Globe's Top Places to Work in 2011 preview

At Google Inc., your colleagues are the ones who make you feel special. The search process for employees can be as exhaustive as the algorithms that power the company’s search engine. The result: a legendary talent pool that attracts the brightest and most creative minds in technology, not just to its California headquarters but to its growing outpost in Cambridge.

At Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc., being a top employer isn’t a fluke. The Watertown company, which operates 800 child-care centers worldwide, has created a deeply loyal workforce that thrives on individuality and flexibility.

What do these companies have in common? They each represent the very best of what our annual Top Places to Work survey has to offer. Each is a number one employer in its respective category - small, medium, or large.

Institution for Savings, Google, and Bright Horizons couldn’t be more different as organizations, but they share important values when it comes to their employees. All three work on getting the best people and treating them well. It’s a lesson for all employers, no matter what you do, and ultimately that’s what we hope you’ll take away from this year’s Top Places to Work winners.

(Note: See the top-two large, medium, and small companies below. Chack back later for the full list of 100 Top Places to Work winners.)

Top large employers

1. Bright Horizons Family Solutions (Human services company based in Watertown)

2. Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Co. (Pharmaceuticals company based in Cambridge)

Top medium employers

1. Google, Inc. (Technology company based in: Mountain View, Calif.)

2. Commonwealth Financial Network (Financial services company based in Waltham)

Top small employers

1. Institution for Savings (Mutual bankb ased in Newburyport)

2. Alexander, Aronson, Finning & Co. (Public accounting firm based in Westborough)