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Profile: American Century Investments

Managers at this investment firm open career doors for their IT staffers by offering training, new job opportunities and skills guidance.

By Todd R. Weiss

June 27, 2005 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - When American Century Investments LLC began its IT internship program in 1999, Patti Aenchbacher was one of its first hires, joining the database administration team.

Although it was Aenchbacher's first experience as an IT professional, she says her time as an intern showed her that the company was the place for her. Aenchbacher joined Kansas City, Mo.-based American Century full time after graduating from the University of Kansas in 2000, and today she is a project management specialist.

In those few short years, American Century has helped Aenchbacher grow her IT career. First, she continued on as a database administrator, then she decided to pursue project management. Aenchbacher's manager worked with her to create the job that she has held since January 2004.

"I appreciate the opportunities that management will work with you to provide," she says.

Now the company is not only encouraging Aenchbacher to get her project management certification, but it's also paying for it and a weeklong preparation class.

Another American Century perk is its fledgling job-rotation program that allows longtime IT workers to try different assignments to gain new skills.

"A lot of people have been in IT a long time," says Aenchbacher. "Maybe they love their jobs, but they do want to do something different without having to leave the company."

Why They're Tops

• Ranked No. 3 in retention

• Only 4% employee turnover

• Ranked No. 5 in benefits

• Ranked No. 4 in career development

Chief Technology Officer Bob Sauvageau says about two-dozen people participate in the job-rotation program, but it will soon expand. "If anything, I think it's going to keep people motivated," he says. "With low turnover, not a lot of spots open up, so there aren't a lot of opportunities to move around in the organization."

Sauvageau says when he joined the company nine years ago, he immediately realized that its ethics rules weren't just words on paper. "These are guiding principles on how we treat our customers and each other," he says. "We see [our workers] as people, with their own hopes and dreams. I think that makes a big difference in how we interact with folks."

American Century offers a host of other career-growth and training programs, with separate paths for management and technical training.

The Best Places recognition, says Sauvageau, "affirms for me that we're doing a lot of things right. People like to work here, but when you walk around our halls and talk to people, it's more powerful than that. People are proud to work here."

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