From 2001 to 2003, the $4.6 billion Pennsylvania State EmployeesCredit Union in Harrisburg was named to Fortune magazine's50 Best Large Companies to Work For in Pennsylvania. Since then andthroughout this year, 14 additional credit unions have earned aplace on what is considered the most prestigious best workplaceslist in the business world.

What's more, it seems more credit unions over the last few yearshave been making other types of best workplace lists sponsored byregional business magazines, local newspapers and chambers ofcommerce across the nation.

So what's the big deal in making these lists, other thanbragging rights and workplace celebration parties? Five creditunion winners said a best workplace recognition helps recruitqualified and talented employees, boosts workplace morale and, mostimportantly, improves employee engagement – something that leads tohigher levels of productivity, member satisfaction and a betterbottom line.

The $77.8 billion Navy Federal Credit Union made its firstappearance on Fortune's 100 best workplaces in America in2008.

“As a precursor to the Fortune list surveys, we starteddoing our own employee engagement survey. That helped us reallyvalidate what we call our secret sauce, which is the fact that weserve the military, we are honest and fair, and we're always doingwhat's right not only for our members but for our employees,” NavyFederal SVP of Human Resources Angela Culbertson said. “Ouremployees feel very strongly about that. They feel very stronglyabout Navy Federal's mission to serve the military and theirfamilies.”

Nevertheless, when Navy Federal went through Fortune'sprocess two times before making the list in 2008, the world'slargest credit union didn't make the cut.

Fortune's process includes sending an anonymous surveyto employees that asks questions about their attitudes toward theirmanagement's credibility, job satisfaction and camaraderie. Themagazine also completes a “culture audit,” which encompassesdetailed questions about pay and benefits programs, and a series ofopen-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internalcommunication, training, recognition programs and diversityefforts.

Regional publications, local newspapers and other organizationsthat sponsor best workplace lists essentially follow the samecompany evaluation process using anonymous employee surveys and awide range of company metrics.

“Once we started focusing on our employee engagements as anorganization and as a leadership team, we started seeing reallyhuge improvements overall and in our Fortune rankings,”Culbertson said.

Leaders in all business units throughout the organizationreceive specific employee engagement results that show theirstrengths and opportunities for improvements.

“We've had programs spring up from this initiative such as YouSpoke, We Listened,” she explained. “This was a grassroots effortby our leadership to look deeply into engagement survey results andwork with their employees on ways they could improve whateverneeded to be improved, whether it was communications, whether itwas empowering employees to be able to make decisions at the lowestlevel, or whether it was just communicating more openly andtransparently about the promotions process.”

Elevating employee engagement, Culbertson said, means employeesare willing to go beyond their job description to follow through onthe credit union's mission.

All of that hard work paid off for the Vienna, Va.-basedcooperative. Since 2008, it has been named to the Fortunelist, and variations of it, 10 times. In 2016, Navy Federal wasnamed to Fortune's lists for Best Workplaces to RetireFrom, Best Workplaces for Millennials, Best Workplaces in FinancialServices and Insurance, and 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Likewise, the $3.2 billion Michigan State University FederalCredit Union made the Fortune list five times since 2006.This year, the East Lansing-based credit union was named toFortune's 50 Best Workplaces for New College Graduateslist.

MSUFCU also conducts regular internal surveys to find out whatemployees like and what they want to see improved. Afterwards,management discusses the results of those surveys and what stepsare being taken to make workplace improvements with employees.

For example, while MSUFCU looks to develop a career path forevery employee, last year's survey showed employees wanted morefeedback and guidance on how they could advance within the creditunion.

“From that feedback, we started doing biweekly coachingsessions, where managers will sit down with their employees andtalk about how they can advance their careers and where they wantto go within the credit union,” Chelsea Goodsell, MSUFCU humanresources manager, explained. “This year, we saw improvements inthat area, but we've always scored above the national averagebecause it's a focus area for us.”

When meeting with job candidates, especially recent collegegraduates, Goodsell said she's noticed they're asking morequestions about career opportunities and are more interested inknowing how they can grow in the organization.

“Being able to provide that feedback to them so they can reallysee themselves staying with the organization for a lifelong careeris an important focus area for us,” she said.

Gallup research released last year found eight out of 10 U.S.adults who are open to a new job or seeking a job said they are atleast somewhat more likely to apply to an organization that hasrecently won a best workplace award.

“Winning such an award enhances a company's employee valueproposition,” Gallup researchers Brandon Rigoni and Jessica Whitewrote in a report. “By actively promoting the workplace award,companies offer job candidates the promise of a differentiatedemployment experience.”

The first question Culbertson asks new employees duringorientations is how many of them came to Navy Federal because itwas listed on the national Fortune best workplacelist.

“The majority in the room will raise their hands, so we knowthat the list is being noticed and responded to,” Culbertsonsaid.

To attract more job candidates in markets where Navy Federaloperates offices – San Diego, Hawaii, Texas, Seattle and Atlanta –Culbertson plans to vie for regional, statewide or local bestworkplace lists.

Making a statewide best workplace list was certainly a good movefor the $2.1 billion United Federal Credit Union, which was namedin 2016 for the third consecutive year one of the best places towork in Arkansas by Arkansas Business magazine.

United SVP of Human Resources Jeff Blake said he found the awardto be a useful tool in recruiting talented prospects. He isplanning to compete for other statewide or regional best workplacelists in other markets the credit union serves in Indiana, NorthCarolina, Nevada, Ohio and its home state, Michigan.

Blake also found talented people are vetting companies as muchas companies are vetting them.

“One person we're highly considering did a great job ofinterviewing the heck out of us, and we could tell it was much moreof a, 'I know you want me. Tell me why I would want to come here,'”he said.

While competitive salaries and strong benefits help attracttalented candidates, a best workplace award may help tip the scaleto convince them to accept an offer.

“What they are really looking for is, is this a good place towork, do they treat employees well, and are they forward-thinkingabout things like flexible work scheduling and telecommuting?” heexplained. “So I think having a [best workplace award] to toutgives us more of a look and feel of what our workplace is about andestablishes more of a trust level because it's been verified by anoutside entity.”

A best workplace award can also supercharge morale and instill astrong sense of pride among employees, as the $1.4 billion AchievaCredit Union and $2.5 billion Idaho Central Credit Uniondiscovered.

Achieva made the Tampa Bay Times' Top 100 Workplaceslist four years in a row and, in April, the Dunedin, Fla.-basedcooperative won the No. 1 spot on the newspaper's list.

“When that list comes out and we're on it, our employees'reaction is as strong as ours as to how proud they are,” JanetTill, Achieva's SVP of people and corporate culture, said.

That employee pride and workplace morale is important because itmotivates employees to recommend the credit union to other jobseekers. Till said nearly 40% of job candidates hired last yearwere a result of employee referrals.

Likewise, for four years in a row, including this year, IdahoCentral in Chubbuck was named a best place to work in Idaho forbusinesses with more than 100 employees by marketing research firmPOPULUS.

“Our No. 1 source of new employees is employee referrals,” IdahoCentral President/CEO Kent Oram said. “If our employees feel IdahoCentral is a best place to work, they're more likely to tell theirfriends and family about it.”

Getting a steady stream of job applications is important becausethe Idaho cooperative has been growing at a clip of about 20%annually.

Five years ago, before the credit union was named to the bestworkplace list, it was receiving about 7,000 to 8,000 jobapplications a year. Now, that number is up to 12,000 to 13,000 ayear, Oram said.