QuikTrip again wins distinction as one of best companies to work for

What do academia and QuikTrip have in common?

They both offer paid sabbaticals.

But that’s just one of a number of reasons QuikTrip Corp., Tulsa, Okla., has been named one of Fortune magazine's best places to be employed – for the fifth consecutive year.

The self-serve gasoline and c-store chain came in at No. 20 on the publication's annual list, "100 Best Companies to Work For." QuikTrip moved up one spot from last year's No. 21 ranking.

QuikTrip, which operates 475 stores in nine states, has 7,833 employees and annual revenue of more than $7 billion. Fortune put QuikTrip in its medium-size category.

The magazine noted that QuikTrip doesn't just offer jobs, it "creates careers."

Retirement plans reward long tenure, and turnover among full- and part-timers is far below industry averages, the magazine said.

The pay is noteworthy for the industry - the company's most common salaried job is store manager, with a pay rate of $60,525. The most common hourly job is night assistant manager, with a pay rate of $40,483.

And one perk mentioned in the listing is that the company offers paid sabbaticals.

The 2007 list was compiled for Fortune by the Great Place to Work Institute in San Francisco, and the rankings were created from survey responses from more than 105,000 employees at 446 companies.

Two-thirds of a company's score was based on what employees said about attitudes towards management, job satisfaction and camaraderie, and the balance came from company responses regarding demographic makeup, pay and benefits, management philosophy, communications, opportunities and diversity programs.

The list of winners was announced Jan. 8.

"Just being considered by Fortune magazine as one of the nation's best employers is quite an accomplishment, but receiving this recognition five years in a row and being in the top 20 is a tremendous honor for every QuikTrip employee," Chet Cadieux, QuikTrip's president, said in a statement.

"The purpose of QuikTrip is to give our employees the opportunity to grow and succeed,” Cadieux said. “Making this prestigious list five years in a row validates QuikTrip's commitment to our employees."

The firm was ranked 19th in 2005 and 53rd in 2004.

QuikTrip has received widespread recognition over the years, "but something like this, we're proud of it," Mike Thornbrugh, QuikTrip's manager of public and government affairs, said, according to the Jan. 9 online edition of The Tulsa World.

"It gives our folks, whether in the stores or at the corporate offices, a great sense of pride that we're doing it right,” Thornbrugh told the newspaper.

The company has added about 1,000 employees in the past year, Thornbrugh said, and opened 20 to 25 new stores. Its most recent endeavor – QT Kitchens, which produces a line of sandwiches and baked goods daily for all the Tulsa locations -- is doing well, he said.

"As QT Kitchens continues to grow, we'll add more employees there, too," he said.