ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Farmers has again been honored as one of Training Magazine's top corporate training organizations in the world, placing 4th. The award was presented Monday night at the 2013 Training Top 125 awards in Orlando, Fla.

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The prestigious magazine is written for training, human resources, and business management professionals in all industries that advocate training and workforce development as a business tool. It was the 36^th anniversary event by Training Magazine.

"This is the fourth consecutive top 10 finish for the University of Farmers.  In 2014, Farmers Insurance will be inducted into the Training Magazine Hall of Fame," stated Annette Thompson, Farmers Chief Learning Officer.  "The Hall of Fame honor is shared by a select group of repeat winners, including Microsoft, Deloitte LLP, Ernst & Young, General Mills, IBM, Pfizer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company." 

"Training Top 125 is truly the most prestigious award in the industry, largely because it is scored and evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively, and is extremely comprehensive in scope. It is also a global award and historically the volume of submissions is significant," Thompson explained. "The award reaches deep into the organization and as such it truly provides a holistic view on Farmers employee engagement and development strategies."

Rounding out the top 5 were:  5, CHG Healthcare Systems; 3, Coldwell Banker Real Estate; 2, Jiffy Lube; and 1, Verizon.

The University of Farmers finished in the 125 rankings ahead of insurance corporations such as Nationwide Mutual, Auto Club, Progressive, and iconic corporate brands such as Best Buy, Bank of America, Intel, McDonald's and the U.S. Navy.  

"We are honored to be in the company of such distinguished corporations and organizations from throughout the world," noted Ilene Haber, Head of Claims Training and Development.

"Consider that just five years ago we received a ranking of 59 and now we're a consistent top 10 performer.  It's a great indication of how our company refines our practices to be a market leader in developing people," Thompson added.

"The University of Farmers strives to deliver the best trained people in our industry through world-class facilities offering outstanding state-of-the-art curricula for Farmers agents, claims personnel and management," stated Thompson. "Farmers is proud of its instructors, curriculum development personnel, and support staff. They are the best in the industry."

Farmers Insurance Group of Companies is a leading U.S. insurer group of automobiles, homes and small businesses and also provides a wide range of other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with more than 20 million individual policies across all 50 states through the efforts of over 50,000 exclusive and independent agents and nearly 24,000 employees.

Farmers is a trade name and refers to the business activities of Farmers Group, Inc. and the Farmers Exchanges. Farmers Group, Inc., along with its subsidiaries, is wholly owned by the Zurich Insurance Group, and provides non-claims administrative services to the Farmers Exchanges. The Farmers Exchanges are three reciprocal insurers (Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Exchange), including their subsidiaries and affiliates, owned by their policyholders. For more information about Farmers, visit its Web site at www.farmers.com or at www.Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.

SOURCE Farmers Insurance