Colleagues strongly believe in helping one another.
For all the hard work that goes into meeting high expectations, employees at Facebook, Google, and Bain and Co. have adopted a safety-net mentality.
People at Bain have a saying: "A Bainie never lets a fellow Bainie fail." It refers to the shared responsibility people feel to ensure success and prevent coworkers falling through the cracks.
At Google, employees receive death benefits. If a person dies, his or her loved ones will receive 50% of the employee's salary for 10 years.
They work hard and play hard.
Creating a great place to work also means pairing 10- and 12-hour days with opportunities to let loose.
In Mountain View, California, the Google campus has an outdoor volleyball court. Bain and Co. holds a Bain World Cup, in which 1,200 employees from around the world compete in a three-day soccer tournament.
The idea isn't just team-building, but recognizing people who commit themselves to a company and its mission probably enjoy going full-throttle in physical ways, too.
Perks are generous and well above the average.
Beyond just paying well, the companies recognize the needs people have in their lives more generally.
Bain and Co. and Facebook both offer new moms 16 weeks of paid leave. Google offers 18 weeks. New fathers also get generous time off when they have a child or adopt.
Other perks include egg-freezing at Facebook and Google and "Take Two" breaks at Bain and Co. that give certain employees the chance to take two months off to refresh.
They pay people well.
Still, it doesn't hurt to make a lot of money.
The typical consultant and Bain and Co. makes $140,000 plus $30,000 in bonuses, stock options, and profit sharing. Google employees make about the same.
At Facebook, the starting engineer typically makes $142,000 a year. Including bonuses and equity, the average market salary climbs to $258,000.
Offices are designed to maximize productivity.
To help people reach peak productivity, the best companies provide a range of rooms, nooks, and workspaces.
At Bain and Co., employees can steal away into one-person quiet spaces, camp out in private, high-back chairs, or mingle in the open office with others.
Facebook and Google make similar design choices in their offices, outfitting them with large and small conference rooms and breakout areas for quick, private chats.
They support open cultures.
Great workplaces demonstrate transparency between leadership and fellow staff.
At Google, cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin routinely hold company-wide meetings on Friday, called TGIF, where employees can ask any question of the company they want.
"It's truly fair game to ask anything, no matter how controversial, and frequently the executives will be responsive," one employee wrote on Glassdoor.
