Great Place To Work data behind Fortune's list of the best small and medium sized workplaces shows a striking pattern: companies with higher employee trust scores tend to grow revenue far faster than their peers, roughly 7.5 times faster among small businesses and 3.4 times faster among medium sized ones. The companies making the list treat that culture work as a growth strategy rather than a perk bolted onto the business.
e.l.f. Beauty, based in Oakland, California, is among the featured companies. Internal surveys cited in the report found that 96 percent of its employees say they are proud of the work they do, and 93 percent describe the company as a great place to work. The cosmetics company, which acquired the skincare brand Rhode in 2025, has built what it calls a zero distance approach to leadership, with executives staying visible and accessible to staff, including a chief financial officer who has taught financial literacy sessions on Twitch. The company's chief executive personally hands out annual equity grants to employees along with handwritten notes, and the whole company gathers for weekly all hands lunches.
Other companies on the list point to similar patterns. At Stellar Solutions, an aerospace and systems engineering firm, 98 percent of employees report getting the professional development training they need, and the company has staff fill out annual dream sheets describing changes they would like to see in their roles, with leadership sometimes stepping in to help with personal matters like a spouse's job search. Sara Walker, a director at the firm, put the underlying logic simply: spending time on people makes them feel valued, and unlike money, time given to someone cannot be given back.
At Lucid Software, the company behind Lucidchart and Lucidspark, 97 percent of employees say they feel cared for, and half the staff take part in cross departmental mentoring programs the company has built alongside expanded budgets for team activities. Across all three companies, the throughline Fortune's list highlights is the same: workplaces that invest seriously in how employees are treated are outgrowing the ones that treat culture as an afterthought.