FORTUNE cites culture, low turnover, and leading percentage of women partners

Southfield, Michigan — January 8, 2007 — Plante & Moran, PLLC, a Midwest-based accounting and business advisory firm with more than 1,500 staff, announced today that it has been ranked No. 32 on FORTUNE’s 10th annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. The firm has appeared on the list for nine consecutive years.

FORTUNE said Plante & Moran’s “extraordinary employee-centric culture goes back more than 50 years. The result? Turnover, at 11 percent, is one of the lowest in the entire accounting field.”

“We are exceedingly pleased with our staff and their commitment to the Golden Rule which is the foundation for our winning culture,” said Managing Partner Bill Hermann. “Treating people well is part of our DNA. People perform better when they enjoy their environment and trust their colleagues,” he added.

FORTUNE also cited Plante & Moran’s leading percentage of women partners at 19 percent. Hermann said, “Plante & Moran focused on the needs of women in the workplace long before it became fashionable.” The firm’s Personal Tightrope Action Committee, which was initially created to address the needs of working parents and now focuses on work-life balance for all staff, celebrates its 26th anniversary this year.

The complete list and related stories appear in the Jan. 22 issue of FORTUNE. This year, 446 companies vied for a slot on the list, up from 161 in 1998. And, 100,000 workers evaluated their employers, making this by far the largest simultaneous employee survey in corporate America.

"The 100 Best Companies to Work For" list is compiled for FORTUNE by Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz of the Great Place to Work Institute in San Francisco, based on two criteria: an evaluation of the policies and culture of each company, and the opinions of the company's employees. The latter is given more weight; two-thirds of the total score comes from employee responses to a 57-question survey which goes to a minimum of 400 randomly selected employees from each company. More than 100,000 employees from 446 companies participated in the survey this year. It asks about things such as attitudes towards management, job satisfaction, and camaraderie within the organization. The remaining one-third of the score is based on an evaluation of each company's demographic makeup, pay and benefits programs, and culture. Companies are scored in four areas: credibility (communication to employees), respect (opportunities and benefits), fairness (compensation, diversity), and pride/camaraderie (philanthropy, celebrations). Companies that are at least seven years old and have 1,000 or more employees are eligible for the list.

Specific FORTUNE 100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR award criteria, along with profiles of the winning companies, are featured on its website, http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/.