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

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

Fortune's process includes sending an anonymous survey to employees that asks questions about their attitudes toward their management's credibility, job satisfaction and camaraderie. The magazine also completes a “culture audit,” which encompasses detailed questions about pay and benefits programs, and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communication, training, recognition programs and diversity efforts.

Regional publications, local newspapers and other organizations that sponsor best workplace lists essentially follow the same company evaluation process using anonymous employee surveys and a wide range of company metrics.

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

Leaders in all business units throughout the organization receive specific employee engagement results that show their strengths and opportunities for improvements.

“We've had programs spring up from this initiative such as You Spoke, We Listened,” she explained. “This was a grassroots effort by our leadership to look deeply into engagement survey results and work with their employees on ways they could improve whatever needed to be improved, whether it was communications, whether it was empowering employees to be able to make decisions at the lowest level, or whether it was just communicating more openly and transparently about the promotions process.”

Elevating employee engagement, Culbertson said, means employees are willing to go beyond their job description to follow through on the credit union's mission.

All of that hard work paid off for the Vienna, Va.-based cooperative. Since 2008, it has been named to the Fortune list, and variations of it, 10 times. In 2016, Navy Federal was named to Fortune's lists for Best Workplaces to Retire From, Best Workplaces for Millennials, Best Workplaces in Financial Services and Insurance, and 100 Best Companies to Work For.

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

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

For example, while MSUFCU looks to develop a career path for every employee, last year's survey showed employees wanted more feedback and guidance on how they could advance within the credit union.

“From that feedback, we started doing biweekly coaching sessions, where managers will sit down with their employees and talk about how they can advance their careers and where they want to go within the credit union,” Chelsea Goodsell, MSUFCU human resources manager, explained. “This year, we saw improvements in that area, but we've always scored above the national average because it's a focus area for us.”

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

“Being able to provide that feedback to them so they can really see themselves staying with the organization for a lifelong career is 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 at least somewhat more likely to apply to an organization that has recently won a best workplace award.

“Winning such an award enhances a company's employee value proposition,” Gallup researchers Brandon Rigoni and Jessica White wrote in a report. “By actively promoting the workplace award, companies offer job candidates the promise of a differentiated employment experience.”

The first question Culbertson asks new employees during orientations is how many of them came to Navy Federal because it was listed on the national Fortune best workplace list.

“The majority in the room will raise their hands, so we know that the list is being noticed and responded to,” Culbertson said.

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

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

United SVP of Human Resources Jeff Blake said he found the award to be a useful tool in recruiting talented prospects. He is planning to compete for other statewide or regional best workplace lists in other markets the credit union serves in Indiana, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio and its home state, Michigan.

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

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

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

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

A best workplace award can also supercharge morale and instill a strong sense of pride among employees, as the $1.4 billion Achieva Credit Union and $2.5 billion Idaho Central Credit Union discovered.

Achieva made the Tampa Bay Times' Top 100 Workplaces list four years in a row and, in April, the Dunedin, Fla.-based cooperative 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,” Janet Till, Achieva's SVP of people and corporate culture, said.

That employee pride and workplace morale is important because it motivates employees to recommend the credit union to other job seekers. Till said nearly 40% of job candidates hired last year were a result of employee referrals.

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

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

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

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