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The mission is more important than the money.

A little appreciation goes a long way.

Communicate, communicate, communicate.

These are just a few of the lessons that have emerged from the first Best Christian Places to Work survey, a landmark study commissioned by Christianity Today and administered by the Best Christian Workplaces Institute (BCWI). It is the largest survey ever conducted on the attitudes of employees at Christian workplaces, with more than 8,500 respondents across a range of industries.

We accepted applications from any organization with more than 15 full-time employees, a Christian mission, and an explicitly Christian product or service. Employees of participating workplaces filled out an online survey that covered various aspects of their companies' people practices; the organizations also provided detailed profiles of their human resource policies. And to ensure that the survey results would be statistically significant, we asked for high employee response rates from these organizations.

An independent panel of judges weighed the employee scores, the employee participation rates, and the human resource profiles in order to select this year's Best Christian Places to Work. The winners, listed on our site today, were announced at the Christian Management Association (CMA) conference earlier this month. (For more on how the judges picked the winners, see "Great Places to Work.")

One of our most notable conclusions is this: Employee satisfaction has nothing to do with their employers' budget. The annual revenues of the top finalists range from $2 million to $33 million.

Treating employees well is less about offering creative perks and high compensation—and more about managers having the right mindset toward their staff.

"We are stewards of every person God has brought to us," says David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, a top finalist in the Small Service and Product category. This is more than a platitude for the winning organizations. They see nurturing their employees as a spiritual mandate, for purposes well beyond the good of the business.

"The person they have the privilege of developing in their organization today might not be there tomorrow," says John Pearson, president of CMA, "but it doesn't matter because it's all work [that advances God's kingdom]."

The result? According to BCWI executive director Al Lopus, "Employees of our finalists trust their leaders and believe their organizations are well managed." The trust goes both ways, as these employees also feel trusted by their leaders and are strongly committed to their organizations.

Finalists cultivate trust in a variety of ways, from avoiding micromanagement to offering creative and flexible working arrangements. Financial analyst Janet Thompson had left finalist Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU) in 1989 to raise a family, and 11 years later was looking to rejoin the workforce. Although she was not expecting to return to ECCU because she now lived 90 minutes away, the credit union allowed her to telecommute, helping her set up her home office with a computer, phone lines, and a cell phone.

As a result, Thompson's commitment to the company is solid. "I have had numerous opportunities to work at local banks in my hometown," she says, "but I cannot see giving up such a great job."

To be most effective, employee-friendly attitudes must originate at the top. Quality of leadership was a significant factor in determining the survey's finalists. "All I have to do is watch employees at work and I will have some idea what values their leaders hold," says Walter Wright, executive director of the De Pree Leadership Center. "There is a direct correlation between how a leader behaves and how the employees behave."

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April 2003, Vol. 47, No. 4