Applied Predictive Technologies employees take part in a pro-bono hackathon to benefit the Capital Area Food Bank . (Jeffrey MacMillan/Jeffrey MacMillan )

The Washington Post partnered with WorkplaceDynamics, an employee-survey firm based in Philadelphia, to determine the region’s Top Workplaces.

Beginning in October, The Post ran articles and advertisements encouraging employees in the region to nominate their companies as Top Workplaces. WorkplaceDynamics then invited those companies, as well as other organizations in the region, to participate in the program.

Anyone could nominate a company. The sole requirement was that the organization employ at least 50 people in the greater Washington area. The company could be public, private, nonprofit or governmental.

To identify the Top Workplaces, WorkplaceDynamics went straight to the experts: the employees.

In total, we invited 3,147 companies to participate and surveyed 303 of them.

The surveyed firms employ 95,439 people in the greater Washington area. Of those employees who received questionnaires, 52,405 responded, either on paper or online.

The employee survey included 23 statements covering how workers view their jobs, their leadership and the health of their organizations.

After the surveys were completed, WorkplaceDynamics ran statistical tests to look for any questionable results. (It sometimes will disqualify a small number of employers based on those tests.)

Employers were then categorized into size groupings, because smaller employers tend to score higher than midsize employers, and midsize employers tend to score higher than large employers.

Within each size category, the employers were ranked based solely on employee responses to the survey statements. The top employers in each size category were then selected as the Top Workplaces in Washington for 2016. We also drew up a list of organizations worthy of special awards based on standout scores for specific survey statements.

You might wonder why your employer is not on the list. One possibility is that the company took the survey and scored too low. Another is that it chose not to participate. We hope that next year, more Washington employers will take the time to survey their employees and see where they stand.

Click here to see the full list. Read more:

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[Q&A: These three leaders show there are many paths to success]

[‘Fatheads,’ Rolexes, even a dress code can shape a workplace’s culture]

[At these companies, pets are part of the team]

[These employees are willing to do just a little bit more]

[Why one Big Law firm says it is really in the ‘talent business’]

[It’s easy to say you want to innovate. These companies are doing it]

Claffey is chief executive of WorkplaceDynamics.