Edwards Jones ranks No. 1, so says 'Fortune' magazine
By Rebecca Ray
Despite tough economic times, Edward Jones Investments didn't lay off any of its 25,000 employees. And the firm was rewarded in the long run. Fortune magazine dubbed the stockbroker, which has an office in Saratoga, the best company to work for in the United States.
Edward Jones, headquartered in St. Louis, supplies financial products for individual investors and small-business owners, and has more than 8,000 offices throughout the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Fortune, which each year ranks the best companies to work for in the United States, listed Edward Jones as number one in its Feb. 4, 2002, issue.
Although this is Edward Jones' fourth consecutive appearance on Fortune's list--the firm placed ninth last year--this is the first time the firm garnered the top slot. Glynis Wineinger, the investment representative who opened the Edward Jones office in Saratoga five years ago, says she thought the magazine would rank the company high. However, Wineinger says, the number one ranking was a big surprise.
Fortune examined 279 companies that had been in business for at least seven years and that had more than 500 employees. The magazine based its rankings on how the companies treated employees, as well as how the companies responded to the Sept. 11 tragedy. Fortune based two-thirds of the scoring on an anonymous survey of 44,848 randomly selected employees. The magazine also did in-depth analyses of companies' cultures and human resources practices.
Although the stock market hit Edward Jones particularly hard, the company cut back bonuses and issued them a week early to help brokers hurt by the trading decline, Fortune says. Also, according to Fortune, 97 percent of Edward Jones workers surveyed said that management was honest.
Neither Wineinger nor her co-worker at 12297 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, Suite 200, took the survey. However, Wineinger says, she wishes she had. She says she likes the autonomy of operating independently at Edward Jones, where only one licensed representative and one assistant work at each office. Also, she says, she has been allowed to choose her area of focus, which is retirement planning.
In addition to heavily marketing a brand image, Wineinger says, the company has survived the recession by developing long-term relationships with clients. Although clients are more apprehensive about investing money during tough times, they seek more help from brokers. These relationships pay off in the long run, in that the customers return when times are good, she says.
Wineinger added that business has been "very good" since Sept. 11, because people have re-examined their lives and established more financial plans. Also, after the market closed on Sept. 11, workers at Edward Jones called their clients and encouraged them to remember their long-term goals and not panic, even though the market would significantly decline after it opened.
Last year, Edward Jones made $2.2 billion and added 3,681 new jobs, a 15 percent job growth.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
