ClearBridge Investments

Third place, managers with 100 to 499 employees

ClearBridge Investments LLC is a five-time Best Places to Work winner, an honor awarded thus far by Pensions & Investments to only four other investment shops.

Terence J. Murphy, ClearBridge's CEO, is intent on improving the New York-based company's work environment based on feedback from the firm's 212 employees.

When employees said they wanted to get a weekly box of vegetables from an organic farm, for example, ClearBridge paid for annual memberships, including one for Mr. Murphy.

“We thought this was a great idea to promote nutrition and healthy lifestyles, and paid for subscriptions,” Mr. Murphy said.

Providing employees with the flexibility to work remotely is extremely popular, according to employee survey responses.

“I'm much more interested in outcomes,” Mr. Murphy said, stressing he's “not overly concerned about where people work.”

Judging from employee comments, Mr. Murphy's efforts are working.

“The leaders - CEO, CIOs, etc.—set the tone at the company by having an open and humble attitude, which is reflected across the firm and makes it a pleasure to work here,” one employee enthused.

If Mr. Murphy is the fix-it man, the ClearBridge Brigade is the firm's source of fun and frivolity.

The six-member crew takes on social functions ranging from decorating the firm's headquarters for every holiday to wine tastings and party planning.

Employees have taken over ClearBridge's intranet in order to communicate and connect online about activities well outside the normal workday.

About a dozen ClearBridge employees recently banded together over the weekend to work at a New York food pantry, and it was only from seeing the pictures online that Mr. Murphy even knew what they did. “That's what I really like about ClearBridge employees. They are eager to work in the community. Activities like these don't have to be mandated from the top,” he said.