And they reveal a culture that not only values employee participation but also encourages teamwork to get the job done. In other words, these employees believe in the company because it believes in them.Here are few examples of responses to the survey's open-ended question, I love my job because:

• "Because the culture at Lubrizol is focused on honesty and integrity. I feel valued here, not taken advantage of."
• "I love working at Lubrizol because I get to work on challenging technical obstacles alongside great people whom I highly respect as scientists, as business people, and as individuals. I have the resources and support that I need to do my job well and to develop my career. I feel that my manager and the company as a whole greatly value a healthy work-life balance. The amazing culture at Lubrizol is completely different than my previous employer -- a Pittsburgh-based company that also has a strong presence in the Cleveland area. I now wake up every morning excited to come to work!"
• "I love my job because I have input on how it's done and my ideas are expected to improve the workflow. I have been allowed to grow over my many years at Lubrizol, which makes me feel [I am of] value to the organization."
• "Lubrizol provides job stability with a company that takes ethics and safety seriously. There are many opportunities to grow. New challenges present themselves every day. Never a dull moment."
• "The people I work with are highly competent. The people in the department get along well and we have fun together. Although the work is stressful, the environment within the department is not stressful."

The Top Workplace survey gives the company a snapshot of how randomly chosen employees are thinking. And it turns out that consistently scoring high is a kind of feedback loop."Employees are very proud of the company, and when it's featured in The Plain Dealer, you'd be surprised at how many people talk about it being rated very high," said Mayher. "It gives people a lot of pride. And it's a great recruitment tool."

The annual survey is also useful because it may reveal emerging issues. But it is only one tool the company uses to understand its employees, said Mayher. And frankly, its questions are too general to get at what Lubrizol's human resources department needs to know.

"We have done engagement surveys," Mayher explained. "That is the kind of thing where we have over 80 percent participation. It's always anonymous."

Such surveys are essential today because the attitudes of younger employees are quickly changing."The demographics arechanging," said Mayher, "as Boomers are starting to retire and a younger generation is coming into the workforce."To help prepare for those changing employee attitudes, the company did an extensive study on perquisites, he said, not only among Northeast Ohio companies but other companies across the nation, as well. Here are examples of the questions the company researched:

• "If you want to be an employer of choice, what does that mean [you have to offer]"? "What is Apple doing? What is Google doing? What are companies in the chemical business doing?"

One employee benefit that the company initiated after that study was telecommuting, said Mayher. "We have ad hoc telecommuting. If I need to work from home today, I can do it," he said. But telecommuting is only one answer to creating the kind of workplace culture that creates a productive -- and happy -- workforce."Workplace flexibility is a big deal," said Mayher. "We have a team looking at that: How do we maintain flexibility and still maintain the business," he said.

In the meantime, Lubrizol also offers programs and opportunities that reveal just how much the company wants to address changing employee demands. For example, Lubrizol has hired "wellness coaches" who are on-site and help employees change their lives, for example, stopping smoking, losing weight, eating healthier, getting in shape. Using a wellness coach is completely voluntary. And it's free.

And there are lunchtime exercise classes, said Maryann Surniak, human resources specialist, Zumba, for example, other exercise dance classes and Yoga. And of course fitness rooms have been on site for a number of years. They are outfitted with exercise and weight equipment. The exercise classes and lifestyle coaches are offered under the umbrella program, Lubrizol Essentials, said Surniak. And that program will pay an employee up to $400 a year for participating.

An employee can earn points for attending classes, or for example, tracking sleep patterns for a month, tracking healthy eating, meeting regularly with a wellness coach, or meeting with financial experts to do retirement planning, she said. "You earn points for participating and that is how you are paid. There are lots of ways to earn the points," she explained.