Name Withheld, Chicago Q A You ask for three factors, but you really need twice that many "gold stars" to earn the grand prize of being a preferred employer. And it is a grand prize, because when you build a company where people really want to work, you've got your hands on one of the most powerful competitive advantages in the game: the ability to hire and field the best team.

But before we give you our six ways to arrive at that fortunate place, let's reply to your question about how long the preferred-employer process takes.

The answer is easily years, and it can be decades or more. That's just the way it is with corporate reputations - they're built annual report by annual report, crisis by crisis (because every company has one or two of them) and recovery by recovery. It probably took IBM about 30 years to earn its gold-standard reputation in the '70s, less than a decade to lose it when the company stumbled and then about a decade more to rebuild it to where it is today.

In today's media-saturated world, however, there is a major exception to the generally slow pace of reputation building.

Companies can become preferred employers virtually overnight thanks to a "buzz factor", which is as potent as it is fast-acting. In a technology-based company, buzz usually comes with an exciting breakthrough or otherwise paradigm-altering new product or service.

Google, eBay and Apple are perfect examples. Buzz, however, can also come from having a glamorous or prestigious brand, like Chanel or Ferrari.

But the buzz factor is as rare as it is precarious.

Apple had it with the Mac, lost it when other PC manufacturers leapfrogged the company, then recaptured it with the iPod.

This entirely common story explains why most companies have to achieve preferred employer status the old-fashioned way, grinding it out over time.

Here's how to assess your company's progress: First, preferred employers demonstrate a real commitment to continuous learning. No lip service.

These companies invest in the development of their people with classes, training programs and off-site experiences, all sending the message that the organization is eager to facilitate a steady path to personal growth.

Second, preferred employers are meritocracies. Pay and promotions are tightly linked to performance, and rigorous appraisal systems consistently let people know where they stand. As at every company, whom you know and where you went to school might help get you in the door at a meritocracy.

But after that, it's all about results. Now, why does all this make a company a preferred employer? Very simply, because people with brains, self-confidence and competitive spirit are always attracted to such environments.

Third, preferred employers not only allow people to take risks, they celebrate those who do and don't shoot those who try and fail. As with meritocracies, a culture of risk-taking attracts exactly the kind of creative, bold individuals that companies want and need in a global marketplace where innovation is the single best defense against unrelenting cost competition.

Next, preferred employers understand that what is good for society is also good for business. Gender, race and nationality are never limitations. Everyone's ideas matter. Preferred employers are diverse and global in their outlook and environmentally sensitive in their practices. They offer flexibility in work schedules to those who earn it with performance. In a word, preferred companies are enlightened.

Fifth, preferred employers keep their hiring standards tight. They make candidates work hard to join the ranks, requiring an arduous interview process and strict criteria around intelligence and previous experience.

Admittedly, this factor is somewhat of a Catch-22, as it is difficult to be picky before you become an employer of choice. But it's worth the effort, as talent has an uncanny way of attracting, well, talent.

Sixth and finally, preferred companies are profitable and growing. A rising stock price is a real hiring and retention magnet. Beyond that, though, only thriving companies can promise you a future, with career mobility and the potential of increased financial reward.

Indeed, one of the most intoxicating things a company can say to a potential employee is "Join us for the ride of your life."

As we said at the outset, the best thing about being a preferred employer is that it gets you good people -- and that launches a virtuous cycle. The best team attracts the best team, and winning often leads to more winning.

That's a ride that you and your employees will never want to get off.

Jack and Suzy Welch are the authors of the international best-seller Winning. You can email them questions at Winning@nytimes. com. Please include your name, occupation, city and country.