Here’s a story about how management faced a tough decision, and came away with the admiration of its employees — even the ones that got laid off.

Let’s start with the layoff. During the economic downturn, NetApps shed 5% of its workforce. The big news wasn’t what the company did, however, but how the company did it.

The company implemented the layoff by having a top manager meet with each employee who was being let go. The manager’s job was to explain the company’s situation and that it became necessary to trim the workforce. On top of that, the CEO made a brief video in which he reiterated the explanation and also apologized.

During and after the layoff, the CEO made it a point to personally call employees who had achieved outstanding performance in their overall jobs or a special project. In doing so — and in tough times — the boss underscored the idea that he was paying attention to something more than just the bottom line.

The result: NetApps made the top five in the list of Great Places to Work. The others: Microsoft, SAS, Google and FedEx.

The common facets in which the companies received high scores from their employees:

• trust in management
• pride in the product
• camaraderie among employees
• good benefits

Note: Top pay was not named as one of the reasons for a high rating.