U.S. based brokerage firm Edward Jones ranks No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America.

This is the firm’s fourth appearance on the coveted list, but its first No. 1 ranking. The magazine’s Feb. 4 issue says that despite difficult economic times, the firm had no layoffs. The magazine also said that 97% of Edward Jones employees praise management’s honesty.

Managing Partner John Bachmann said that to be on the list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” is an extraordinary honour. But to be at the top of the list is beyond anything the firm could have imagined. “One of the keys to being an attractive workplace is the fact that everyone is organized around a single customer and a single mission,” Bachmann said. “We know our responsibility is to serve the serious long-term individual investor, and in order to do that effectively, we have to align all of our resources so that we are focusing on a team effort and doing everything we can to support that relationship between our investment representative and the customer.”

The Fortune 100 Best ranking is employee-driven, with two-thirds of the scoring based upon on how randomly-selected employees respond to an anonymous survey designed to measure the quality of workplace culture. The remainder of the score is based on an in-depth analysis of company culture and human resources practices and evaluates trust in management, pride in work and the company and camaraderie. The issue will be available on newsstands Jan. 28.

Bachmann said the firm recognizes that to be an employer of choice, it must be responsive to the needs of its associates. “If we have the technological tools that would enable a mother to work from home with a child or that would enable us to tailor hours to the special needs of an associate, then why wouldn’t we do that? After all, if our workers are our most important ingredient, then the golden rule applies – you want to treat people the way you want to be treated. Our experience is that they respond with extraordinary performance.”

Since 1980 Edward Jones has grown from 300 branch offices internationally to over 8,000 offices today. The firm is hiring about 200 new investment representatives each month with the goal of having 10,000 offices by 2003. More than 20,000 people are employed by Edward Jones in the United States and, through its affiliates, in Canada and the United Kingdom.