Best Companies for Women to Work for
Women workers have achieved many levels of employment, from the top executive and ownership ranks, to entry level and post college beginnings in complex scientific and legal fields. The most commonly mentioned factor for women who are looking for the best places to work is the opportunity for advancement. This can be represented by the number of women who are in advanced positions, the diversity and culture of the workplace, and the chances for a long term career with promotions to better jobs.
Fortune concludes that Google is the top employer, all around, but what do rock climbing walls and plentiful cafes have to do with women's needs or preferences. Workplace flexibility, programs and policies that help women to advance, how women are represented throughout the organization and at all levels, and how managers are trained and held accountable for the ways in which women are given the opportunity to advance are areas that were examined by the National Association For Female Executives(NAFE). NAFE has selected some top employers on the basis of an application that "includes more than 200 questions on female representation at all levels, but especially the corporate officer and profit-and-loss leadership ranks. The application also tracks access and usage of programs and policies that promote the advancement of women, as well as the training and accountability of managers in relation to the number of women who advance."50 winners were selected.
NAFE also chose10 non profit firmsas the best workplaces for executive women that are mostly in health care, with the exception of TIAA-CREF, a financial firm and the New York State University at Buffalo.
CNN Moneyhas a section of its annual best companies to work for, but the only way to look for women's issues was to start with the top 100 companies to work for, then to choose companies with the highest numbers of women.
The top ten companies with the highest number of women employees are presented here, along with their ranking among the top 100 best companies to work for. Wegman's Food Markets (#4), Edward Jones (#5), CHG Healthcare Services(#9), Zappos.com (#11), USAA (#20), The Container Store (#22), Alston and Bird (#24), Bingham McCutchen (#30), Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Co.(#35), and Southern Ohio Medical Center (#36).
Finding the best company to work for is always a decision that is based on complex personal matters, too. Whether a company is hiring, where the firm has jobs available, and what career fields are available is always a consideration. But in the end, women look for the best hopes of a long career with advancement opportunities, plus a good work culture that fosters promotion and acceptance on the job and in leadership positions.
