ASAP Software
Software reseller to government and private companies

Headquarters: Buffalo Grove, Illinois, USA

Founded: 1984

Employees: 460; 250 in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, USA  

When finance manager, Andrew Thomas, 42, a native of India, reached the seven-year mark working at ASAP Software, he qualified for a sabbatical, a four-week paid leave of absence. He traveled with his wife and three daughters to India to visit his extended family and tour the country. "I was able to give them a sense of how I grew up," he says.

That's exactly what ASAP hopes its employees do: take advantage of company perks so they're motivated to do their best work. This suburban software company – since 1999 a subsidiary of the Amsterdam-based Buhrmann Company – offers a range of excellent benefits, including generous maternity and paternity leave, adoption assistance, profit sharing, and bonuses.

Five-year employees get an all-expenses-paid trip – this year it was to New Orleans. Employees can also take advantage of quarterly visits from a licensed massage therapist and get discounts at a nearby Highland Park fitness center. ASAP encourages "stress breaks" and provides pool and foosball tables to loosen tension.

Employee training is another focus, either through ASAP University, which offers continuing education, or through tuition assistance at accredited colleges and universities. The company also goes out of its way to promote from within – more than 50 percent of the employees move on to new positions after one year. President Paul Jarvie, a motorcycle buff, has been with the company since it was a 12-employee private operation housed above a barbershop in Evanston. His philosophy is simple: "High-quality employees have lots of options in life. We have to make sure we’re creating the type of environment they can enjoy."