St. Jude Recognized on FORTUNE Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For List

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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Jan 20, 2011, 09:09 ET

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has been recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For." This is the first year St. Jude has been included in the publication's annual list.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110120/DC33176)

"St. Jude employees rank pride in the hospital's mission—finding cures, saving children—as one of the top reasons St. Jude is a great place to work," said Dr. William E. Evans, St. Jude director and CEO. "For our employees, working at St. Jude is much more than a job."

St. Jude currently has more than 3,600 employees and offers its employees competitive salaries, comprehensive benefits, opportunities for education, growth and development and a unique sense of purpose.

"Employees are proud of their work because it has special meaning," Evans said. "A key to our success is attracting outstanding people and giving them a place to do their best work. We are successful because of our people and the partnership we have with our patients and our donors. Employees embrace the mission and espouse the culture of St. Jude, which is one of compassion, collaboration and innovation."

To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, FORTUNE partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. Three hundred and eleven companies participated in this year's survey. Two-thirds of a company's score is based on the results of the Institute's Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about management's credibility, job satisfaction and camaraderie.

The other third of the scoring is based on the company's responses to the Institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, internal communications, training, recognition programs and diversity efforts. Any company that is at least seven years old with more than 1,000 U.S. employees is eligible.

St. Jude strives to continually improve in all areas, including the environment for employees. Based on employee ideas and needs, the hospital created initiatives such as enhancing communication between senior leadership and staff with programs like Lunch with the CEO; development of the Leave-Sharing Program, which allows employees to donate accrued sick or vacation hours to others who need it; the creation of a year-long professional development program for a select group of non-management employees; the implementation of an employee shadowing program; and an annual employee spirit week.

The FORTUNE magazine list is currently online. The issue will be on newsstands Monday, February 7.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Ranked the #1 pediatric cancer hospital by Parents magazine and the #1 children's cancer hospital by U.S. News & World Report, St. Jude is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and from around the world, serving as a trusted resource for physicians and researchers. St. Jude has developed research protocols that helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancer from less than 20 percent when the hospital opened to almost 80 percent today. St. Jude is the national coordinating center for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. In addition to pediatric cancer research, St. Jude is also a leader in sickle cell disease research and is a globally prominent research center for influenza.

Founded in 1962 by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world, publishing more research articles than any other pediatric cancer research center in the United States. St. Jude treats more than 5,700 patients each year and is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. St. Jude is financially supported by thousands of individual donors, organizations and corporations without which the hospital's work would not be possible. In 2010, St. Jude was ranked the most trusted charity in the nation in a public survey conducted by Harris Interactive, a highly respected international polling and research firm. For more information, go to www.stjude.org.

SOURCE St. Jude Children's Research Hospital