But not every company suffers from an epidemic of employee disengagement. A handful of top companies really do get it — engaged workers aren’t just happier and more productive, but also the source of the vast majority of breakthrough ideas. (Click here to tweet this thought.) In addition to being great places to work if you happen to be looking for a job, these best-of-class companies can serve as inspiration for managers hoping to better inspire their teams.

So who exactly are these much desired organizations, and how do they attract top talent?

Every year LinkedIn aims to find out with its annual ranking of InDemand Employers, compiled by sorting through reams of data from the website. The latest edition is now out, so who made the list of America’s dream employers? Here are the top ten:

1. Google
2. Apple
3. Amazon
4. Facebook
5. salesforce.com
6. The Walt Disney Company
7. Nike
8. McKinsey & Company
9. PepsiCo

There’s no shock at the top of the list as Google and Apple retain their (unsurprising) position at the top of the heap from last year. Nor were there any huge movers, but Amazon, with its bold and much chattered-about initiatives including drone delivery and controversial hardball tactics with publishers, did climb a couple of spots from number five to number three. Walt Disney, however, was two slots less magical this year.

So what makes a company such a dream employer? LinkedIn suggests five factors that these firms emphasize when hiring that keep them so demand among talent and so deeply engaging once they hire.

Authenticity

The best companies for employee engagement, unsurprisingly, encourage team members to bring their whole selves to work. “The culture at NBCUniversal is not a faceless corporate culture, it’s a culture that allows people to have a personality. Being true to your personality while maintaining professionalism is the key to success with landing your dream job here,” says NBCUniversal (ranked #15) VP of Talent Acquisition James Ryding, for instance.

Sociability

Top employers engage deeply with candidates on social media and encourage potential hires to have deeper connections to the company than a simple scan of the webpage.

Team orientation

The firms that topped the list don’t hire many lone wolves. Adobe (ranked #24) VP of Global Talent Selection and Development Jeff Vijungco says: “We want individuals with a unique skillset that complements the team, a sense of urgency to deliver beyond what’s possible and ‘we’ rather than ‘me’ team players.”

Ambition

Top workers don’t just work — they also dream big. “When you interview, show us your passion, your innovative mind, and intrigue us with your big ideas on the impact you could have on our company, customers and our community,” says salesforce.com SVP of Global Employee Success Monika Fahlbusch.

Adaptability

If you want to hire top employees, don’t expect them to do the same thing day in and day out. One of the keys to being engaging and in demand is routinely shaking things up and encouraging employees to follow their passions. “Prospects should be open and determined about pursuing passions yet flexible enough to jump in to anything,” says VMware (ranked #19) Director of Executive Staffing Anu Datta.

Employers: How could you emphasize these five factors to bring in more top recruits?

Jessica Stillman is a freelance writer based in London. She writes a daily column for Inc.com, contributes regularly to Forbes and Women 2.0 and has blogged for CBS MoneyWatch and GigaOM, among others.

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The post How to Attract Top Talent: 10 Companies Job Seekers are Dying to Work For appeared first on Brazen Life.

Then trend lists come along with all the things we should be watching for in the new year. These are a little more interesting if you ask me. Nod to Brazen, the 20 Young Professionals to Watch in 2012 was a nice compilation of push-the-envelope go-getters.

Here are a few other trend lists that caught my eye:

6 Social Media Networks to Watch in 2012:  Do you know how many social networks you’re signed up for? I mean, the TOTAL number, because I sometimes forget.  Sometimes I hear about a new social network or social media tool and go to check it out — only to discover that I already have an account.  That’s the curse of being a digital marketing professional, I guess!

Read this list by Jeff Bullas because it takes a minute to step back and “reflect on some significant events and evolutionary changes that are impacting how we communicate and connect.” Oh, and there are infographics!

Top 5 Diets to Watch in 2012: I decided that January would be the month when I cut back on drinking and continue improving my lifestyle.  I’ve never been a diet person but there are plenty of different ways to modify habits and lose weight.  This article says 2012 “looks like a return to sensible eating” after the year of fad diets in 2011. From science-based slim downs to “real food” diets, you just might find the plan that’ll fulfill your needs.

Fitness Bloggers to Watch in 2012: There’s been a rise in niche blogging over the last couple of years, and fitness is one of the biggies. If you’re into that sort of thing, this post has a list of 13 fitness bloggers to watch this year.

5 Tech Trends to Watch:  Mashable is great when it comes to lists and they didn’t let me down when coming up with a tech trends to watch list in 2012. In this article, Lance Ulanoff, Mashable’s editor-in-chief, has collected what he thinks will be the five big memorable trends that will make a “big impact in our technologically-enhanced lives.” I’m personally curious to see how augmented reality will grow and take over our lives.

12 Education Tech Trends to Watch in 2012: There’s no denying that technology is reshaping education from K-12 to colleges. From adaptive learning to game-based learning, technology is creating new ways for educators to incorporate technology into their curriculum.

Four Employment Trends to Watch in 2012: According to the latest job report, the unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent as the economy added 200,000 new jobs.  What does that mean for jobs in 2012? According to this International Business Times article, “[t]hirty-eight percent [of employers] plan to train people who don’t have experience in their particular industry and hire them for positions within their organizations in 2012.”

6 Important Marketing Trends to Watch in 2012: My favorite part of this list is the predication that creativity will take center stage and “if your company’s DNA doesn’t carry the gene for nimble creativity, you may not make it to 2013.”

20 Bloggers to Watch in 2012: I’m a huge fan of Problogger and look forward to the site’s “bloggers to watch” list every year.  This year, the list includes a few people who are already at the top of my Google Reader, but I will definitely be adding a few more based on these recommendations.

12 Cute Animals to Watch in 2012: I mean, really, what is the internet without our fuzzy friends?

What are some fun trends that you’re watching this year?

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