No. 1, 101–300 employees: Crowder College

“I think it is the nature of our place,” Marble said. “It is a service and family atmosphere. I’ve heard that everywhere I’ve worked, but here people really mean it.”

The college’s main campus is in Neosho, and it operates centers in Cassville, Nevada and Webb City.

Total enrollment at the four locations has increased 65 percent since 2000. More than 2,900 enrolled at Crowder for the fall semester this year.

“We are not a gigantic institution,” Marble said. “We don’t want to lose a family atmosphere no matter how big we get.”

High scores in incentives and culture helped Crowder rank No. 1 among employers with 101 to 300 workers.

The college does not offer a 401(k), but its employees do have access to the public school retirement system, in which full-time employees are fully vested after five years.

There is no waiting period to participate in the retirement system, through which pensions also are offered.

Marble said that the state-assisted college recognizes that its salaries are lower than those offered by many other employers. Average annual salary increases for full-time employees vary from year-to-year, according to Crowder’s Best Places to Work Survey, but for 2006-07, salary increases were between 4 percent and 6 percent.

“We can’t compete in salaries in some areas, but we compete in atmosphere for employees to work in and in benefits,” said Gale Lynch, director of human resources. Full-time employees, for example, do not pay any premiums for health insurance or life insurance.

“We’ve felt like as long as we can afford to do it, we are going to keep that benefit in place,” Marble said.

Crowder offers most full-time employees more than 10 days of vacation each year.

Hourly employees, according to the school’s survey, receive between one and five vacation days, and first-year employees get more than 9 days for paid sick leave.

Crowder also invests in development of its employees.

The school offers tuition reimbursement for any continuing education – an option that 10 percent to 29 percent of the school’s employees take advantage of, according to the survey. Also offered are an employee mentoring program, paid sabbaticals, and formal feedback regarding job performance.

Lynch said the college conducts in-house professional development sessions twice a month on a wide variety of topics. There is an incentive program to encourage attendance, with prizes awarded to employees who participate.

The school also has a practice of promoting from within as much as possible.

Lynch said the Crowder College Board of Trustees deserves credit for the incentives and benefits available at the school.

“They try to do the best they can for employees,” Lynch said. “They have our best welfare in mind at all times.”

Crowder anticipates additional growth, but officials are committed to attracting and retaining quality employees.

“It gets more difficult as we get more spread out, but I think we’ve done a good job of maintaining that family atmosphere,” Lynch said.