To help potential job seekers assess the landscape of small employers, Forbes  introduced a new list: America’s Best Small Employers, defined here as companies employing between 200 and 1,000 employees.

To compile the list, Forbes partnered with the market research firm Statista, which implemented a wide range of assessment tools. These included:

· Anonymous surveys of employees using both targeted access panels as well as open participation from the public

· Tracking of job-related websites to gauge employer reputation, engagement, retention, benefits and more

· Social listening text analysis of news websites and blogs as well as platforms such as Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube to assess the company’s relationship with its employees

From an initial pool of 10,000 businesses, the 300 companies with the highest scores made it onto the final list.

Optimax ranked #23