Burns & McDonnell Ranked 16th Best Place to Work in the Country

KANSAS CITY, MO--(Marketwired - Mar 3, 2016) -  For the sixth year, Burns & McDonnell is gaining national recognition for its exemplary corporate culture. After judges spent months reviewing employee surveys from America's most sought-after companies, Fortune magazine ranked Burns & McDonnell No. 16 on the 2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® List. Nineteen years ago, Fortune began cultivating this annual list to showcase companies that have exceptional workplace cultures. Burns & McDonnell is the only Kansas City-based company on the list.

"This year's ranking is particularly meaningful to us because it comes during a time of intense industry challenges," says Greg Graves, Burns & McDonnell chairman and CEO. "Plummeting oil prices have brought significant disruption to our clients. Our 118-year business model of having diverse industry sectors, however, is helping us weather the storm. We were able to transition employee-owners who typically work on oil and gas projects into food and consumer products or aviation -- or other industries that are now benefiting from low gas prices. This is just one example of how we continue to look for strategies that are not just good for business, but good for each other."

Burns & McDonnell was among hundreds of companies to compete for a spot on the list this year. Companies across the nation apply to participate in the selection process, which includes an employee survey and an in-depth questionnaire about company programs and practices. Great Place to Work® then evaluates each application using its unique methodology based on five dimensions: credibility, camaraderie, respect, fairness and pride.

"Those dimensions of what makes a company a great place to work are also key characteristics of employee ownership," Graves says. "Being a 100 percent employee-owned company empowers us all to act as owners -- from how we work with clients to how we do our expenses. We find that accountability to ourselves and each other amplifies everything we do, from our creativity to a project to our commitments to our clients. To us, these are defining elements of being a best place to work."

Within in the past year, Burns & McDonnell has continued break new records. In addition to the prestigious Fortune recognition, Burns & McDonnell has won top workplace honors from more than 20 different publications across the country. The firm now has more than 5,300 employees and reached an all-time high of $2.6 billion in sales in 2015. To accommodate the growth, the firm will celebrate the grand opening of its third major building at the firm's world headquarters this spring in Kansas City, Mo.

"We are excited to debut some of our most anticipated on-site benefits yet," says Melissa Wood, Burns & McDonnell chief administrative officer. "Our expanded world headquarters will feature the MacKids Learning Academy -- where employee-owners can bring their little ones for childcare where there is a focus on STEM education activities -- as well as an on-site pharmacy and much more. Each year, we make it a priority to identify new and meaningful benefits that contribute to the health, happiness and fulfillment of our employee-owners."

"Now more than ever, it is important for companies to prove they are great workplaces," said Michael Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work®. "Top talent expects as much as they seek new opportunities, and customers are demanding it as well as they decide where to spend their dollars. The 100 best workplaces are at the top of the heap in demonstrating they have a high-trust, high-performing culture."

Organizations on the list see many benefits that include better financial performance, less employee turnover, higher levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, more innovative and creative thinking, higher productivity and enhanced public perception.

To see the complete 2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list and to learn more about how to build a high-trust workplace culture, visit greatplacetowork.com.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a company made up of more than 5,300 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is proud to be No. 16 on Fortune's 2016 List of 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit burnsmcd.com.

About Great Place to Work®

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. Through proprietary assessment tools, advisory services and certification programs, including Best Workplaces lists and workplace reviews, Great Place to Work® provides the benchmarks, framework and expertise needed to create, sustain and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. In the United States, Great Place to Work® produces Fortune's annual "100 Best Companies to Work For®" list and a series of Great Place to Work® Best Workplaces lists, including lists for Millennials, Women, Diversity, Small and Medium Companies and more than a half dozen different industry lists.