As ProAssurance Corp. has grown, one of the biggest factors that has made the professional liability insurer a high-quality workplace has been its ability to maintain a small-company feel.

The top-ranked workplace in the medium-size insurer category in this year's Business Insurance Best Places to Work in Insurance, Birmingham, Ala.-based ProAssurance Corp., is the nation's fifth-largest writer of medical professional liability insurance and has a growing professional liability business.

Not only does ProAssurance provide insurance for professionals, it views its staff as professionals. Beyond that, it views employees as individuals, operating at all levels on a first-name basis and with such touches as employees receiving personalized birthday greetings from the chief executive officer.

“All the senior officers are called by their first names,” said Clay Shaw, ProAssurance's vp of human resources. “They know everyone by their first names.”

“The company cares about its employees,” Ms. Shaw said. “We have an open-door policy.”

ProAssurance's approach to the workplace it provides its employees is an extension of the company's basic approach to business, said Frank O'Neil, senior vp of corporate communications and investor relations.

“As I look at it, one of the things that overarches all of this, it's explicit, it's included in our logo, is this idea of "treated fairly,'” Mr. O'Neil said. “I think the way we treat employees is really contained in that whole thought of "treated fairly.' It's more than just a slogan. It's in the DNA of the company.”

“Every stakeholder in the company should feel after every encounter that they've been treated fairly,” Mr. O'Neil said.

ProAssurance also makes an effort to promote from within.

“There are opportunities for growth within the company,” Ms. Shaw said. “We do a lot of promotion from within.”

And, as a publicly held company, ProAssurance has an employee stock plan, “giving employees the opportunity to be employee owners,” Ms. Shaw said. “I think we're all going to work a little harder for something we have ownership in.”

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SAFETY NATIONAL

ST. LOUIS

EMPLOYEES: 251

A leader in providing excess workers compensation coverage to self-insured employers and groups nationwide, Safety National has provided that coverage longer than any other company in the U.S. In addition, Safety National offers large-deductible workers compensation, assumed workers compensation reinsurance, loss portfolio transfers, Texas non-subscriber coverage, self-insurance bonds, and other alternative risk programs.

What makes the company a great place to work? “Safety National creates a professional, relaxed culture and hires great people who are treated as individuals, collaborate as a team, given the opportunity to excel, and rarely choose to leave.”

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KEY RISK INSURANCE CO.

GREENSBORO, N.C.

EMPLOYEES: 285

Founded in 1986, Key Risk is a leading provider of workers compensation insurance products and services for employers throughout the eastern United States. Key Risk operates as an insurance company, third-party administrator, and provider of managed-care services (including case management and medical bill adjudication services) from its headquarters in Greensboro, N.C., and is licensed in 10 states.

What makes the company a great place to work? “Our culture is based on conducting our personal and professional lives in an ethical manner, not jeopardizing honesty and integrity, and always ‘doing the right thing.'”