Matching its highest ranking, General Mills has again landed on Fortune magazine's annual list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For," acknowledging the company's success at creating a great workplace for employees.  General Mills is ranked No. 58. 

It's the seventh time in the past eight years that General Mills has been named to the list. The company was ranked 90th last year.

Announced this morning, two-thirds of a company's rankings are based on employee surveys.

“We’re very proud of this external recognition of our decades-long commitment to building a supportive yet performance-driven culture,” says Mike Davis, senior vice president of Global Human Resources for General Mills.

General Mills is not only one of the few production companies on the list, but it's one of the oldest, and one of the few that has a varied workforce that includes plant employees, a sales force, corporate office staff, and union and non-union employees.

General Mills is named on the cover of the current edition of Fortune along with Dreamworks, Intel, Zappos, Whole Foods, AFLAC and Marriott.

Business analytics software company SAS ranked No. 1.

Grocers are well represented The food industry is well represented in the top 20 by grocers. Wegmans grocery is No. 3, California's Nugget Markets placed No. 8 and supermarket chain Stew Leonard's No. 18. Whole Foods Market is ranked 24th and Publix Super Markets is 67th.

General Mills and Ohio-based foodmaker J.M. Smucker (No. 93) are the only food marketing companies ranked in the top 100.

Mayo Clinic, headquartered in Rochester, Minn., is 61st. The entire list is available here.

Fortune notes about General Mills that the "cereal and yogurt maker prides itself on culture that is not flashy or loud or arrogant. Nearly 2,500 employees are 25-year veterans."

“We know that the best companies succeed with talented, committed employees who grow and develop to achieve their highest potential, making significant contributions to the business,” Davis says. “This is especially true – and important – at General Mills, because many employees spend their careers with the company.”

Company also featured in book General Mills’ success at building a positive workplace culture is also featured in a new book published this month: "The Great Workplace: How To Build It, How To Keep It, And Why It Matters."

The book is written by authors from The Great Place to Work Institute, the research group that partners with Fortune to conduct the 100 Best Companies survey.

The book highlights best practices from some of the best places to work in the country, including General Mills. The case study on General Mills shares the story of the company’s focus on building great managers who inspire people to achieve and develop to be their best.

General Mills has earned a spot on The Great Place to Work Institute’s Best Companies lists around the globe, including the 2010 Best Workplaces list in the United Kingdom (No.8) and the 2010 Best Workplaces list in Canada (No. 20).

General Mills' entire awards list is available here.

How companies are chosen To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. There were 311 companies participating in this year’s survey.

Two-thirds of a company’s score is based on the results of the Institute’s Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company.

The other third of the scoring is based on the company’s responses to the Institute’s Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs, and a series of open-ended questions about hiring, communication, recognition, training programs and diversity efforts. 

 Inside General Mills