and success. The best people are the building blocks of the best firms.”

Newcomer to the list, Insomniac, an award-winning independent video game developer based in Burbank, placed fifth in the mid-sized companies. “I’m absolutely ecstatic about it,” says Carrie Dieterle, human resources director of Insomniac, about making the list of best places to work. “Positive accolades, not only as a company, but something that our employees can be proud of because they are what make our company so great.”

The 15-years old video game company employs an estimated 180 people, 17 of which are women which is unusual for the male dominated gaming industry, Dieterle says. There is definitely an opportunity for leadership here in our company for women,” Dieterle says.

“Being a part of the topsy-turvy videogame industry, we’re used to constant and often frenetic change,” says Ted Price, Insomniac president and CEO. “But we’ve also tried hard to maintain a consistently fun and creatively free culture over the years. Being a part of this list is a great validation that our often non-standard approach is working!”

Employers Group, a member driven expert and advocacy organization that delivers human resources solutions throughout California, conducted a two-part evaluation process that measured 125 different criteria from the 400-plus companies that entered the program. Finalists were determined by score from an initial assessment combined with their scores from an employee satisfaction survey that examines nine diverse categories from work-life balance to workplace culture to human capital retention and benefits to diversity and advancement opportunities.

For more information about California’s Best Places to Work in 2009, visit their website.