Employee Ownership and the Best Places to Work

The annual list of the UK's best places to work, compiled by Glassdoor using worker feedback, put two companies with substantial employee ownership at the top of the list. Number one is Google, renown for its culture and for broadly offering equity compensation to its workforce. Number two is the iconic John Lewis Partnership, the best-known employee-owned company in the UK. The chain of department stores, fully owned and governed by its workforce, has sparked calls among all three major parties to create a "John Lewis economy." Third on the list is Microsoft, which, like Google, has both an employee stock purchase plan and offers restricted stock.

In the US, Pensions & Investments released its 2014 list of the best places to work in money management. The list includes several firms with substantial employee ownership, including Neuberger Berman, the Principal Financial Group, and Robert W. Baird.