As the COVID-19 pandemic changed nearly everything in our lives this year, employers were among the leaders in transformation. From remote work and childcare to stress management and virtual collaboration, HR was at the forefront of innovation.

It’s fitting, then, that even before the novel coronavirus arrived in the United States, research into workforce transformation was already underway. For many years, Human Resource Executive® has partnered with management consulting firm Korn Ferry to compile a list of companies that are “Most Admired for HR,” focusing on a specific best practice that distinguishes the best companies from the rest.

Related: This company tops the list of Most Admired for HR.

This year, appropriately, the focus is on workforce transformation. And although the data was collected in late 2019, the lessons and takeaways it provides about how thriving companies might be more important than ever. Organizations that evolve and adapt to changing environments, circumstances and such fundamentals as where and how they work will most certainly be more successful than those that don’t.

Related: Why some employers keep getting transformation right

Methodology

The process of developing this report on corporate reputations started when Korn Ferry and Fortune determined the “World’s Most Admired Companies,” an annual list they’ve produced since 1997. They began with the Fortune 1000—the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue—and non-U.S. companies in Fortune’s Global 500 database with revenues of $10 billion or more. They then selected the highest-revenue companies in each industry, surveying a total of 680 companies from 30 countries.

To create the 52 industry lists, Korn Ferry asked executives, directors and analysts to rate companies in their own industries on nine criteria, from investment value to social responsibility. To arrive at HRE’s “Most Admired for HR” rankings, Korn Ferry recalibrated the Fortune attribute scores, isolating four criteria that have a bearing on HR—management quality, product/service quality, innovation and people management.

To see the results of the top 50 companies with the most admired HR, please continue.

Companies 50-41 ⇒