The right mix of flexibility, education and support can help working moms turn hourly jobs into life-long careers.

Today, some 73 million Americans hold down an hourly job – but how many of them truly expect to learn advanced skills there? Or earn an advanced degree? Or make a meaningful career out of it?

At this year’s second-annual Best Companies for Hourly Workers, training, education and advancement are all on the menu at each of our 12 winners. In an era of increasing stress and sinking job satisfaction, these companies are committed to giving hourly workers the flexibility, training and support networks they need to not only see the next rung up the ladder, but reach for it as well.

The key here is that not only do all of these Best Companies offer tuition reimbursements and training to hourly workers, but they offer many of these opportunities on the job. For example, 11 of our winning companies offer life skills training (read: computer training or language courses) during their employees’ scheduled work day, while 10 pay regular hourly wages while an employee attends such classes.

And that’s not all: Every Best Company also offers career advancement programs to hourly workers, from supervisor preparatory training and mentoring to online self-directed training sessions. The end result? Happier, increasingly loyal and more dedicated employees who give back even more than they receive.

In “Take This Job and Grow It,” writer Annie Finnigan tells of many such Best Companies programs, including those at USAA, where 18 years ago Raquel Lozano McCain started as a part-time call-center staffer. A company lunch-and-learn on finance and investing made Raquel realize that the San Antonio, Texas-based insurer might also offer long-term opportunities — and a series of supportive mentors clinched the deal. “They’ve coached me, developed me, given me training and education and the flexibility to make the most of it,” she says. “They’ve pushed me—often hard.”

Using USAA’s tuition reimbursement benefits, Raquel has since earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and obtained her certification in financial planning, all the while rising to her current role as director in building wealth.  The 40-year-old mom of Madeline, 8, and Ethan, 5, estimates that the company has invested nearly $50,000 in her education and she’s not done yet: Her next step is an MBA. With her qualifications and experience, Raquel could certainly look to make her career elsewhere, but says that USAA has earned her loyalty.

And what does that loyalty mean to USAA? A lot, both in terms of building a strong company culture and the improving the bottom line.

“Recruiting and training new employees is expensive,” notes Jeff Weiss, USAA’s senior vice president of benefit programs and people services operations. “We invest at least four weeks in them before they go to work — and then there’s the loss of industry knowledge that goes with experience.”

Both factors add up to a high cost that walks out the door when an hourly employee does. Says Klein, “A worker’s time on the job directly relates to their knowledge of products, processes and procedures, and that knowledge results in better service, higher customer retention, a sense of employee ownership and a healthier bottom line for the company.”

Jennifer Owens is director of the Working Mother Research Institute.