为什么说高盛的确是适合工作的好地方

    在下曼哈顿区上空两百英尺，约20名员工肩并肩坐在一间宽敞的现代化会议室里，参加冥想课程。他们跟着导师的指导吸气和呼气。导师让他们在心中默数五个数，每次注意力动摇的时候就重头开始默数。导师轻声说：“注意你的思绪会飘向何处。放下今天的压力。”

    这项冥想课程源自这家公司的“每周恢复”健康计划，涉及在五个工作日内的压力管理、幸福和工作生活平衡问题。而它只是这个舒适的工作场所提供的诸多非常规福利中的一项。其他福利还包括太极俱乐部、每周五次的普拉提课程、餐厅的泡泡茶、曾夺冠的龙舟队、邀请嘉宾到公司演讲（如棒球明星德瑞克•基特），以及出于慈善目的举办的通宵寻宝游戏等。

    这些听起来像是谷歌总部才会有的活动，但在这里你会看到人们穿的是爱马仕（Hermès），而不是卫衣，而这些冥想者们都在为高盛（Goldman Sachs）工作。这家可敬的投资银行已有144年的历史。近几年，高盛一直处在风口浪尖，因为金融危机而备受指责和批评；而且，在这里每周工作70至80个小时更是家常便饭。但这家公司也有另外的一面。除了媒体上的报道外，这家公司有着独特的文化和对公司非常满意的员工。我们发誓，人们都渴望能在这家公司找到一份工作。

    别怀疑我们说的话。大家可以问一问那里的员工。高盛在今年的《财富》100家最适宜工作的公司排行榜上名列第45位。这份榜单以员工反馈为依据对工作场所进行排名。自1998年该榜单设立以来，高盛年年上榜。榜单上像这样的“常青树”一共也只有13家公司。【摩根大通（J.P. Morgan）与美林集团（Merrill Lynch）是其他两家曾经上榜的大型投资银行，但他们直到1999年以后才开始上榜。】今年，高盛员工帮助公司的排名上升了48位。

    为什么会这样？传统观念认为，人们之所以对这里心满意足无非是因为钱。确实，过去12个月，这家公司的平均薪酬约为380,000美元。虽然公司高层数百万美元的高额薪酬让这个数字有些虚高，但高盛员工的薪酬的确一直高于其他大型银行。

    然而，员工意见显示，他们热爱这家公司并不只是因为薪酬。更不是由于气派的公司总部，长达四个月的产假，也不是因为对慈善捐助的痴迷。针对此次榜单，卓越工作场所研究院（Great Place to Work Institute，负责员工调查）共从这家公司收集了62页超过40,000字未经过滤的员工意见，并经过《财富》杂志审核。

    Two hundred feet above lower Manhattan in an airy modern conference room, some 20 employees are sitting elbow to elbow as they participate in a meditation session. Breathing in, then out, they heed the guidance of their instructor, who tells them to count to five silently -- and to start over every time their attention wavers. "Notice where your mind wanders to," she implores. "Let go of the day's stresses."

    The course grew out of the company's Resiliency Week, a wellness initiative on stress management, happiness, and work-life balance over five days. It's one of a number of unconventional perks at this plush workplace. Others include a tai chi club, five-times-a-week Pilates, bubble tea in the café, a champion dragon-boating team, lectures from visitors such as Derek Jeter, and an all-night scavenger hunt for charity.

    It may sound like the Googleplex, but you'll find Hermès rather than hoodies here: The meditators work forGoldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), the venerable 144-year-old investment bank. Yes, the one that's been in the cross hairs in recent years as it both reeled from and was blamed for the financial crisis; yes, the one where 70- to 80-hour workweeks are considered routine. Say hello to the other side of this company. Beyond the headlines, there's a unique culture and a remarkably satisfied workforce. We swear. And people are dying to get jobs here.

    Don't take our word for it. Ask the employees. Goldman Sachs is No. 45 this year on Fortune's annual list of 100 Best Companies to Work For, the definitive ranking of corporate workplaces based on employee feedback. And no, this isn't the result of a new mission to improve working conditions: Goldman has earned a spot on our list every year since we started it in 1998 -- and it's one of just 13 companies that can make that claim. (J.P. Morgan (JPM, Fortune 500) and Merrill Lynch are the only other big investment banks to ever make the list, and not since in 1999.) This year Goldman employees helped to bump up their company 48 slots.

    What gives? Conventional wisdom might say it's the money that keeps people sated here. Indeed, the firm saw average compensation of roughly $380,000 over the past 12 months. And while that number skews high because of multimillion-dollar paychecks at the top, Goldman typically sets aside more cash for compensation per employee than any other major bank.

    But according to 62 pages and more than 40,000 words of unfiltered employee comments collected by the Great Place to Work Institute (which conducts the employee survey) and reviewed by Fortune, it's not just the pay that makes the employees so fond of their firm. Nor is it the swank corporate headquarters, the four-month maternity leave, or an obsessive devotion to philanthropy.